19-year-old Vanessa Juarez of Ft. Worth, Texas is your typical teenager. She enjoys shopping and hanging out with her friends. Like many other 19-year-olds, she concerns herself with her impending college schedule and the time constraints it will place upon her life. What separates Juarez from her peers is her job. Instead of punching a clock at a typical nine-to-five, Juarez punches people for a living as a professional boxer.
Juarez's foray into the sweet science was inevitable given her family's passion and dedication to the sport. "I have just been around it my whole life." Juarez explained in a recent interview with FightHype. "My two brothers started boxing before me and my dad was the head coach of our boxing club so I was just always around it during my childhood. I was always going to tournaments with my brothers."
Despite the integration of boxing into the Juarez family household, there were some initial reservations about an 8-year-old Vanessa lacing up the gloves. Understandably, her father Paul was the most apprehensive.
"It was just something I wanted to do. At first, my dad didn't want me to do it. He felt it wasn't a place for females to be."
After finally relenting to his daughters wishes, the two would team up to become a recognized force within the Dallas-Ft. Worth amateur circles. Juarez was a natural born fighter, amassing an amateur record of 68-5 as well as a slew of titles and tournament victories that include 5 Silver Gloves, 6 regional Golden Gloves, 3 Female Golden Glove National tournaments as well as the USA Women's National Championships just to name a few. With all the accomplishments, however, Juarez soon found that her ultimate goal within the confines of amateur boxing would soon fail to coming to fruition.
Juarez explained, "Ever since I was a little girl, I had always wanted to go to the Olympics. That was like my dream; my goal that I was pushing for throughout my whole boxing career. I made the Olympic team in 2006 and they sent us to Russia to compete in the Women's World Tournament. We went over there for an international competition and when we got back, we found out that the Olympic Committee had agreed that the women did not have enough international competition to enter into the Olympics."
"2008 was going to have been the first year that women's boxing would be in the Olympics," Juarez continued. "So after that, I sat down and thought about it and thought, should I wait for the next [Olympics], but then I found out that they would consider it as an exhibition. They said the next year they would consider [allowing women to compete in Olympic boxing] would be in 2016 so that's when I decided to take the next step up and just turn pro."
It was a decision that has paid dividends for Juarez who turned pro in June 2006 with a four round whitewash over Maria Contreras.
"Actually, I was pretty happy. My first fight was in my hometown and you know the crowd was pumping me up," Juarez recalled. "I don't know, I was just real hyped and it seemed that everyone was there for me."
To put the above statement in its proper context, one has to realize that Juarez's first professional fight was on the undercard of an HBO televised Golden Boy Promotions card in downtown Ft. Worth. Make no mistake about it, Juarez is a legitimate star here in the DFW metroplex and has proven to be one of the area's top ticket sellers.
It's a fact that Juarez begrudgingly accepts and is quick to point out the dedication of her public relations team that includes her parents and the renowned Lester Bedford. Bedford is one of the great power players within the harsh world of boxing and his expertise in marketing and matchmaking has taken Juarez's popularity to great heights.
"I'm very fortunate to have him on my side. He's got me on some pretty big cards and I have met a whole bunch of famous people. You know, I'm thankful for them letting me fight on their cards and let people know that the females are coming up."
But there is more to it than that. A petite super bantamweight southpaw, Juarez has that intangible "it factor" that draws people to see her fight and local media outlets to fawn over her. Juarez credits the outpouring of support to her lengthy amateur career.
"I think it's because I have been boxing for so long. Everyone knows me and I have gone to different states to box so that's the reason I am known. I'm very fortunate that some television stations keep up with me, some of the Spanish language TV stations. I think that's pretty much why I am known. I have good publicity; they write about me in the newspaper often."
Juarez continued, "A lot of people do come up to me and say, 'oh, you're pretty, why are you in boxing?' Sometimes I feel down like people don't see what I have accomplished because I have worked so hard. I feel, as a pro, that I'm getting out there and people are beginning to see that I have talent."
Indeed, people are taking notice. So much so, in fact, that Juarez has been thrust into the position of a role model for many aspiring fighters, both male and female. As unlikely as a role that may seem to a teenager, Juarez relishes it and is quick to point out that she is more than willing to carry that responsibility.
"I am a role model," Juarez humbly admits. "Actually, I'm a role model to this very special girl at my gym and I'm so glad. She reminds me so much of myself and she's doing really well. Her name is Elisa Lopez. I think she's 10 or 11 and she reminds me so much of me. I know I'm a role model for her and other girls. I don't do anything bad and I think I'm a pretty good role model. I don't do any of that bad stuff. I don't have time to get in trouble. I go to amateur tournaments and now that I'm a pro, little kids look up to me and I love that so much. I love signing autographs. It makes me feel really good."
Make no mistake; boxing is very much a misogynistic sport. Women's professional boxing is often treated as more of a sideshow than a legitimate sport. Juarez hopes to change that perception and is quickly falling in the mold that greats such as Christy Martin, Laila Ali and Ann Wolfe set before her.
"I hear a lot of people talking about female boxing; that it's stupid and that it's nothing compared to the guys. Once I went to that competition in Russia, it opened my eyes. There were girls there that could beat up most guys. I saw a lot of talent. It opened my eyes and made me work really hard when I got back."
The results speak for themselves. Juarez currently boasts an unblemished record of 7-0, 2 KOs and is optimistic regarding the future of women in professional boxing.
"I'm just fortunate to be able to show people out there that there are girls out here that can fight. A lot of girls coming up in the pros now have a lot of experience. My feeling is that a couple years ago, girls where just getting in there, like they didn't have any amateur experience and would just turn pro. That's how [women's boxing] got the bad rep and now the females that are coming up turning pro do have a lot of experience. Not just me, but a lot of other females have a really good amateur background."
On April 3rd, Juarez will once again return to the ring as she co-headlines the Harrison Boxing Group's third installment of its highly acclaimed Texas Slugfest series. The six bout card will take place at the Cowtown Coliseum in Juarez's hometown of Ft. Worth. No opponent has been named as of yet, but Juarez seems unfazed by the fact her opponent currently is the always dangerous "TBD".
In preparation for her fight on the third, Juarez spars 6-10 rounds a session with her male counterparts.
"My sparring partners are all guys because around here, in Ft. Worth, there's not very many experienced females that I could benefit from sparring. My sparring partners are guys and they don't take it easy on me and have some pretty tough sparring."
To put it simply, Vanessa Juarez is a fighter and one that is shattering people's preconceived perception of women fighters.
"Everyone looks at me and they don't see a boxer. I get that a lot. They are like, 'are you for real? I would have never guessed that you were a boxer.' My friends and family think it's really cool and are supportive of me, especially my family."
But what about Juarez's brothers? After all, following them to the gym is what introduced her to the joy of boxing. Do they still box?
"No, my brothers quit," Juarez laughs. "They like to say in interviews that it was because I was winning all the time and they weren't."