Kara Ro: Kronk’s lady assassin!

January 26, 2004

By Andre Courtemanche

“My fifth fight was shown on ESPN2. I never underestimate fighters,
regardless of their records, but I could tell she was weaker, so I decided
that I wanted to give the crowd an impressive knockout. It still shocks me
when I show them what I did to her.” -- Kara Ro

It was love for a boyfriend that introduced Canada’s Kara Ro to the sport of boxing. It’s the love of being challenged that turned her into an undefeated professional, 6-0 (4KO), who is quickly climbing the world rankings. “I became involved with boxing after my second year of university,” said the 28-year-old business major at the University Of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario. “My boyfriend at the time was playing in the Ontario Hockey League and had signed a deal with the (NHL’s) Florida Panthers. I told him that lots of hockey players learn boxing to be more aggressive. Originally, I went along to be supportive, but quickly became addicted to the toughness the sport demands.”

Taking up the sweet science meant committing fully to the gruelling training regimen required of top-level fighters. “To be honest, after my first day in the gym, I couldn’t get out of bed for two days,” she laughed. “I couldn’t laugh or cry because my back hurt so badly.” But stay she did and quickly found she had a natural knack for fighting. “I was the 2001 Ringside International Champion. The tournament was in Kansas and included Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, and the U.S. My first bout was with the Canadian Champion, Donna Mancuso, who was also ranked number one in the world. I beat her. After that, I fought a tough Mexican girl and while I was in the ring, I heard someone from the crowd yell, ‘that girl hits like a man!’ I was so happy when they strapped the belt around me.”

So what do you do for an encore when you’ve beaten the best amateur boxer in the world in your weight class in your seventh fight? You turn professional, train at Detroit’s legendary Kronk Gym and get paid to resume bowling over opponents. “My pro career began in September of 2002. I wanted to turn pro for a long time. I had a pro style and I hated being an amateur. I wasn’t a fan of weighing in the day of the fight. It was torturous for me. After I won the tournament in Kansas, I had one more fight. My coach, Javan Hill (nephew of Emanuel Steward), said I have to show that I can be super aggressive if I want to turn pro -- I stopped my opponent in 45 seconds.”

Also known as “KORO (Kayo-Ro), the 5’ 8” super featherweight’s amazing fistic prowess, has attracted the eyes of many of the sports most notable figures. In this month’s issue of KO magazine, a worldwide and well-respected magazine about boxing, Kronk Gym founder and celebrated trainer Emanuel Steward speaks about the exciting, undefeated female prospect in glowing terms.

A naturally gifted athlete and former captain of the university volleyball team, Ro says she feels fortunate to have had such great local training to augment her natural abilities. “I have always dedicated my life to sports and needed to be in an individual sport where my hard work would payoff. I started at the Border City Boxing Club, home of former world champ Margaret Sidoroff, where I was lucky to have a very technical coach, (fightnews’ own) Chad Wigle, from the start of my career. I saw fighters from Kronk at a show in Windsor one day and I made up my mind that I was going to be one. I wanted to fight like these athletes who seemed beyond their time. I went to Kronk and found my current coach, Javan Hill. Javan is the same as Chad. He’s very technical and I like that.”

Learning from some of the best the area has to offer has allowed her to pass the knowledge onto another local lady with dreams in boxing. “I had made a pact with myself that I would not train fighters until I retired, but Charley Stewart of the Windsor Amateur Boxing Club called me and asked me to work with one of his female fighters, Mary Spencer, just to show her a few things. A year later, we are still working together. Mary is 19 years old and fights at 145 lbs. She’s been fighting for just over a year and I’ve been with her most of that time. I am very proud of her; she won the provincials, stopping the Canadian Champ in the second round. Right now she is in Saskatchewan for the nationals and I have no doubt she will return as Canadian Champ.

Inside the ring, her joking and care-free manner turns into the calculating coldness of a hired assassin, while her long, lanky frame makes her formidable strength deceiving. Kara Ro says she needs to know how far she can push her limits using determination and drive and don’t you try to stop her… lest she decide to challenge you.

“Being a professional athlete is a dream come true. When I was young, like 8 years old, I used to do 100 sit-ups before bed, followed by 30 push-ups and 100 calf raises -- I don’t know where it came from, it was just in my blood. At that age I was so jealous of guys because they could grow up to be professional athletes, but there were no avenues for women. But I got my dream. I began with the goal to be the most entertaining and talented female fighter out there. I wanted the crowd to have fun and to prove that women can be outstanding fighters, but ever since I’ve been watching the rankings, I also really want to be number one.”