Superstar Amateur Standout Boxer Amanda Pavone makes her Pro Debut on 7-30-2016 on the Murphy’s Boxi
A lot of popular amateur boxers from New England made or will be making their pro debut this year which brings me to female boxer bantamweight, Amanda “Hands of Stone” Pavone from Burlington, Massachusetts. She steps in the ring on July 30th at the Memorial Hall, Plymouth, Massachusetts against mma fighter Kaline Medeiros of Woburn, Massachusetts who also will be making her pro debut.
Pattee Mak: Soon enough you’ll be doing your ring walk for your first professional bout. You must be extremely excited to be switching gears from amateur to professional. What does this mean to you?
Pavone: Going pro is an exciting new step in my boxing career. I've been amateur for about 6 years. I always hated the pitter patter of the amateurs and the politics are a bit ridiculous. Going pro will give me a chance to really showcase my talent and style which, in my opinion, is more suited for the pros.
Pattee Mak: Your opponent, Medeiros is familiar in the cage and I have seen her KO her opponent out before. Have you ever been to any of her mma fights or have sparred with her in the past?
Pavone: I have never been to any of her fights. I actually have sparred her before. YEARS ago. I'm not sure where she was in her career then but I was just starting out so I can’t really base anything off of that sparring. I'm sure we both have changed a bit since 4 years ago. I know I have.
Pattee Mak: Some mma fighters do have the habit of going for a knee. Are you at all concerned about this possibility?
Pavone: I'm not too concerned about a knee. I’m more concerned about her awkwardness. If it happens it happens, hopefully I can see it coming!!
Pattee Mak: It looks like you’ve been working in the gym with another well-known female fighter from this area, Shelly [Shelito Vincent (18-0-0, 1 ko)] who also knows your opponent. Was she preparing you for your match or you helping her with hers?
Pavone: I was helping Shelly for her fight but any work from her is good work so I got something out of as well.
Pattee Mak: Did you ask Shelly about Medeiros style of fighting or did she have any comments or advise to give you?
Pavone: Shelly didn't have too much to say about Medeiros, she's a friend of both of ours so she didn’t have much to say, just a couple tips. Like I said before we all worked together a long long time ago so I have somewhat of an idea of her style.
Pattee Mak: Tell me about your training. I believe you are training at Peter Welch’s Gym and I have seen Hector Bermudez working your corner before. Is Hector your main trainer or?
Pavone: Hector is my main trainer yes. We moved gyms and are actually training at Bay Shore Athletic Club in Braintree now. I train pretty much every day. I TRY to take a day off the gym a week but I'm always working so it’s really not a full day of rest. I work full time cooking at the Daily Catch Restaurant so working the line and training every day is more exhausting than you can imagine and it wreaks havoc on my body. I usually end up crashing and burning from not resting enough. Something I really need to work on. There’s just not enough time in the day to fit in the running, boxing, sparring, working and everything else!!!
Pattee Mak: Trust me I totally understand.
Pattee Mak: Now that you’ll be turning pro, do you think that it’ll be difficult to find opponents for your weight class in the future?
Pavone: That is actually a big concern of mine. I think it will be very difficult to find opponents. I'm used to it though, it’s hard finding opponents as an amateur in New England. I have to go to nationals usually just to fight.
Pattee Mak: Let’s switch gears to your amateur boxing days. At one point the 2016 RIO Olympics was on your mind. What happened?
Pavone: Well as an amateur I usually struggle to make 119 (mostly because I LOVE to eat) and I dropped all the way to 112 for the qualifiers and the trials. It was a different weight class for me which was fine but I definitely didn't feel as strong at 112, and I would say that's my biggest asset for the trials. I won my fist fight, lost a close fight to the girl [Ginny] Fuchs who ended up winning first place, and got completely robbed on my last fight. Two losses you’re out. So that's what happened. I'm still pretty bitter about it but that's the amateurs for ya.
Pattee Mak: I know you won the gloves in Lowell this year. Tell me more about your amateur career and the belts/awards you won.
Pavone: Let’s see...... I’ve won the NE Golden Gloves every year but one. Six times I believe. 3x National Golden Gloves Silver medalist. 3x US Nationals Silver medalist. 2016 World Championship Silver medalist. 2x National PAL Gold medalist. Placed fifth in the Olympic team trials at 112lbs. I believe I'm currently ranked #2 at 119lb and #7 at 112lbs in the amateurs.
Pattee Mak: Where can someone reach out to you for tickets?
Pavone: You can inbox me on facebook for tickets! CLICK HERE
Pattee Mak: Thanks so much for the interview. I wish you the best of luck on the 30th. There’s nothing like your first fight. It’ll be the fight you’ll always remember.
Pavone: Thanks Pattee!! I'm super excited!!
If you can’t get a hold of Pavone for tickets, you can visit www.murphysboxing.com or www.wickedlocal.com/burlington for more details of the July 30 card. Information can also be obtained by calling 310-344-2293. Tickets range from $40 to $100.
