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After taking her prodigious talents to South Beach and scoring an impressive unanimous decision victory over Angel Gladney in her first campaign above 122 pounds at the Dade Country Auditorium last June, The Female Fighting Pride of the Philippines and 3-time Women's World Champion Ana "The Hurricane" Julaton, is eyeing another world title at a higher weight class.
The fight, which was fought at a catchweight of 128 lbs., galvanized Julaton as a legitimate threat at the higher weights as she dominated Gladney, who had been campaigning north of 125 lbs. for most of her career and scored all four of her KO wins at 125 and up.
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who was in the venue to witness the fight and show his support to Julaton, was in awe of her performance and thought she won every single round. "I'll definitely be in the next one," said the Fil-Am coach who guided the superstar trio of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to the recently concluded NBA Finals.
Over the past few years of observing Manny Pacquiao and seeing his success fighting at a more comfortable weight, Julaton is sold on the idea of shooting for more jewelry and attempting to slay bigger females. Her trainer Freddie Roach even floated statement saying Julaton has a good shot at beating WIBA and WIBF lightweight champion Mia St. John.
Comcast Bay Area's Ryan Maquinana quoted Roach saying, “Mia St. John weighs 140 and for her to come down and for Ana to come up, she might be too much of a [jump in] weight, but she’s getting older and she’s beatable,” said Roach. “It’s a marketable fight.”
Julaton, who was cut in the left eye by an elbow from Gladney in the final 30 seconds of her last fight, is recovering well, and has been hard at work training at the Wild Card Gym with Roach. She is aiming to fight again in as early as August.
Pacquiao and Julaton Topps trading cards hit the stores; Julaton's signed card going for $700
8-division Boxing World Champion Manny Pacquiao and 3-time Women's Boxing World Champion Ana 'The Hurricane' Julaton were honored by the Topps Trading Card company by including them in their exclusive 2011 Arthur & Ginter Framed Autographed Collector's Item set randomly inserted in their hobby and retail trading card packs. The cards were released on July 13.
Card collectors are raving about Pacquiao's trading card debut (his rookie card in trading card lingo) and his signed inserts are being tagged at more than $1,000 already. Pacquiao will have 60 hand signed inserts only, so the value of this collector's item can surely skyrocket to ridiculous amounts.
But don't sleep on Julaton's card insert either. Take note that there isn't another female boxer, nor fighter for that matter, being honored in this collector's set besides the Daly City slugger; not Laila Ali, not Gina Carano, not Cyborg. The Filipina-American heroine has not even reached the pinnacle of her career yet either, and definitely has the ability to become one of the most notable female athletes in the near future, if her career keeps going the right direction. A listing of her signed card was spotted on EBAY the other day going for $700.
(CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT PHOTOS OF PACQUIAO AND JULATON's TOPPS EXCLUSIVE TRADING CARDS)
The only other boxers honored in the list are 'The Raging Bull' Jake Lamotta and 'The Irish' Micky Ward. Both Lamotta and Ward's boxing careers have been portrayed in Hollywood movies by no less than Robert DeNiro and Mark Wahlberg respectively.
The distinction and recognition Topps gave Pacquiao and Julaton as icons in the world of boxing is truly groundbreaking for the Filipino Community worldwide. Pacquiao is the first ever 8-division world boxing title holder, while Julaton is the first ever Filipino to win the IBA and WBO World titles. Julaton is also the first ever female boxer to be featured in the highly sought exclusive card set.
Women's soccer taking center stage
As of this writing, Team USA is tied with Japan at the Women's World Cup Finals, and have become the toast of the nation this past month. Well deserved indeed.
Leads me to ask, Poker plays on ESPN almost every day, yet nobody bothers to show the quest of these courageous female fighters break through a male-driven sport? Ask yourself, how come no network in the Philippines bothered to televise Julaton's fight against Gladney?
At this day and age, it's sad to think that sexism still exists. Hopefully, the inclusion of Women's Boxing in the 2012 Olympics, and the strides Team USA is making in Women's Soccer, will help open people's minds regarding this matter.
-DG- visit www.DSOURCEboxing.com
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