Tanzee Daniel: “I want people to see me as the female Pernel

Tanzee Daniel: ..I want people to see me as the female Pernell Whitaker

Interview by Dan Horgan (Nov 21, 2006)

Tanzee Daniel is certainly self-confident. She likes to compare herself to the defensive wizard Pernell Whitaker (thinking her skills compare), but I personally like to compare the New Yorker to an even bigger name: Muhammad Ali. No, Daniel..s name shouldn' t even be in the same sentence as ..The Greatest..s.., but every dreamer, including Ali, had to start somewhere. Daniel is much like Ali in that she is cocky, opinionated, and most importantly, ultra-talented. The twenty-nine year old heavyweight who makes her pro debut Friday night at The Roxy in Boston is a six time national amateur champion, and a silver medalist at the 2005 Pan American Games. In addition, she was rated the number one female amateur heavyweight by USA Boxing for three years before recently being bumped down to the number two spot. On Friday, she..ll face Angie Brooks, who also is making her pro debut. Check out what Daniel had to say in this Doghouse Boxing exclusive .. I guarantee you won..t be disappointed.

DH: First of all, I would like to say thanks for taking the time out for this interview.

TD: No problem.

DH: What can you tell us about your opponent Friday night, Angie Brooks?

TD: Not much. I know she had a hard time getting fights as an amateur and I think that she use to be into kick boxing or something like that.

DH: Talk about your childhood, and how you got into boxing.

TD: My childhood was pretty normal. I started boxing in 1999. I use to get into a lot of fights on the basketball court. One day someone approached me and told me to consider taking up boxing. He gave me the number to Starrett City Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, New York and I haven't looked back since.

DH: Talk about your amateur accomplishments.

TD: I'm a six-time national champion. I've won three PAL National Championships, two U.S. National Championships, the 2004 Ringside National Championship, a silver medal at the 2005 Pan American Games, and five New York Golden Gloves, which ties Mark Breland's record at Madison Square Garden.

DH: Why the decision to turn pro?

TD: My last year as an amateur was pure hell. I lost focus because of the Olympic letdown. I lost my last three fights to two girls that I previously beat on a number of different occasions. The desire to fight in the amateur ranks is no longer there. But now as a pro, it..s all about getting in the ring with good opposition and gaining recognition.

DH: Describe your training regime.

TD: I work as a customer service rep at Delta Airlines down at JFK Airport. Sunday and Monday are twelve hour days, four in the morning to four in the afternoon. The other days are from four to eleven in the morning. After my shifts, it..s off to the gym, where I spar with men like Luis Collazo, Sechew Powell, and Olympic hopefuls Will Rosinsky and Danny Jacobs. Recently it's been mostly with Will because he is a light-heavyweight that moves a lot and is very sharp defensively. My workouts are no different from the top fighters. As a matter of fact, my trainers are on me more so than the male fighters because as a woman, I have more to prove in the professional game. I do not have a famous father or playboy pictures to fall back on. I'm a real fighter that wants to showcase her skills because I love fighting.

DH: Talk about the state of women's boxing.

TD: To be frank, it sucks. And I'll be honest with you, I blame a lot of it on the Olympic committee's decision of turning down women in the 2008 Olympics. The upcoming US women..s team had a lot of talented female fighters. I'm 100% sure that if the world got a good look at these up and coming girls they would see a group of young ladies that have studied their craft. It's not like the professionals that you see now. Amateurs are now starting at a younger age and they are learning more. They just need a global platform to express themselves on. If they get the exposure they need, the sport as a whole will grow and we'll see much better fights, fighters, and match-ups. Until then we're stuck with the likes of people like Laila, and Mia St John. They are decent fighters, but are more famous for other things than boxing.

DH: You said in your Myspace.com blog that you were unhappy to have to sell tickets in order to be on Lou DiBella's Broadway Boxing. Do you want to comment further?

TD: Lou is a good guy. He was real honest with me. He said he doesn't believe in female fighters. I can understand that because most female fighters that are fighting professionally are not that good. But at the same time, I just wanted a chance to showcase my skills. I've fought at Madison Square Garden seven times. I won five golden gloves and two silvers. I do not freeze up in front of crowds. I give them what they want. Lou has a lot of fighters that fight on his cards and are boring as hell. Either they get knocked out, or show absolutely no boxing skills. As a matter of fact, there is one guy that I know who fought on his card and didn't accomplish half the things that I did. He made his pro-debut on DiBella's card and ended up on the canvas in the second round. The funny thing is he didn't have to sell any tickets at all to get on. Why is it that I have to when I had such a successful amateur background and none of his male fighters have to? Yeah, he has Maureen Shea on his card, but I was also told she can push about 4,000 dollars in tickets. This is a double standard. Women have to sell tickets but men don't. Discrimination if you ask me.

DH: It has been rumored that Martha Salazar and Vonda Ward will meet for the third time in December. What are your thoughts on that bout?

TD: They both are garbage in my eyes. One is overweight, old and slow the other one is slow and can't take a punch. I will have a field day with either one of them.

DH: How many fights before you'd like to take on the winner?

TD: Well that's up to my management team. The goal right now is to build my name up before I fight for a title. I want to clean out the divisions before taking out the so-called best.

DH: What are your goals for your professional career?

TD: I want to be the undisputed champ at heavyweight and light-heavyweight. I want people to recognize me as the female Pernell Whitaker, a champion that you cannot hit even if you tried.

DH: Is there anything you'd like to say in closing?

TD: Not to sound trite, but I want everyone to keep their eyes on the light-heavyweight and heavyweight division. You have names like Ali, Wolfe, Egbunine, Ward, Salazar, and the likes that reign there now. But there is one name that is going to surpass them all and that is Tanzee 'Sweet Tea' Daniel. I love this sport with all of my heart. I'm going to prove to the world that there are women that are just as good, if not better, than a lot of these male fighters. It's all about respect. I'm fighting for myself and for the recognition of women boxers as legitimate participants in this sport. Trust me, I'm coming full blast with something that the world has not seen in professional heavyweight female prize fighting: A defensive style with a punch to go along with it.

To learn more about Tanzee, visit her Myspace account at www.myspace.com/tanzeedaniel.