Scott Rains talks with Terri Moss about boxing skills, and breaking stereotypes in the “all male sport”.
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Terri Moss is a classic fighter.
Whether throwing a punch or a party, she keeps it classy. Like the rest of the best of boxers, she’s able to land the perfect combination every time.
That’s why next week’s Atlanta Corporate Fight Night is guaranteed to live up to its billing as “a black tie, black eye affair.”
Moss is the force behind the event. This compact force of nature is also a retired world champion female boxer, and a 2015 inductee into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame.
Like a good jab, the Atlanta Corporate Fight Night is a full extension of Moss. The event offers regular people the opportunity to feel like a champion for a night while serving those in need.
The Nov. 19 bout at Atlanta’s Southern Exchange, 200 Peachtree Street, will benefit Georgia Center for Child Advocacy. The charity provides advocates, counseling services, and assists highly abused kids. Moss said he biggest percentage of those served are sexually abused kids.
Moss said the charity hits close to home for her. She know what it’s liketo be a kid who is down and out. Growing up was “pretty rough.” Moss’s mother had troubles that caused a ripple effect for her daughter. From this, she learned that although you’re down, you’re not out.
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“This is especially close to my heart,” Moss said. “I know what it means to people. Every female I know has been sexually abused in one way or another at one time in their lives.”
The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy is the only charity chosen twice to be the focal point for a Fight Night. Moss said that Wounded Warriors, Stand Up for Kids and the Ben Cohen Foundation are among the charities that have benefited from prior events. There’s something special about the child advocacy program, she said — “They’re fantastic at what they do.”
Moss said the charity hits close to home for her. She know what it’s like to be a kid who is down and out. Growing up was “pretty rough.” Moss’s mother had troubles that caused a ripple effect for her daughter. From this, she learned that although you’re down, you’re not out.
“The bottom line is … maybe things were tough,” Moss said. “We didn’t have the strongest family organization, but considering all that, I came up out of that, and it toughened me up.”
“Growing up in the shadows a little, I learned to stomp my way to the light,” she said. “If I hear a ‘no,’ I stop at nothing. . It affected me, now, in a positive way.”
That drive led Moss to the University of Georgia followed by a long law enforcement career. Time as a drug enforcement investigator led her to the deeper connection to the child advocacy cause.
“This is especially close to my heart,” Moss said. “I know what it means to people; I saw a lot of that when I was working in narcotics. They just provide a huge, huge service.”
Moss said that Atlanta is a hub for child sex trafficking in the United States. The connection between that world and the drug underworld are thorough and carry many through their corridors.
“People really have no idea how staggering the numbers are,” Moss said.
Staggering numbers are something the blonde bomber refuses to recoil from. To become a world champion in a sport where you don’t turn pro until the age of 36 is something that fits Moss’s moxie. She doesn’t take many easy roads. But she does take them with style.
Boxing wasn’t a first love for Moss. Like real love, it happened when she was ready.
Moss said the first time she sat through a real fight was the first Tyson vs. Holyfield bout in 1996. Not long after that, she said she wound up at a boxing gym. A friend had seen the Jennifer Lopez movie “Enough” and,feeling inspired, wanted to learn to box. She drug Moss with her and the reluctant friend found her origin for the immortality of boxing’s story. .
“It’s something I stumbled into,” Moss said. “I stopped and worked out, and that was it. I just loved it from the first time I went into the gym.”
Moss began her training at the age of 34 under the tutelage of Chicago native “Doc” Keppner. Her age coupled with physical limitations due to suffering from Hepatitis C made him originally reluctant to train her as a fighter. But he did, as well as helped her find her fit in the ring one way or another. She worked as assistant corner personnel for many professional fights and also earned to be a cut man. She was one of the first women to serve that role for a male fighter.
Moss wanted to fight, though. She fought her disease and won after undergoing Interferon Therapy, which cured her of the Hepatitis C. It wasn’t long before she was in the ring for her first professional fight. Although her first three fights would end up in defeat, they paved her road to glory.
In 2003, she moved to Atlanta from Athens, Ga., to train with professional boxing trainer, Xavier Biggs, brother of 1984 Olympic Super Heavyweight Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs. She earned her first win against Nina Ahlin, another Biggs-trained boxer, and it boosted her up to No. 2 in the world-a ranking she then held for over two years. She never left the Top 10 until retiring.
