(OCT 1) In the world of pugilism, boxers have various milestones, their pro debut, their first belt of any variety, their first world title, and so on.
Connecticut-based welterweight Stevie Jane Coleman is a fighter on the rise, but she recently achieved a milestone – a top ten world ranking, ranked 9th with the WBO rankings.
She entered the WBO rankings in August as the 9th ranked welterweight, and not long before that, earned a spot as the 8th best welterweight, according to the WBA.
Photo credit: Kirk Lang
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s definitely motivation to keep climbing the ladder to reach that number one spot.”
Coleman’s parents, Stephen and Ivy, at one time “didn’t really like the fact that I boxed but now they’re super supportive.”
“They were happy to see I made the top ten,” said Coleman.
She has come a long way from the young girl that wanted to box like her brothers but had to earn her way to the gym.
“I used to ask my parents all the time. It was a ‘no’ since I was 13,” said Coleman, who is the youngest of seven. “I kept asking. Finally, he said I had to run and shadowbox for a year.
She had to run three miles a day, with only one day off a week.
“I was a chubby kid so when I first started, I couldn’t even run a mile or do a push-up,” she said.
Once she proved her dedication, her dad said, ‘I gotta take her now,’” Coleman said. She was 16 at the time.
Photo credit: Kirk Lang
Now 24 years old, Coleman is on the cusp of fighting for a world title.
She has put in the work with her trainer, Paul Cichon, and her strength and conditioning coach, Carmen Dorothy, to make it this far.
“Stevie is an unbelievable hard worker,” said Cichon. She’s dedicated, I always joke with her and say she’s a pain in my [butt] because if she has to take a day off for medicals, like she has to do tomorrow (Friday), she wants to come in on Saturday or Sunday just to make up for that day. That’s how dedicated she is.
“She’s very, very dedicated. She loves to learn. The harder I push her, the more she loves it.”
Cichon takes pride in the recent top ten rankings by the WBA and the WBO.
“I’m extremely proud,” he said. “For somebody with the lack of experience she has, she’s accomplished quite a bit.”
Although Coleman, 6-1 (2), won a New England Golden Gloves championship as an amateur, she only had a total of 10 fights in the unpaid ranks.
For Cichon, Coleman is only his third fighter, male or female, to earn a top ten ranking. He previously reached the milestone with Matt Remillard, now retired, and Mykquan Williams, a talented junior welterweight who is looking to rebound from an upset loss to Antonio Moran earlier this year.
“I’m kind of looking forward to the next level and that’s going to be up to Jimmy Burchfield (Coleman’s promoter),” said Cichon. “He’s helping guide her to the top.”
While Coleman earned her top ten ranking at welterweight, she and Cichon have decided that she will be going down a division, to junior welterweight.
“After her involvement in Team Combat League, we decided to go down to 140,” said Cichon. “Right now, they’ve got a fight for her in Puerto Rico, at 147, but I don’t want it. She said she wants to fight at 140, and that’s what she’s going to do.”
He added, “You want to be on the high side of your own weight class. You know what I mean? You don’t want to be a small 147. I want her to be the bigger one when she gets in the ring.”
Coleman concurs.
“Moving down in weight is going to be better for me I think because I keep my power,” she said.
Although Coleman had a relatively brief amateur career, she has been making up for it, getting valuable lessons sparring with one of the best female fighters in the world, Katie Taylor, as Taylor has a home in CT and trains at Cichon’s Ring of Champions Society (ROCS) gym in Manchester.
“Working with Katie has been an amazing opportunity and I feel incredibly lucky that I was able to so much,” said Coleman. “I definitely learned a lot from her.”
Cichon and Coleman of course went to Madison Square Garden this past July to support Taylor as she headlined a historic all women’s fight card at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
“It was inspiring,” said Coleman, adding, “I do believe I’ll be there one day.”
Questions/Comments: kirklang@yahoo.com
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