BEVERLY HILLS, California — When Ana Julaton, 31, showed up for this exclusive interview at the outdoor café of Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive Monday (Oct. 3) last week, she was wearing a hood to cover the big (five inches) cut across her forehead inflicted by the head butt delivered by Mexican challenger Jessica Villafranca, 18, during their title bout last Oct. 1 in Yucatan, Mexico. Ana retained her World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight crown. Watch full video
Ana was accompanied to the interview (which was arranged by Ana’s friend immigration lawyer Jemela Nettles) by her manager, Fil-Am Angelo Reyes. They drove all the way from Las Vegas. From here, they were going to San Francisco to have Ana’s injury treated.
The Mexico event was Ana’s second defense fight.
“It was tough,” said Ana. “When I entered the arena, everyone was against me. It’s Jessica’s turf, you know, and she was getting all the hometown support. I made sure that I stayed focus. The fight was also rough because she was very awkward, she kept coming with her head and with her elbow. I knew a lot of things were going against me but I had a really good corner and I had a really good training camp, so we ended up winning.”
Added Angelo, “But as the fight progressed, the Mexican crowd shifted their support and ended up rooting for Ana.”
Nicknamed The Hurricane for obvious reasons (a previous Funfare interview called her “The Lady with a Killer Punch”), Ana, like Manny Pacquiao, trained under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card gym in L.A. With her looks and figure, you could mistake her for a beauty queen. That must be what was in the mind of passers-by who stopped to look closely at Ana.
Born to both Filipino parents who migrated to the US where they met and got married, Ana was introduced to martial arts by her father (a Bruce Lee fan) when she was four years old and started sparring with him when she was 10.
Her resume lists Ana as belonging to the Super Bantamweight Division. In 2004, she entered the ring as an amateur (until 2007) and eventually graduated to the Professional Division. She has so far scored eight wins (among them as WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion and IBA Super Bantamweight World Champion, both in 2009), one draw and two losses. Ana is the first and only American female to win the prestigious WBO World Championship, a league that includes Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya.
“Pacquiao and I follow the same training format,” revealed Ana. “Pacquiao is my idol; he’s such a great inspiration.”
Another Fil-Am mentioned in the same breath with Ana is Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra who is rumored to be Ana’s boyfriend. “Oh,” Ana blushed when I insisted on asking what the real score is between her and Erik, “I’ll get into trouble. He’s just a good friend, really. We keep in touch; he’s very supportive. We just e-mail each other.”
Busy somewhere else, Spoelstra didn’t make it to Mexico to cheer to Ana but he was for sure with her “in spirit.” Spoelstra was in the Philippines on his second visit recently, again to conduct basketball clinic among young aspirants.
“He said that if everything works out, he’d like to watch the bout of Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.”
Does she watch the Miami Heat at play?
“Of course! It’s fun to watch. I get to ask (Erik) questions on how he manages the team.”
She’s busy and so is Erik. Don’t they have time to go out on dates?
“No!” she blushed again. “We’re, you know, very professional.”
Told that lady boxers are not common in the Philippines, Ana disagreed.
“I remember when I went to the Philippines, I went to some boxing gyms and there was probably 60 percent women training there. So I think there’s a lot more excitement for women in boxing,” said Ana while thanking Filipinos for supporting her, “particularly GMA 7 (which aired the Mexico event) which has been giving me all-out support.”
Asked about the possibility of her and Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali) meeting in the ring, Ana laughed.
“Hmmmm, maybe for charity. She’s bigger than I am. I still have to see her in person.”
So how soon will Ana defend her title?
“Maybe in December. It really depends on how soon my head cut will heal so I can start training. I don’t even know yet who my opponent will be.”
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit http://www.philstar.com/funfare.)