| |
Suszannah “Destiny” Warner was born on August 6, 1970 in Leeds, U.K. Her first
venture into sports was as an amateur soccer player, first in England then,
after moving to the United States in 1992, in New York. Most recently she played
with
Barnstonworth Lady Rovers
of the New York Women's League, where she was a striker.
Suszannah has always been eager to pass her interest in sports on to others.
When she first came to the USA, she taught sports to
impoverished inner city children at summer camps in Detroit, Massachusetts and upstate
New York. Her interest in boxing came later, as a byproduct of surgery for an ACL injury
that she suffered during a soccer game. Her knee required extensive physical therapy,
during which she joined the Equinox Gym. There she saw a "white-collar" boxing class,
which she joined as a way to help rehab her knee.
She then took to boxing as quickly as she had to soccer!
“It’s funny,” says Warner, “but when I first came to the United States,
boxing wasn’t even on my radar. I had gone to a few training sessions, but was too
involved in soccer to take it seriously. It really hit home, though, in 2003.”
On April 3, 2003 she competed in the New York City Golden
Gloves 106-pound finals at Madison Square Garden,
losing to Mincy Monay of Gleason’s Gym. This temporary setback did not
deter her - her competitive
boxing career was now under way!
A year later, on April 16, 2004 Suszannah won the same 106-lb division in the New York
Golden Gloves, defeating Christina Beckles of Gleason’s Gym. “Everything just escalated out of control after that,”
she says.
Suszannah went on to win the 106-lb division of the 2005 USA Boxing National Championships
at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
In the semi-final bout on March 18, 2005 she stopped Valerie Duran of Houston, Texas, RSCO-3
and in the final on March 19 she defeated Bianca Ledezma of Van Orny, Texas by a 9-3 margin.
Soon after this, she decided to turn pro and trained at altitude in Colorado
with the respected Krishna Wainwright for the first six months.
Turning pro at age 35 gave her an urgency about her boxing career that many new fighters
do not have. In Colorado, she was training in a sport that she loved, but not in a place where she felt at home
after eleven years living as a New Yorker.
Warner made her pro debut at the
The Paladium in Denver, Colorado in September, 2005. Weighing in at 119 lbs she TKO'd Doreen Hilton (122 lbs) at 0:55 in the first round of a
scheduled four-rounder.
 On October 28, 2005 at Michael Marr Gymnasium in Las Vegas, New Mexico,
Jodi Esquibel (109 lbs)
of Albuquerque won a four-round unanimous decision over Suszannah (108 lbs).
Esquibel out-gunned Warner, winning by 39-37
on all judges' score cards, and advancing her own pro record to 2-0.
On December 29, 2005 at the Convention Center in Pueblo, Colorado,
Terri Cruz (116 lbs) of Colorado won a four-round unanimous (40-36 x 3) decision over Suszannah (115 lbs).
On February 3, 2006 at the Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho, USA
Suszannah (112¾ lbs) won a four-round split (40-36,39-37,36-40) decision over Kelly
Vannan (116¼ lbs).
On February 23, 2006 at San Manuel Indian Casino in San Bernardino, California, Suszannah (117¾ lbs) lost a four-round unanimous (40-35) decision to Kaliesha West
(118 lbs), who was making her pro debut. Warner was knocked down in the second round.
 On March 18, 2006 at the Boardwalk Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
Suszannah won a four-round majority (39-37,39-37,38-38) decision over undefeated Canadian
Noriko Kariya, who fell to 3-1.
This win over the much-publicized Kariya, who is the sister of NHL hockey star
Paul Kariya, marked something of a homecoming for Suszannah. “The
Atlantic City fight came up and I thought it would be a great opportunity to
find the right people to work with and return to where I belong” she says.
It also marked the start of her winning run for her first pro title.
On May 18, 2006 at Huntington Townhouse in Huntington, New York,
Suszannah (110¾ lbs) won a four-round split (39-37,37-39,40-35)
decision over debut fighter Kimberly Tomes (110¾ lbs) of New York.
On July 26, 2006 at Monticello Raceway in Monticello, New York,
Suszannah (104 lbs) won a four-round unanimous (40-36) decision over
Camela Parker (100 lbs) of Winter Park, Florida who fell to 0-5.
