Sumya Anani (born February 12, 1972) is a retired American professional
female boxer nicknamed "The Island Girl." She was 5'6" and boxed as a junior welterweight.
She is best known for a 1996 bout which left her opponent severely injured and may have served as an inspiration for the film ''
Million Dollar Baby
''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...
''. Outside the ring, she is a yoga instructor and holistic healer.
Anani was born in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
and raised in
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. She competed as a weightlifter in 1995 and 1996. She took up boxing for self-defense and started boxing professionally because she was "short on cash."
She began to box professionally in the summer of 1996.
She began by boxing against relatively unknown opponents. Her fourth professional bout was in
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...
against Katie Dallam, a novice welterweight who had only gotten her pro boxing license the day before
— a pairing described as "an obvious mismatch." In four rounds she landed 119 blows to Dallam's head. Dallam collapsed in her dressing room afterward and required brain surgery. Anani was so upset she considered quitting boxing.
She came to prominence in the boxing world on September 30, 1997, when she defeated former
WIBF
The Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) is one of the more recognized world championship fight sanctioning organizations in women's boxing. Founded in March 1989, it is based in Miami, Florida, and presided over by Barbara Buttrick. The ...
lightweight champion
Stacy Prestage by a knockout. On March 28, 1998 she scored "the sport's biggest upset" with a unanimous six-round decision over veteran
Andrea DeShong, considered "the standard bearer for the sport."
On December 18, 1998, she fought boxing star
Christy Martin and won the match, handing Martin her first defeat since November 1989.
In 2016, Anani was inducted into the
Women's International Boxing Hall of Fame
The International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame (IWBHF) is a sports hall of fame located in Vancouver, Washington. It is dedicated to women's boxing, and was started by Sue TL Fox and her website Women Boxing Archive Network. The Hall of Fame has a ...
in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
. The IWBHF was created and founded by
Sue TL Fox.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of female boxers
This is a list of notable female boxers. For a list of notable male boxers, see List of male boxers.
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{, class="wikitable sortable"
, -
! Name
! National ...
References
External links
Sumya Anania
Awakening Fighters
1972 births
Living people
American women boxers
Boxers from Minnesota
Boxers from Kansas
Welterweight boxers
21st-century American women
{{US-boxing-bio-stub