Garside To Be Inducted into IWBHF in
July
by Bernie McCoy -
IWBHF Press Release
PORTLAND, OR -
(April 23, 2015) Jeannine Garside, whose nearly six year professional
boxing career culminated with a 2010 unanimous decision over undefeated Ina
Menzer for the WBC World Female Featherweight title, will be among eight
inductees into the second class of the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame
in July. The other honorees include "modern era" boxers Laila Ali,
Laura Serrano, Ann Wolfe,
Deirdre Gogarty and Terri Moss,
along with Sparkle Lee, the first female
referee appointed by the NY State Athletic Commission and Phyllis Kugler
(posthumous) a 1950s pioneer boxer in the sport. The ceremony will take place in
the Crystal Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six in Fort Lauderdale, FL
(3:00-6:30 PM) on Saturday, July 11 and will be held in conjunction with the
National Women's Golden Gloves tournament.
Ina Metzer (left) - Jeannine Garside (right)
Following an
outstanding amateur career (40-5), which included four Canadian National
Championship belts, Garside turned professional in December 2004 with a four
round decision over Heather Percival. In November 2006, she won the WIBA
featherweight title with a dominating 10 round decision over highly regarded
Laura Serrano. Seeking new challenges, Garside stepped up in weight in June 2008
and lost a close decision to tough Chevelle Hallback for the IFBA lightweight
title.
Garside and Chevelle Hallack in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Maintaining a
challenge mentality, Garside turned "road warrior," traveling to Korea and
Bosnia, dropping excruciatingly, close decisions to Ji-Hye Woo and Irma Adler
for the IFBA and WIBA featherweight titles in September and December,
respectively. Returning home, literally and figuratively, Garside's next two
bouts were in her native British Columbia, winning a decision over Dominga Olivo
in June 2009 and scoring a three round knockout over Lindsay Garbatt, capturing
the WBC International featherweight and WIBA featherweight crowns in the
process. The Garbatt bout propelled Garside, three months later, to Stuttgart,
Germany where she handed Ina Menzer her first professional loss in 27 bouts over
six years. The defeat remained the lone loss on Menzer's record when she
retired, in 2013, with 31 wins. Those are the highlights of Jeannine Garside's
fourteen bout, 103 round career and the words and facts tell an observer about
as much about this remarkable fighter's career as the long ago "Classic Comics"
used to inform me of Shakespeare.
Photo: Facebook
"I loved
everything about the sport; the training, the pain, mental and physical, the
anticipation of a big bout and then the satisfaction that comes from giving
everything, everything you trained for, into a compacted, focused competition,
one on one. It's unlike any other sport." That's Jeannine Garside, speaking from
her home in Windsor, Ontario and when I was on the phone with her, my overriding
thought was how inadequate the word "passion" would be in describing Jeannine
Garside's fervency for a sport she graced for nearly six years. Start with the
Chevelle Hallback bout which is instructive in defining Jeannine Garside, boxer.
In 2008, female fighters in the lightweight division gave ample room to Chevelle
Hallback. She was not sought out as an opponent, more likely she was avoided by
many of the female lightweight fighters. In June, Jeannine Garside, a
featherweight, agreed to go up a full weight class to step into the ring with
Hallback. The bout was the semi-windup to the much ballyhooed Holly Holm/Mary Jo
Sanders bout in Albuquerque, NM. After ten rounds of bell/bell fury resulted in
a split decision for Hallback, the main go was relegated, by many boxing fans,
ringside and on television, to almost an afterthought. "Chevelle was as tough as
they come," remembers Garside, "it was a great experience, I learned a lot."
That goes way beyond passion.
After two "on the road" losses in Korea and Bosnia in 2008 (recalling the Bosnia
bout with Adler, Garside notes, "I stood in the middle of the ring, waiting for
the decision, sure I had won") Garside regrouped and went back to her roots, her
hometown, Duncan, British Columbia, winning two bouts that put her in a position
for a shot at the WBC title against Menzer in Germany. Garside recalls her game
plan, "Going on the road, particularly overseas, in this sport, is difficult,
but being home, winning at home, having that support, refocused my mind and put
me in a good place, mentally and physically, going to Germany. I felt I couldn't
lose. Ina is a good fighter, but that night I felt unbeatable. My corner kept
telling me to not let up and I went all out right to the final bell, putting her
down in the tenth (it was called a slip although most ringside observers saw it
as knockdown). "I waited eight months for the German promoter to offer either a
return with Menzer or another bout, but an offer never came and, finally, I
said, 'maybe it's time to give my daughter a sibling'. " And thus, having
achieved all there was to be achieved in the female featherweight division and
following what would be a signature win in any fighter's career, Jeannine
Garside retired.
Garside views the
Hall of Fame induction as a "fairy tale" ending. "It's hard to put into words
what this means to me, but the timing is perfect. As time has passed, I actually
miss the sport more, not less and this honor goes a long way towards helping me
bring back to life those once in a lifetime experiences that I had in the ring
and I'll be able to share it with those who know exactly what it takes to climb
through the ropes. That's going to be special."
And for Garside, maybe even a little extra special. Her 2006 win over Laura
Serrano, who will enter the Hall along with Garside on July 11, did much to
establish Garside as a force in the featherweight ranks. After that bout,
Garside, a gracious winner, exchanged trunks with Serrano. "You're opponents in
the ring, but comrades in the sport," is the way Garside put it remembering the
Serrano bout. Winning in the ring is the goal of every fighter who steps through
the ropes. Winning with class is a special attribute, a combination that
Jeannine Garside exhibited through the nearly six years she competed as a
professional boxer and a combination she will carry with her when she is
fittingly recognized in July in Fort Lauderdale as she enters the International
Women's Boxing Hall of Fame.