In the third round, three successive jabs to the jaw of Parker had
persuaded her not to attempt much pressure on Warner the rest of
the way.
On December 8, 2006 at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx, New York,
Suszannah (101¾ lbs) won an eight round unanimous (78-74,79-73,78-74)
decision over southpaw Yvonne Caples
(5'4", 100 bs) of Las Vegas, Nevada for the vacant NABF Atomweight (102-lb)
title. Caples, a veteran of four highly competitive world title fights, fell to 7-11-2 (1 KO)
with the loss.
On January 25, 2007 at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx,
Suszannah (107 lbs) scored a third round TKO over Nancy Bonilla (106 lbs) of Camuy,
Puerto Rico, who fell to 2-5. Warner dominated the fight from start to finish,
dropping Bonilla in the second round. The bout was stopped to prevent a further
beating to the overmatched Bonilla.
Suszannah vs. Carina Moreno
© Copyrighted photo taken by Alan Messick
On February 22, 2007 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore,
California, Carina Moreno (103¾ lbs) of Watsonville,
California won a clear 10-round unanimous (100-90,100-90,100-90) decision over
Suszannah (103¾ lbs) for the WBC Interim Straw-weight title. Moreno dominated
the action from the opening bell, chasing Warner around the ring and landing
solid combinations whenever she could get inside. The bout set Moreno up
as the mandatory challenger for Nanako Kikuchi of
Japan for the full WBC title. Moreno improved to
11-1-0 (3 KO's) with the win while Warner fell to 7-4 (2 KO's).
For more photos of this bout by
Alan Messick, see WBAN
Photo Gallery #412 on the WBAN Records Member Site.
On August 24, 2007 at the Paradise Theater in the
Bronx, Eileen Olszewski of New York, preparing for a WBC
flyweight title fight on September 14 in Italy against champion
Stefania Bianchini, won a close, fast paced four
round majority decision over Suszannah. Both fighters had weighed in at 107 lbs.
The scorecards were: 38-38, 39-37 and 40-36. Olszewski moved her record to 4-0
(0 KO's).
On December 6, 2007 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino, in Lemoore,
California, Carina Moreno won by a 10-round unanimous
decision over Suszannah in a rematch for Moreno's WBC Straw-weight title. Moreno
improved to 16-1-0 (5 KOs) with the win
while Warner fell to 7-6-0 (2 KOs).
On February 1, 2008 at Fort McDowell Casino in Fountain
Head, Arizona. Suszannah spoiled the ring comeback of previously undefeated
Becky Garcia of Mesa, Arizona, winning a 40-36,39-36,40-35 unanimous decision
over the local favorite, who was cornered by four-time world champ Michael
Carbajal. Garcia had been inactive for almost two years after a knee
injury but she began the fight aggressively, only to be decked by a straight
right. Referee Wes Melton ruled it a knockdown caused by a punch, though many in
the crowd believed it had been a push. Garcia became more aggressive but Warner
landed more punishment, leaving her mark on Garcia’s left eye and nose in the
second round. The third and fourth rounds followed the same script as Garcia's
ring rust began to translate into weariness before the scheduled four were over.
A jubilant Warner threw her hands in the air and hugged her trainer at the
decision. Asked about Garcia’s vaunted right hands, Warner
said,
“What right hands? I’m sorry, but I don’t remember feeling any right hands.”
Garcia conceded that her time away from the ring had affected her
performance, saying “I was really surprised by how tired I felt, but I didn’t
want an easy opponent in my first fight back. I wanted to see where I was.”
Garcia fell to 5-1 (3 KO's) as Warner improved to 8-6-0 (2 KO's).
“I can’t believe that I’m here,” said Warner of her boxing success. “It is very surreal to me at times. I’m
surprised how quickly everything has happened, hence my nickname of Destiny. I want to go
out and win titles in various weight classes and make my mark. I want
people to be inspired by the fact that I went out and followed my dreams, even if they
came later in life. ”
Suszannah has also worked for the International Commission for Insurance for
Holocaust Survivors.
 “I would love for people to say she went out and did it at the age of 33,”
she
continued. “The lesson is that you should never give up on your dreams. Not at 20. Not
at 30 or 40. Not ever.”
Other Suszannah Warner links
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Saturday, 02 February 2008 |
|
