Sugar, Spice, Left Jab : Boxer, 11, Makes Dad Proud--and Fretful--in a New Era

Her black ponytail swings in time as Jamie Villa lands punch after punch on the heavy bag, the sweat collecting on the 11-year-old’s focused brow as her breathing becomes heavier. Her father, Agustin “Gus” Villa, looks on and can’t help but shake his head.

“I think boxing is in her blood,” he says quietly, as if he’s still trying to get over the surprise of it all. A boxing aficionado himself, he always assumed his love of the sport would be passed on to his 10-year-old son. Instead, it was his youngest daughter who picked up a pair of worn gloves.

The 85-pound Costa Mesa girl, who stands 4 1/2 feet tall, has scored two victories and four exhibition victories recognized by USA Boxing, the national amateur organization. Two of those were by default: There were no qualified competitors for Jamie to fight, an indication of just how few girls and women have turned to a sport normally reserved for boys and men.

That is changing. In 1996, there were about 100 amateur boxers like Jamie, according to USA Boxing statistics. Today, the ranks of amateur girl boxers number over 500. There are more than 700 adult women registered as amateur boxers in the United States, and more than 3,000 professional female boxers worldwide. Noncontact boxing classes have also grown in popularity for many women who want to learn self-defense techniques or just keep fit.

Gus Villa said he is torn about his daughter’s passion. He is awed by her talent but frets over the possibility that she will be hurt. He said he insists on the best safety equipment--including a padded helmet, chest protector and smaller gloves--and reserves the right to reject her sparring partners.

Gina Sahagun, along with her husband, Joaquin, runs the South Coast Martial Arts/Boxing Center in Costa Mesa, where Jamie trains. Sahagun says amateur boxing isn’t any more dangerous than sports such as soccer and football.

Jamie seems unaware that after pestering her father to let her in the ring, she has also thrust herself into a national debate on whether women belong there at all.

“I disapprove of women competing in boxing,” said Stephen B. Acunto, president of the American Assn. for the Improvement of Boxing, a New York-based group that promotes safety in the sport.

He believes women should box only for exercise. At the very least, he says, women’s boxing should prohibit full-contact punches to the head and to the abdomen, which could damage a young woman’s reproductive system.

Others say the “controversy” is manufactured by those who are uncomfortable with the idea of women getting so physical.

“It’s not a greater risk, but it would get more notice from a social standpoint,” said Tom Eaton, president and founder of Femboxer Inc., a group that manages female boxers and uses the Internet to promote their involvement.

Villa, who is raising his daughter by himself, said he has warned Jamie that the bouts will become more violent and dangerous as she gets older, and she may have to quit. And Jamie? She says she just won’t let a competitor get the best of her, and boasts in her soft-spoken way that she hasn’t been hurt once in five years.

“I’m training hard not to lose,” Jamie said firmly as she shadowboxed her way across the ring during a recent training session. She is preparing for two matches: a Long Beach Police Athletic League exhibition in February and a March tournament in Santa Ana.

Jamie’s hero is boxing’s most famous woman, Christy Martin, considered a trailblazer who has served as the opening act for several Mike Tyson fights.

On a recent day, Jamie was glum over losing her favorite photo of Martin, a portrait of the fighter in the traditional stance, which came in a boxing equipment catalog. She’s hoping to get a replacement copy soon.

A Child of Title IX

The sixth-grader at Rea Elementary School in Costa Mesa says her dream is to become a professional boxer, like Martin. If that doesn’t work out, she says, she’ll become a doctor. Her favorite subject in school is math, but her eyes light up when she talks about boxing.

“It’s fun to beat up the boys,” she jokes, giggling. She says friends think her boxing “is cool.”

What has spurred a recent influx of women and girls in boxing is Title IX, the 25-year-old federal mandate that colleges and universities provide equal athletic resources for men and women.

Progress in women’s boxing has been slow, advocates say. The first USA Boxing Women’s National Championships took place in Georgia in 1997. On May 13, the first women’s international boxing tournament, the Feenix Box Cup, will begin in Finland.

Today, girls who box are allowed to compete in the Junior Olympics, but there really aren’t enough competitors to go around. Meanwhile, the Olympics--Jamie’s dream--doesn’t sanction women’s boxing, although some experts predict that will change by the 2008 Olympics.

Jamie’s fascination with boxing began when she started accompanying her father to his boxing workouts.

At age 6, she began working out.Soon, she was sparring with boys her age. She trains about two hours every weekday night at the gym.

“She’s one of the most serious athletes we’ve ever had,” said Gina Sahagun, who herself has trained in martial arts for 13 years and has been so impressed with Jamie’s talents that the youngster is allowed to train at the gym for free. “She’s lively, but when she comes into the gym, she’s all business.”