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5'7" bantamweight Alesia-Tamara Graf was born in Gomel, Belarus on
October 14, 1980. She moved to Germany in 1999 and now lives in Stuttgart.
Graf has said that she did not move to Germany in order to box, but intended to
study. However, she found that her knowledge of the German language was
insufficient and she changed her plans when she found herself becoming
successful in a boxing career.
An athlete who also enjoys swimming, basketball and beach volleyball.
Alesia Graf began boxing as an amateur in 2001. After fifteen fights she won the
54-kg division of the first international women's tournament organized by the
German Boxing Federation in Meppen, Germany in November, 2003. In this
event, which attracted considerable interest from journalists, radio and TV
stations as ell as spectators, 35 women competed in eight weight divisions.
Alesia first defeated Magdalene Dalecki (Bayer Leverkusen) 40-14, then
dispatched Carmen Carrido Chadez (BSC Augsburg) by 56-14. In the tournament
final she won by a convincing 36-9 score over Halim Ay (BV Ibbenbüren) and was
awarded the title of "best boxer" in the tournament.
Alesia joined the professional ranks with Universum Box Promotion and manager
Klaus-Peter Kohl in February 2004. Under the direction of trainer Torsten
Schmitz, who has guided the career of long-time German WIBF champion
Regina Halmich, Alesia competes in the bantamweight
division where Universum had previously promoted Bulgarian fighter
Daisy Lang. Alesia is benefiting from Universum's
ongoing contract for live boxing shows on German television and is also
sponsored by Stuttgart jeweler Ralf Haeffner.
She made her professional debut on February 14, 2004 at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle
in Stuttgart at 119 lbs, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Petra Jachmanova
(119 lbs) of Slovenia who fell to 0-3-1 with the loss.
 On
March 2, 2004 at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany, Alesia progressed
to 2-0 (1 KO) with a second-round TKO of debut fighter Marina Zhekova of
Bulgaria in a scheduled four-rounder.
On May 29, 2004 at Ostseehalle in Kiel, Germany she won a decision over Simone Suciu
of Romania who fell to 0-7-0
with the loss.
On July 2, 2004 at Stadthalle in Hattersheim, Germany, she won a four-round
decision over debut fighter Julia Kulikowa of the Ukraine.
On July 17, 2004 at Stadthalle in Zwickau, Germany, she won a six-round decision
in a rematch with Petra Jachmanova, who was now 1-7-1.
On September 21, 2004 at Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany she weighed in at
118½ lbs and TKO'd Pavla Stankeova (120 lbs) of Chechnya at 0:29 in the second
round of a scheduled six-rounder. Stankeova fell to 0-4-0.
On November 6, 2004 at Erdgas Arena in Riesa, Germany, Alesia (116¼ lbs) TKO'd Agnes Adonga
(117 lbs) of Uganda in a ten-rounder for the WIBF intercontinental bantamweight
title. Graf won the bout after Adonga's corner threw in the towel
after the third round. Adonga had already pleaded with her trainer to stop the
fight after the second round, but he persuaded her to fight on for another
stanza. However she was outclassed and he agreed to stop her suffering after the
third. Adonga fell to 1-2-0 with this loss.
Graf vs. Santana in January 2005
On January 15, 2005 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany Alesia (117¾ lbs)
TKO'd Dayana Santana (118½ lbs) of the Dominican Republic when Santana would
not continue into the fifth round of a scheduled eight-rounder. According to
WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Tonight on the undercard of the Regina Halmich vs. Marylin Hernandez card Alesia Graf’s
opponent, Dayan(n)a Santana, was a willowy girl from the Dominican Republic with plenty of sass but an unorthodox
style and no idea how to cope with a fighter like Graf, who let her burn herself out throwing haymakers into her
guard and flailing the air. Santana was quick on her feet and shuffled and moved well enough in the earlier rounds,
but she had nothing in offence. Throughout the first two or three rounds, Graf weakened her with body shots and hurt
her with powerful lefts. By the fourth, Santana was clearly demoralized and tried for the first minute just to stay
out of range. Graf gestured as if to say: “Are we here to fight or dance?” That shamed her into a confrontation she
would regret: in the second half of the round, Graf coolly beat her up, trapping her repeatedly on the ropes and
hitting her with everything in her arsenal, including a wicked right hook to the liver when she tried to turn away. Half way through the round break, Santana plucked up the courage to tell her corner men she wanted to quit. They
tried to talk her out of it, but ... when she couldn’t convince them, she put her foot down: “No voy a pelear!” (“I’m not going to fight!”) “Then I
suppose we’ll have to throw the towel in,” came the reply. But they didn’t. Graf came out for the fifth and Santana stood her ground. Or rather sat it. Then her trainer began
unfastening her gloves. and finally – with unconcealed reluctance -- the other guy in the corner produced a towel,
rather the way you produce your driving licence when you get stopped for speeding."
