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Friday, December 2, 2005

Boxing: Holly Holm Happy to Fight, Even if Mom and Dad Have Misgivings

By Toby Smith
Journal Staff Writer
    At age 24, Holly Holm has emerged as perhaps the most visible female sports figure in New Mexico. A professional boxer with an 11-1-2 record and four knockouts, Holm in September dominated a totem of her sport, Christy Martin. On Thursday, Holm takes on another luminary in women's prizefighting, Mia St. John, at Isleta Casino & Resort. Holm will be defending her WIBA (Women's International Boxing Association) junior welterweight championship.
    Long-limbed, flaxen-haired and head-turning attractive, Holm carries an unlikely résumé for someone who is paid to beat people up: The daughter of a minister, she likes to bake blueberry pies and sew baby blankets.
    Her parents, Roger Holm, 53, a preacher, and Tammy Bredy, 50, a massage therapist, are no longer married. In separate interviews recently, they talked about their daughter.
    What was your reaction when Holly said she had taken up boxing?
    Roger Holm: Well, I had some reservations. When Holly was in high school, she wanted to wrestle, but I wouldn't let her. Michael Winkeljohn, her trainer, is very protective. Still, you get nervous.
    Tammy Bredy: I thought, How did this start? She's a wonderful kid, pretty, always did well in school. Then, in my mind, I saw her getting hit in the face. She loved it, and said it was no more dangerous than me riding a bike down Sandia Crest. But at least I wear a helmet!
    Tell me about the first time you saw her fight?
    RH: A long time ago at the Fourth Street Gym. It was more a demonstration than a fight. To a lot of people who don't understand the moves, boxing looks stupid. Plus, a lot of stupid people are involved in boxing.
    TB: It was at Santa Ana Casino. Everybody was chanting her name. Hol-lee, Hol-lee! I didn't realize how popular she was.
    How do you handle the days when she has a fight?
    RH: I pick her up at her apartment and we go get something to eat about three or four hours ahead. Usually pasta, at Scarpas. We never talk boxing. She's already got enough butterflies flying around without me bringing it up.
    TB: I stopped going to her fights long ago. She was in one at that club Cowboys, this was five years ago maybe, when she was in the amateurs. She got knocked out. I couldn't believe it. She was lying on the canvas and not moving. My baby! I said a prayer; what would you do? Then, when she came out of it, I went to the dressing room and she was sobbing and upset. She told me she was OK. I was left wondering how her life took her to that point.
    So, what do you do when she's fighting?
    RH: I work her corner. I'm no boxing expert; I don't say much. I'm just there to put her chair in the ring and lend support. She knows if she feels spacey or dizzy to stop. Fortunately, she hasn't felt that way yet.
    TB: I wait for a phone call from a friend of mine from Bosque Farms who goes to all her fights. Or from her brother, Weston. If I'm home, I go out and shoot arrows with my husband, Jim. Or I watch a video. Anything to take my mind off the fight. Until that phone rings, I'm praying for her to be safe.
    For a while, the media called her "Hottie" Holm. What did you think of that name?
    RH: Well, I know Holly hated it. She didn't want people to think she came up with it. I think somebody from one of those radio stations invented it.
    TB: It's not who she is; she has more character than that. If someone runs out of gas on the highway and is stuck, Holly will pick them up, help them. That's who she is. She's not a hottie.
    She often appears at weigh-ins and at news conferences in provocative clothing. Do you approve?
    RH: I think with some of the skimpy outfits, the halter tops and such, she presses the limit. She knows how I feel. Some things might be expected, like the bikinis at the weigh-ins. Women's boxing is show business. It's part of the promotion, I realize. But Holly's not a party girl. Only one man at my church (Edgewood Church of Christ) has said anything negative about what she wears. But then he says something negative about everybody.
    TB: I know better than to try to talk Holly out of anything. She's stubborn. Anyway, she's an adult, after all. I do wonder about it, sure, if it's appropriate. I don't know where that stuff comes from. Maybe it's a reaction to being a preacher's kid.
    Holly boxes, but she's also quite domesticated. How did that start?
    RH: Her mother has given her a life outside boxing. Holly can cook, can, quilt. She's had a lot of kitchen time. She cares about hair and nails. She can look and act like a woman— and still be tough.
    TB: She'll call me up and ask for a recipe. "Mom, how do you put together that broccoli and cauliflower salad?" Holly likes to bake pecan pies with me, cut out Christmas cookies. She loves to can homemade applesauce. She made seat covers for her kitchen chairs. It's perplexing: She's crazy about children, she baby-sits and all, then she gets into the boxing ring and punches people!
    Define your relationship with Holly.
    RH: She may be a boxer, but she's still my little girl.
    TB: We do things together. Typical mother-daughter. I give her massages a few days before her fights and then afterward. We have lunch once a month, but I never ask her "When's your next fight?" Everybody does that.
    How much longer will Holly fight?
    RH: I don't think she'll fight too much more. Look at Johnny Tapia. He's a mess and he's still boxing.
    TB: I'll just be glad when she's through with it.

E-MAIL Journal Staff Writer Toby Smith