Leatitia Robinson (born September 30, 1980) an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who held the IWBF

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

title from 2002 to 2004 and the WIBA middleweight title from 2004 to 2006.

Amateur career

Robinson was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, in 1980. She began boxing at age 14 to survive in Cabrini–Green public housing projects. She was involved with numerous street fights growing up, and would often beat up large men in these encounters. Robinson won her first

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

competition in 1995. She repeated the performance in 1996, 1997 and 1998, also winning the 1996 Citywide Tournament in Chicago. On May 31, 1998, in the 156-lb final of the USA Boxing/Everlast National Senior Championships in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, Robinson lost to Evelyn Rodriquez of New York by a 10-2 score. This would be Robinson's only defeat as an amateur boxer. On April 15, 2000, in the 165-lb final of the USA Boxing/Everlast National Championships in Midland, Texas, Robinson stopped her opponent at 0:51 in the opening round. On May 7, 2000, in the 75-kg final of the prestigious Feenix Box Cup international tournament in Turku, Finland, Robinson defeated Canadian champion Jennyfer Grenon by a 5-4 margin. On August 12, 2000, in the 165-lb Open Division Final of the 2000 US National/International Golden Gloves in Augusta, Georgia, Robinson won by a 5-0 decision over Angela Josipovic of Toronto, Canada. Robinson's amateur boxing career ended with a 37-1 record.

Professional career

She made her pro debut on March 23, 2001 in Rosemont, Illinois, winning by a first-round TKO over Aicheria Bell in a scheduled 4 rounder. Bell's pro record fell to 1-4. On December 14, 2002 in

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

, in a battle of former US amateur champions, Robinson TKO'd Dakota Stone in the sixth round to win the vacant IWBF Middleweight title. On February 28, 2004 at Veterans Memorial Field House in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, in a battle between two undefeated and top-ranked fighters, Robinson won the WIBA Middleweight title with a ten-round unanimous (98-92 97-94 99-91) decision over Nikki Eplion. Former Toughwoman champion Eplion was the favorite of the crowd, estimated at 1,000, and had predicted a third-round KO at the weigh-in. But the ring skills that Robinson had honed in her 37-1 amateur career were too much for Eplion as Robinson constantly beat her to the punch. On September 24, 2004 at the

Philips Arena State Farm Arena (formerly Philips Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Atlanta Hawks. It also served as home to the National Hockey Leag ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Robinson won the IBA Continental Light Heavyweight title with a ten-round unanimous decision over

Valerie Mahfood Valerie Rebecca Mahfood (born February 1, 1974) is a female boxer who is a former world Super Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion. Known as "The Big Bad Wolfe", Mahfood is known in the boxing world by her brawling style of fighting, an ...

. Robinson outboxed Mahfood while punishing her with fast jabs and right hands. Robinson punctuated this performance by knocking down Mahfood in the 10th round. On February 11, 2005 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Robinson knocked out

Mónica Núñez Mónica Núñez (born 12 October 1976) is a Dominican former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2005. She challenged once for the IWBF super-middleweight title in 2004 and once for the WIBA middleweight title in 2005. Núñez bega ...

with only the second punch she threw in the fight, to earn an easy 36-second win and successfully defend her WIBA Middleweight Title.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Leatitia 1980 births American women boxers Living people Boxers from Illinois World boxing champions World middleweight boxing champions Boxers from Chicago 21st-century American women