Photo: Native Female Boxer Seeks Another World Championship Belt

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Kali Reis is once again hoping to win a world championship boxing belt.

Reis, a 29-year-old who has Cherokee, Nipmuc and Seaconke Wampanoag ancestry, is the reigning women's International Boxing Association (IBA) middleweight champion. She won that title last November at a bout in Bermuda.


RELATED: Native Boxer Wins Women's IBA Crown

Reis, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, is hoping to capture another belt this Saturday night. She will challenge Costa Rica’s Hanna Gabriel for her World Boxing Organization (WBO) super welterweight belt. The match will be held in the Costa Rican city of Liberia.


Reis enters the bout sporting a 7-4-1 record while Gabriel’s mark is 14-1-1.
Though her first nine bouts as a pro were all in the United States, Saturday’s fight will be the fourth consecutive one for Reis held outside of the country.


Reis had travelled to Germany this past May to face Christina Hammer for the WBO middleweight crown. Though Reis knocked Hammer down with a right hook, the German fighter retained her title by unanimous decision. 
Prior to leaving for Costa Rica to prepare for her bout, Reis spoke to Indian Country Today Media Network about numerous topics including this fight, female boxers and representing First Nation peoples.

Would you prefer to have a fight closer to home?


I would. But nobody (from North America) wants to fight me right now. That’s why I have to travel. It would be great to fight at home. I haven’t fought here in so long. I just have to take the fights that come my way.

How much do you know about Hanna going into this fight?

I’ve actually been watching a lot of her fights. I like to study people as much as I can before fighting them. She’s a tough girl and she does have skills. But she’s not a huge threat in my eyes. I don’t take anybody lightly. But I’m not going to let this chance pass me by this time around.

Where does this fight rank in your career?

It’s going to be a good one and it’s an important one for me. Every fight to me is important though. This is another stepping stone for me. And it is for another world championship belt. The WBO is one of the top four prestigious belts you can get. It opens up a lot of doors for you. It will give me some leverage for future fights.

Are you worried that you are entering this fight coming off of a loss?

Not really. You learn a lot more from a loss than you do from a win. I made a few mistakes in that last fight. It opened my eyes to a lot of good things. Plus a loss just pushes me more and more.

Do you think you’ll see the day when females can make their living just from boxing?

I would love for that to happen. But we’ll see how things go. It’s not up to us to make that happen. It’s up to the promoters. I’d say now that half the people in the world don’t even know that females box. Females just don’t get the same recognition for boxing. It’s really unfair. We don’t get Floyd Mayweather kind of money.

How tough is it juggling your boxing career with your work now?

It can be challenging at times. Right now I’m working for a motorcycle gear and accessories company. And I have clients that I train. Plus I do some security work. It gets tough at times but that’s what I have to do. It’s my journey. Between training and working I have very, very long days. Even my days off from work are very busy.

You had to lose a few pounds since your last fight for this super welterweight match. Are you comfortable in the ring now having lost those pounds?

It’s not that big a deal for me moving between the weight classes. For the fight against Christina I had to get up to 160 pounds. And now for this super welterweight bout I had to get down to 154 pounds. I’m actually more comfortable fighting at 154 pounds.

Do you make a big deal out of being a Native boxer?

I’m very proud of it. That’s why I always say I am fighting for all Nations. I like taking on that responsibility and being a positive role model.