Santana fell to 2-3-0.
On February 15, 2005 at Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs(
won a six-round unanimous decision over Oksana Romanova (114¾ lbs) of the
Ukraine who fell to 2-3-1 with the loss. A German report said "Anyone who has
not seen Alesia Graf in the
ring yet should use the next opportunity to do so! This young female boxer is
simply phaenomenal. She has technical talents and boxes like a man. Her leg work,
punch variations and in particular the lead left
hand are nearly perfect. The six rounds against the capable opponent from the Ukraine were
an advertisement
for woman boxers. Universe Box Promotion was lucky to obtain the contract with
the young woman from
Stuttgart. The successor to Regina Halmich is undoubtedly found! It is
almost redundant to say that Alesia Graf won each round of this fight."
Graf (R) battles Vasilyeva in March 2005
On March 16, 2005 at Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany Alesia (119 lbs) won a
hard-fought six round majority (60-55,57-57,59-57) decision over Oksana Vasilyeva
(120¼ lbs) of Russia. The hard-charging Vasilyeva provided a very clear step
up in the level of competition for Graf, and came prepared to do battle despite
the abundant technical skills of the German. Graf controlled the early action
with her jab and her varied repertoire of following punches while the undaunted
Russian came on strong and turned up the pressure on her in the later rounds.
Graf's cleaner scoring punches in the early going were apparently sufficient to
persuade one judge to award her five of six rounds, while the others saw a much
closer fight that could easily have resulted in a draw. Vasilyeva fell to 5-2-0,
her other loss being to Anastasia Toktaulova.
On May 28, 2005 at the
Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (115¾ lbs) lost
a ten round split (96-94,96-95,94-96) decision to Alicia Ashley (115¾ lbs)
of Westbury, New York, USA for the GBU Bantamweight title. According to
WBAN correspondent Torben L., "Ashley
kept picking points with her very fast hands, and her upper body movements made
it very difficult for Alesia Graf to find her target. Graf felt the punching
power of Ashley in the second round, when she was sent to the canvas. However,
she did not look particularly shaken and merely hit the canvas before she was
back up again. It did look as if it was also a question of being off balance at
the time she was hit. Graf had obvious problems dealing with Ashley's southpaw
stance in the early rounds, but she did get more into the fight as it
progressed. Fighting from the middle of the ring, and chasing Ashley she did
manage to deliver some telling punches, but was often caught by Ashley's counter
punching. During most of the fight, Ashley kept hear guard fairly low, relying
on her speed and footwork, but her brother, who worked her corner, told her to
get her guard up as Graf was starting to get her punches through in the later
rounds. Evidence of this was seen at the final bell, when Ashley was bleeding
out of the right ear. Graf not only has a big fighter's heart, but also good
skills, and might well have been able to come out of the fight as the winner if
she had been able to find the right range.
No doubt, she will make her mark in the
bantamweight division in the future, as she gains more experience.
Both boxers were very
well conditioned, and although the bout was fought at high pace throughout, it
was obvious that they had done their homework in the gym."
Alicia Ashley improved her record to
12-5-1 (1 KO) while Graf suffered her first pro loss and fell to 10-1-0 (4
KOs) ... see also the
fight photos.
On September 10, 2005 at DM-Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs)
knocked out Liliana Martinez (119 lbs) of the Dominican Republic at 1:42 in the
third round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Martinez fell to 3-6-0 (3 KO's).
