Aden Girl Rises to Stardom in World of Boxing Isra Goes for Top Title [Archives:1999/52/Front Page]

They call her “Raging Beauty”. In spite of her calm nature and shy smile, she is bad news in the ring. She bounces constantly. Once she starts bobbing and weaving, watch out. She dances in loops, and then, wham, she hits. 
Isra Girgrah was born in Aden on 16th September, 1971. She left with family members for Canada in 1974. That is where her association with boxing started. But the world opened up for her after moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1994, which she now calls home. There, her journey to stardom began. 
To-date, Isra fought 12 matches, she lost one of them. The only blemish in her record is her duel with the title holder – Christy Martin, at Madison Square Garden in New York on 23rd August, 1997. At the end of the 8 rounds, most fans who voted on the internet thought she had won. So did her manager, Debbie King, and the sports commentators. The judges, however, gave the match to the “coal miner’s daughter”. The media referred to the match as the best fight in the history of female boxing. 
The event to watch now is a re-match between the two women. It is scheduled for the 13th of March, 1999, again in New York. In a telephone conversation with the Yemen Times, a confident Isra said, “I know what I have to do.” 
One of her better performances was on 11th April, 1998. She fight against the Australian Angela Buchanan at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina. Isra landed on the Australian almost at will, and sent her to the floor four times before the referee stopped the match and declared a technical knock-out. 
After the game, Isra Girgrah was crowned the International Boxing Federation Women’s Champion by IBF president, Robert Lee, Sr., making her the first female champion in the history of the IBF, one of the top male boxing sanctioning bodies in the country. 
There are today three female sanctioning bodies: the International Female Boxers Association (IFBA), the Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF) and the International Women’s Boxing Federation (IWBF). Girgrah ranks number 2 with the IFBA, behind Christy Martin. She ranks third with the IWBF and fourth with the WIBF in the Lightweight Division. 
Raging Beauty also holds the distinguished record of vanquishing her opponents before the 3rd round, often in a brutal knock-out.  More on Sports Page
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