TalkingBoxing with VONDA WARD
"I've been a natural athlete all my life"
Jason Peck
3/28 - Ask the average layman about women's boxing, and he'll be lucky if he gets past Laila Ali, Jacqui Frazier and Hillary Swank, who isn't a boxer but played one in "Million Dollar Baby." And it's a real shame, because if they looked a bit further they'd have a hard time missing 6'6 heavyweight contender Vonda Ward, who ranks among the elite in women's boxing.
Between her two careers as a professional fighter and a personal trainer, she's been rather busy. Nevertheless, she took some time to talk with TalkingBoxing.com on her first loss, the state of women's boxing, and why she doesn't care too much for Laila Ali.
VONDA WARD
Jason Peck: So how did you get into boxing?
Vonda Ward: What it was is I played pro basketball for a year in Germany and Colorado. Part of the workout was hitting a heavy bag. My trainer Lorenzo Scott saw me and said I had natural talent, so I fell in love with the sport.
Jason Peck: A year or so ago you did an interview where you were asked if the corruption in men's boxing was present in women's boxing. You said that you hadn't been in the game that long and couldn't answer, but now that you've been in there much longer, can you answer the question?
Vonda Ward: Women's boxing it's not as much as the men. The biggest thing is that there's not as much money involved. It still happens of course, there's a lot of things I don't agree with. There's so many organizations, so many rules in different states, there needs to be a governing body. But nobody wants to give up the power.
Jason Peck: You seem to move around weight classes a lot. Is that just your style or have you committed to a weight class?
Vonda Ward: My natural weight is 180 to 182, that just my walking-around weight. The heaviest is 195. I'm happy to be where I am, in between three weight classes. It's not like it weakens me to lose weight, it's just a matter of nutrition. When I do fight as a heavyweight, I usually just make it. I fought people 40 to 60 pounds heavier than me.
Jason Peck: How would you describe your fighting style to someone who hasn't seen it before?
Vonda Ward: It's changing, especially this year. I'm a much quicker fighter, people don't expect me to be quick with how tall I am. I've always been a strong puncher, but now even more. I want to be a combination fighter, a brawler and a boxer, but I've been a natural athlete all my life.
Jason Peck: Some of the premier names in women's boxing are trained by some of the best trainers from men's boxing--Laila Ali is trained by Buddy McGirt and Lucia Rijker is trained by Freddie Roach. Do you see more of this in the near future?
Vonda Ward: I think so. It's a growing sport, and in the last couple of years it has exploded. There's a lot more athletes in the sport, real athletes. A lot of women eager to learn. And a lot of male trainers that train men are getting respect for women in boxing.
Jason Peck: You suffered one loss to Ann Wolfe by way of knockout, which is still respectable. But what does a loss teach you at this point in career?
Vonda Ward: It was a big turning point; I had won 18 in a row with 15 knockouts. It was a big wakeup call. I knocked out 15 people, then it happens to me. It was a gut check.
I took two months off to think things over, and then I decided I didn't want to go out like that. It taught me a lot and I've learned a lot about what I did wrong. That's really what life is, a learning experience. Everything happens for a reason, I needed it to make me a better boxer. I'd never been KO'd before that, it was always a "what if?" question in the back of my mind. Now, there's no fear. Now I just go out there and take care of business.
Jason Peck: Speaking off Ann Wolfe, she was planning to fight a sanctioned bout against a man. Do you think something like that would be good for women's boxing?
Vonda Ward: I don't agree with that. I've been asked to fight men many a time and I've turned it down. I played women's basketball, and we never played men for a championship game. We need to keep the sport for us. We need to keep women's boxing legit, not a sideshow attraction.
Jason Peck: What did you think of the movie "million Dollar Baby"?
Vonda Ward: It was a great movie, the ending surprised the heck out of me. I was hoping for a good movie with a more positive spin, and I was hoping this one was like that but it didn't end up like that. The good thing is that is helped to bring the sport to the forefront; it is a sport, and women can box. So I guess it was good in that way.
Jason Peck: Do you have a fight lined up right now?
Vonda Ward: We're working on a fight for mid-April, it Detroit or Cleveland. I want more rounds and I'm ready to fight. It's just a matter of them agreeing to it.
Jason Peck: In women's boxing the rounds are only 2 minutes long. Do you know why that is?
Vonda Ward: No clue, I don't know if they don't think women can do it or what. I honestly wish it was three minutes. I usually have more endurance than my opponents, so that would be good for me in that regard. But I train at 3 minutes and I spar at 3 minutes. With two minutes you don't have as much time to dance around, so there's more action, that's one positive aspect.
Jason Peck: What are you hoping for in the future?
Vonda Ward: I'm just hoping a lot of things happen. Laila Ali would be a big fight. I've wanted to fight her for a few years. I have three divisions so she can't say I'm too heavy to fight; I'll fight at Light Heavyweight, Cuiserweight, Heavyweight… it doesn't matters. She hasn't fought anyone legit, just padding her record.
Jason Peck: I noticed the last woman who fought for her belt had a record of 6-5.
Vonda Ward: I didn't understand that, she was just a human punching bag. Laila, from what I understand, was sucking wind. Is she taking things too lightly? It's going to be a rude awakening when she faces someone who can put pressure on her. She says I'm not a credible opponent; she sure isn't fighting anyone credible.
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