On November 15, 2005 at
Hohenstaufenhalle in Göppingen, Germany, Alesia (118 lbs) won a 10-round
unanimous (99-91,99-91,
100-91) decision over
Sharon
Gaines (118 lbs) of Kansas City, Missouri for the WIBF Intercontinental
Bantamweight title.
Gaines fell to 9-5-0 (3 KO's).
On February 28, 2006 at Alte Reithalle in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (114
lbs) won a ten-round unanimous (99-91,98-92,99-91) decision over Marylin
Hernandez (114¼ lbs) of the Dominican Republic for the vacant GBU Junior
Bantamweight title. Hernandez fell to 13-6 (7 KO's) with the loss.
On April 29, 2006 in Stuttgart,
Germany, Alesia (112½ lbs)
made her first defense of her GBU Junior Bantamweight belt, winning by a TKO at
1:42 in the sixth round over Beatrix Farago (5'0", 113½
lbs) of Sopron, Hungary. Farago showed a lot of fighting spirit and courage,
but simply did not have the boxing skills to pose any kind of threat to Graf.
Farago had a clear disadvantage in reach, and hardly managed to get inside to
deliver any telling punches. Graf was in command all through the fight, until
the referee stopped it. Farago fell to 4-2-1 (2 KOs) with the
loss.
On
September 9, 2006 at Bördelandhalle in Magdeburg, Germany,
Maria Jose Nunez Anchorena
(114¾ lbs) of Uruguay did not have the boxing skills to pose any threat for a
very motivated Graf (114¼ lbs). Anchorena was wide open, and Graf
took full advantage and punished her from the beginning of round one. Graf
continued to catch Anchorena with left jabs and follow up with powerful rights
in round two. The referee stopped the fight 42 seconds into round three, after
Anchorena was caught with some very powerful blows on the ropes, and failed to
return any punches.
Anchorena fell to 5-1-0 (4 KO's).
On November 18, 2006 at the Burgwächter
Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany, Alesia (114¾ lbs) defeated Heather
Percival (114¾ lbs) of Fontana, California, by a ten-round unanimous decision.
Graf was defending her GBU Junior Bantamweight title. Percival fell to 9-4 (1 KO).
On June 30, 2007 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (113¾ lbs) TKO'd
late substitute Natasha Guthier (114½ lbs) of Karlsruhe, Germany at 1:03 into the third round of a scheduled
ten-rounder defending her GBU Junior Bantamweight title. Guthier fell to 5-2-2 (2 KO's).
On September 15, 2007 at the Stadthalle in Rostock,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, Alesia won a 10-round unanimous (97-92,96-93,97-92)
decision over undefeated NABF
bantamweight champion Zulina Munoz of Mexico City, Mexico defending the GBU
Junior Bantamweight title.
After Munoz
demanded a rematch, Graf stated,
"The Mexican can have a rematch if she likes to get hit so much. However,
then she'll get KO'd."
Munoz fell to
16-1-0 (15 KOs) in her first appearance
outside Mexico.
On March 8, 2008 at KoenigPALAST in
Krefeld, Germany,
Alesia (114¾ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (98-92,98-93,97-93) decision
over Hagar Shmoulefeld Finer (114¾ lbs) of Tel-Aviv, Israel. The two were
fighting for the GBU and WIBF Junior Bantamweight titles.
Graf improved her record to
19-1-0 (8 KO's) while Shmoulefeld
Finer, who had taken the fight at short notice, fell to
16-6-3 (4 KO's).
On May 3, 2008 at Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
in Stuttgart, Germany, Alesia (116 lbs) won by TKO at 1:32 in the fifth round
over Rosilete Santos (114¾ lbs) of Curitiba, Brazil. About five minutes of the
fight was televised on ZDF. When the referee stopped the fight in round 5,
after a series of hard punches from Graf, Santos was very displeased with the
ref's decision. Graf stated after the fight that she didn't understand why the
fight was broken off at that stage.
Graf improved her record to
20-1-0 (9 KO's) while Santos fell to 10-3-0 (7 KO's).
 Other Alesia Graf links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Tuesday, 03 June 2008 |
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