In all, Moss fought for five world titles in three different weight divisions. Her crowning moment came May 10, 2007, when, at the age of 41, she beat Stephanie Dobbs for the WIBF Strawweight World Title, and the WIBA mini flyweight Intercontinental Title in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She retired with a 9-9 professional record on May 10, 2008.
Moss conquered a man’s game. But all the accolades came with extra battles for legitimacy. Moss said when she began, there wasn’t a lot of support for women boxers, nor were there many to support.
“That allowed me to move up the ranks fast,” Moss said. “Today, I couldn’t get away with what I did when I boxed, now there’s much more depth.”
Moss conquered a man’s game. But all the accolades came with extra battles for legitimacy. Moss said when she began, there wasn’t a lot of support for women boxers, nor were there many to support.
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It is a new world. Moss said that women are asserting themselves in all walks of life, including the gym. They’re well-skilled and well-trained. Although, as a whole, the pay hasn’t changed much — “Women may not make even 2 percent of what men do,” she said — that could be changing with the rise of Rhonda Rousey and other women who are dominating in once-all-male sports. What began as a novelty is now becoming a top draw.
“The thing is, women’s boxing is about to have a huge presence in the world of boxing,” Moss said. “The amateurs are really strong, especially in the United States, and the women’s divisions are getting really deep.”
Moss continues in the sport to make sure that presence is known, be it in the ring or in the corner. She is a full-time boxing trainer with men and women athletes under her tutelage. She is also a personal trainer for the all-female boxing program at her own gym, Buckhead Fight Club. She said she’s offering the training she wanted when she began her climb.
“I don’t feel like I pioneered women boxers, but I do feel like I’m pioneering women trainers,” Moss said. “My struggle is beyond the average for men because I have to go beyond.”
“That’s okay, though,” she said. “I accepted the challenge.”
Moss has confidence that comes from knowing how to do it right. Knowing her fighters and how to motivate them takes nuance and insight gleaned from experience. You have to learn how to lose to know how to win. And when you know how to win, there is wisdom.
“As a strong player in boxing, at least I feel legitimate,” Moss said. “Winning is always the best answer.”
Moss is a winner. The impression she makes and the legacy already etched earned her recognition for the ages. She was inducted as a member of the second class of inductees into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in July. She joined a class that includes Laila Ali, Jeannine Garside, Deirdre Gogarty, Phyllis Kugler, Sparkle Lee, Laura Serrano and Ann Wolfe. More than mere novelties, these women are at the forefront of athletic competition that’s finding new life into the next generation.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of change coming, boxing is definitely changing for women,” Moss said. “Stand back, give it five more years and watch what happens.”
“The skill is getting better, and the competition is better,” she said. “Now, a lot of times, especially in pro boxing, you’ll hear them say ‘that’s the best fight on the card.’ I’m watching it, really, from the inside, not the outside.”
That spirit and eye for what the sport can bring to anyone is at the heart of Moss’s baby, Atlanta Corporate Fight Night. It’s a high-end, white collar charity boxing show that allows the everyman and woman to feel like a contender. Begun in 2010, within two years it became a national commodity.
“We can do things for a good cause, and it introduces average people to boxing,” Moss said. “It’s a real experience.”
“These are not boxers; these are business people. We’ve had engineers, doctors, CEOs, etc.,” she said.
Boxers for the Nov. 19 event will have been through 10-12 weeks of training, Moss said. Boxers have to get their boxing licenses and take physicals for the sanctioned bouts. That all followed a rigorous audition process, along with fundraising for the charity. She said the events “get a lot of people who get hooked” on the experience. Some decent amateurs have emerged from prior events. Like Rocky Balboa, corporate sponsors continue to return for round after round.
“It shows a good track record,” Moss said.
Building on the past and gaining new ground each year, Moss said 2016is going to be busy. She is working on getting her gym off the ground. Currently, with 12 career fighters under her, she’s got a potential Olympian in the fold and more talent developing. She said fighters go as far as they want. It’s evidenced by the effort involved.
Although a late start can put the damper on world champion dreams for some, it all comes back to the athletes. Some are blessed with the right intangibles: skills, determination and lack of quit in them. Some are just born to be champions. Moss is the right combination of all that and a bag of chips.
“If they want to go to the top, they have to put their time in,” Moss said.
The confident champ said she that, despite a late start, a little something extra helped her.
“I was born classic,” Moss said.
And the relevance to men is?