Home: Women : Kaliesha West

Kaliesha West-Knock Out Cancer
One Punch at a Time

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and what perfect timing for retired Boxing Champ "Sugar" Shane Mosley to team up with Diamond's Love Foundation, the Susan B. Coleman Foundation and Fighter Kaliesha West.

This was for the production of a two day fight benefit event, "Knock Out Cancer: Boxing for the Cure" which was purposed to increase awareness and to fight cancer...with a KO punch.

Held on October 5 and 6 in Moreno Valley, California, the main card for the Knock Out Cancer event featured current World Boxing Organization (WBO) Bantamweight Champion, Kaliesha West, aka "Wild West" who took on Christine Ruiz in a ten-rounder for the title of International Female Boxing Association Super Bantamweight Champion.

How "Wild West" Won

When Kaliesha West decided to move up in weight in order to fight against Ruiz in the Super Bantamweight division, not just everyone thought it was a smart move. Ruiz is known in women's boxing for her heavy handed punches. But...West believed in herself and that turned out to be what mattered. West posted on her official facebook site "The key to success is believing in yourself when no one else does."

With her best foot forward and awesome utilization of her lightning fast speed, the "Wild West" put out what it took to defeat Ruiz in a Unanimous Decision with scores of: 99-91, 100-90 and 100-90.

The fight was not at all one-sided, West was quick to point out. The first part of the bout, the two contenders battled it out with the girls battling back and forth and West even recieving a warning by the referee for a couple of below the belt punches during the left hook body attacks.

It was in the final rounds that West began to really shine with Ruiz wearing out from the body attacks. West kept her speed throughout the fight and coupled with the left hooks and body attacks, and at the end of the night, the stellar performance won her the vacant title.

"Wild West" History

Born to former U.S. Navy boxing champion, Juan West, on February 11, 1988, in South Haven, Michigan, Kaliesha West first became interested in boxing by watching her Dad box. To her father's chagrin and in spite of his discouragement, West insisted on taking up the sport.

By the age of ten, West was obviously hooked on women's boxing and the rest is history. Winning the 2002 and 2003 Junior Olympic championships, the 2003 and 2004 Silver Gloves championships, and the 2002 125 lb. National Golden Gloves championship, with her father as her manager and trainer, she boasted an impressive amatuer record of 98-10.

It was on February of 2006 at age eighteen that West went pro, winning her first fight via Unanimous Decision and went on to win the vacant WBO Bantamweight title on September 18, 2010 against Angel Gladney by TKO.

And it just kept getting better! Kaliesha made boxing history when she became the first boxing champion from the Inland Empire. In addition to that, she was the first female to ever win a world title on a Golden Boy Promotions fight card.

Now sponsored by Adidas, West recently really made her mark by defeating Christine Ruiz at "Knock Out Cancer: Boxing for the Cure" to win the vacant Super Bantamweight Title on October 6, 2012.

West is a female boxing correspondent on a talk show about boxing and other sports and is a pioneer for equality between men and women's boxing. The title holder also models and is a spokeswoman for several sport nutrition companys.