South Florida Female Boxing Team is a newly established Florida based boxing team with some of the best talent found in the country. At the head of it all is CEO, Wanda Jiles, joined by Dalia Duran, who most know as daughter of the legendary Roberto Duran. Training new talent with proper fundamentals is vital to such an operation, so looking for the right person to make it happen wasn’t easy. After much consideration, the decision was made to bring in former world bantamweight Champion, Ada Velez of Puerto Rico. Recently, EastSideBoxing took a moment to talk about the project, as well as what fight fans can expect to see from them in the coming months:
CEO, Wanda Jiles, speaking on how the team came about: Well I had a team in Washington DC and after the Womens Hall of Fame in July 2014, I decided I needed to get back into the business and go full force. I met a lady at the Hall of Fame that God sent to be a friend, knowing I was new to the area. Not only did we hit it off right away, but she new boxing like I did. She grew up in boxing and was the proud daughter of one of the best fighters of all times, Roberto Duran. Dalia Duran is my BFF and my business partner. After contemplating about how to put the business in gear and working with others I felt we needed our own vision to be put in process.
CEO Wanda Jiles speaking on the key players of the organization: Myself, (Wanda Jiles, CEO), Dalia Duran General Manager, Cha Ross-Estees, Events Coordinator, and Ada Velez, Director of Training, along with two major links, Belinda Laracuente and Melissa Hernandez. Of course, we cant forget the fighters!
General Manager, Dalia Duran on the vision of the team: Our vision is to be highly regarded as a responsible, progressive, and ethical company as well as community leaders who are committed to the expansion and profile of female boxers all over the world. The ultimate objective is to motivate young females to become innovative, creative, confident and strong individuals.
General Manager, Dalia Duran on the benefit of the program for the youth involved: This experience will teach the individuals who are a part of the group to become better individuals through the discipline, respect, business ethics, and nutritional aspects that we practice. We plan to give these fighters overall exposure and the real educational piece about boxing and business, both in and out of the ring.
CEO, Wanda Jiles, on the development of the youth in training: I feel all of our teens and young adults have displayed enormous gratitude toward the organization by being dedicated to the sport and all of our practices, which include long days and nights. Responding to whatever we ask of them. This is something they have been longing for and we tend to make it happen. They’re all CHAMPS in their own way.
General Manager, Dalia Duran on what the future holds for the program: We plan to spark attention worldwide with success stories about the winners we’re developing. We will be attending shows in many cities and bringing home many trophies and awards. Our big goal is to have our own reality show where we can give everyone a glimpse into the effort it takes to build a champion from ground up.
General Manager, Dalia Duran on the overall quality and characteristics they want to build: We want a team built with talent that’s respectful, dedicated, natural leaders, great academics (grades), caring, understanding, and a passion to succeed that’s as strong as our drive. Also, we want coaches who will allow us to help guide their fighters in a unified way. We open our doors to all females; however we fully support men and boys who want to be trained by our Director of Training.
(Interview conducted by Vivek “Vito” Wallace)
