V.I. woman to make her debut as an amateur boxer Saturday
Published: June 25, 2010
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Amateur boxer Tiffany Reddick, right, with her coach, three-time world boxing champion Julian Jackson.
ST. THOMAS — Tiffany Reddick came to the U.S. Virgin Islands to attend college and play basketball.
Its been four years and a standout college basketball career has come to an end. But the 23-year-old from Pittsburgh has planted new roots in the territory and plans to stay a while.
Reddick wants to become the first female boxer to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands at the Olympics and her journey starts Saturday night on St. Thomas, where she will make her amateur boxing debut.
The V.I. Boxing Federation, with assistance from the V.I. Olympic Committee and the Housing, Parks and Recreation Department, will host 11 amateur bouts that will pit up-and-coming boxers from the territory against amateur boxers from Puerto Rico at Gladys Abraham Elementary School at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Four fights will feature V.I. fighters who will participate in the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, next month. Admission is free.
“I’ve always wanted to try boxing but because of other sports I never could make the time,” Reddick said Thursday after an intense workout at Paul M. Pearson Gardens Learning Center on St. Thomas. “When I came down here, UVI cut the volleyball team and I had a little more time on my hands. I asked around, came to this gym and fell in love.”
Reddick was a terror in the paint for the Lady Buccaneers basketball team. During her senior year, the 2008-09 season, Reddick averaged 18 points and pulled down a team-high 18 rebounds a game.
Known for her scrappy demeanor — Reddick sported thick knee and elbow pads when she played — the 5-foot-8 power forward was in charge of boxing out the opposing team’s center and fighting for real estate in the trenches.
“I’m used to seeing out of my peripheral because of basketball,” said Reddick, who has been training full time in the boxing ring for the last 18 months. “The timing and footwork is a little different but most of those skills translate into boxing.”
That and trying to knock out your opponent.
But while Reddick rarely played basketball with the boys growing up, she now finds herself inside a crowded gym overflowing with testosterone up to five times a week.
“She’s spars with all the guys,” said Reddick’s boxing coach Julian Jackson, a three-time world champion from St. Thomas. “Tiffany has shown so much potential and is one of the young ladies that has stepped up. We’re going to push her, too. She is persistent and very eager, so we are going to mold her into a champion.”
Reddick is not the first female boxer Jackson has trained and she surely won’t be the last.
On Thursday, more than 20 boxers packed the gym and rotated on a timed circuit workout. The bell rang and each boxer had 10 seconds to move to the next exercise. During the melee of sweaty athletes, Reddick was among four female boxers punching the speed bag, jumping rope and sparring with trainers.
“She is definitely someone I look up to,” said St. Thomas native Melissa Matthias, 21, who attends UVI and started boxing a month ago. “I’m looking forward to Saturday and seeing her in action.”
Reddick will draw hands with Puerto Rico’s Ileana López. It will be only the third time she has ever boxed another woman. Last December, she fought in two exhibition matches during a three-day tournament in Puerto Rico. Besides that, it’s been all guys.
“When I first went up against another woman, to be honest, I was a little overwhelmed,” said Reddick, who has a long wingspan and a strong right hand. “I didn’t know what to expect because I never even sparred with a woman before. But now I kind of know what to expect. I usually have a height advantage and I’m more familiar with the pace of a women’s boxing match.”
Reddick is yet to spar with a woman, but she wants to. So does Jackson.
After Matthias took off her gloves and left the gym for the night, Jackson asked her about some interested female friends she said would be coming by the gym.
“Bring them Saturday night!” Jackson yelled as she waved good-bye.
Blazing a trail for female boxers in the territory doesn’t intimidate Reddick. Coming from a sports-crazed city like Pittsburgh, Reddick said talented athletes were all around her.
“I didn’t realize how much of a big deal it would be,” she said. “After I was done with basketball, I sat down with my boxing coaches here and got their honest opinion. Our plan is the Olympics. But to be the first female boxer from the Virgin Islands ... that would be pretty historical.”
— Contact sports reporter Aaron Gray at 774-8772 ext. 352 or e-mail agray@dailynews.vi.
Amateur Boxing Night on St. Thomas
