Feeling that can’t be beat
Cheryl Houlihan is haunted by her one loss in the boxing ring.
On a good night, Houlihan would relive the fight, blow by blow, round by round.
Friday night, she put that fight to rest.
The 106-pounder from Norton, Mass., avenged her only loss by scoring a 28-19 victory over Katheleen O’Connell, from Tularosa, N.M., in the semifinals of the U.S. National Women’s Boxing Championships at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center.
“I lost to her at the National Golden Gloves,” Houlihan said. “That was my only loss. That one stuck in my head.”
Houlihan, fighting for the first time in 10 months, built an early lead in the fast-paced first round, then stood toe-to-toe with O’Connell in the last two rounds.
“My legs started to tighten up from dancing around so much in the first round,” Houlihan said. “The good thing is they come right back after a fight. I’ll be okay in the finals.”
Houlihan faces Natalie Gray in tonight’s final. Because only three women entered at 106 pounds, Gray earned a bye into tonight’s title bout.
“There are only five other boxers in 106 and under,” Houlihan said. “I’ve only had three fights in the greater Boston area (her hometown). The rest of the time I’ve had to travel to Chicago or Fort Lauderdale to fight.”
Houlihan’s plight is all too familiar to most of the women fighting in this tournament. Good competition is not easy to find. Six weight divisions feature at least one boxer with a bye into the gold-medal match. One division, 176 pounds, has only two entrants, and another, 98 pounds, will crown a gold medalist in a walkover because there is no challenger.
“I have to get in and spar with the guys,” Houlihan said. “There’s no choice.”
“The thing is, though, these girls get in the ring with the guys and a lot of them do pretty well,” said Bob Kerr, a coach from Brooklyn, Mich. “These girls have a passion for the game and a lot of them are better technical boxers than the guys. They just aren’t as strong.”
Kerr has two fighters in the tournament. One, Carrie Barry will fight for the gold medal at 132 pounds. A second, Tyler Wilder, earned a bronze medal Friday when she lost the first fight of her career, a 37-12 decision at 165 pounds to Allana Huggins, from Fort Worth, Texas.
Wilder, 20, has been boxing for less than a year. The semifinal bout was her seventh. Five of the first six were stopped in the first round. The sixth barely made it into the second.
For Barry, Kerr crosses the border several times a week to find competition.
“I get up at 4 in the morning and drive across the border to Windsor, Ontario, so that Carrie can work out with other women,” Kerr said. “There are a lot more women boxers in Canada.”
From now on, there will be another passenger for that 160-mile round trip.
“Time to start taking Tyler to Canada,” he laughed.
Bronx, N.Y., 101-pounder Julia Urman advanced to tonight’s finals by scoring a narrow, 16-14 decision over Chantel Cordova, from Pueblo, Colo. Urman faces Gabriela Hernandez in tonight’s gold-medal bout, who had a semifinal bye in the three-woman division.
Emily Klinefelter, from Iowa City, Iowa, and Keisher McLeod, from New York, N.Y., both won semifinal bouts Friday and will meet tonight. Klinefelter scored an 18-4 victory over Anna Marandi, from Brooklyn, N.Y. McLeod earned a 16-9 decision over Celina Moreno, from Los Angeles.
Grace Kelly, a Marine stationed at Camp Lejuene, N.C., advanced to tonight’s final bout at 145 pounds when the referee stopped her fight with Victoria Suarez, from Lubbock, Texas, Kelly faces Elizabeth Quebedo, from South Gate, Calif., who scored a 21-6 decision over Sarah Halsey, from Fort Pierce, Fla.
Jaclyn Nichols, from Berlin, N.J., fought her way into tonight’s 165 final by stopping Arlene Samaniego, for Oxnard, Calif., 16-1, and will face Huggins.
Tameka Stephens, from Charlotte, N.C., edged Seattle’s Dana Gold to advance to the 189-pound final against Tanzee Daniel, who has a bye into the title bout.
Tina Hooks, from West Palm Beach, Fla., advanced to the gold-medal match in the 189-plus division when the referee stopped her bout with Samatra Doyle, from Seattle, 46 seconds into the second round. Hooks will face Sara Lean Purcell, who had a bye into the final.