Famous Like Me > Actress > R > Lucia Rijker
Profile of Lucia Rijker
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Name: |
Lucia Rijker |
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Also Know As: |
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Date of Birth: |
7th December 1967 |
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Place of Birth: |
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands |
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Profession: |
Actress |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Lucia Rijker (born December 7, 1967) is a Dutch professional female boxer and kickboxer. (As of July 2005,) She is undefeated against female opponents; her boxing record is 17-0 (14 K.O.'s), and her kickboxing record is 37-0 (25 K.O.'s). Her only loss was in an exhibition Muay Thai kickboxing match against a male opponent, Somchai Jaidee (a 2nd-round K.O.). Rijker has been on the cover of Inside Kung Fu magazine. As a professional boxer, she has won the WIBF Welterweight Title, and has beaten name fighters such as Marcela Acuna (5th-round K.O.; Acuna was 0-1 going into the fight, and 19-4 as of June 2005), and Deborah "Sunshine" Fettkether (10th-round decision; Fettkether was 8-4-3 going in). For years, many women's boxing fans have clamored for a match between Lucia and Christy Martin ("The Coal Miner's Daughter"). The two had been widely considered the world’s top female boxers (Martin, more for raising the sport out of sideshow / joke status -- she has lost 3 of her 50-plus fights; Rijker, for being impressively unstoppable). Also, they have repeatedly expressed great dislike for one another in public. After winning her first 14 fights, but failing to secure a match with Martin, Rijker stepped away from boxing in 1999 to pursue a career in Hollywood. However, she returned to the ring in February of 2002. She beat standout Jane Couch (20-4 going in; 25-6 as of Dec. 2004) by decision (8 rounds) on June 21, 2003 for her 16th win. Win number 17 was a 10-round decision over "Sunshine" Fettkether on May 20, 2004.
Recently, she co-starred as "Billie 'The Blue Bear'" in 2004's Oscar-winning, female boxer-based film Million Dollar Baby. She was also featured in the documentary film Shadow Boxers. She even had a brief cameo in the season 2 finale of the L Word as Dana's trainer. Lucia and Martin were scheduled to fight on July 30, 2005 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Major U.S. promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank Boxing's head) had made their match the main event of a card (with otherwise male boxing matches) called "Million Dollar Lady". Each woman was guaranteed $250,000 (U.S.); the winner would get an extra $750,000 -- astronomical paydays for female boxers in the year 2005. Unfortunately, Lucia may not realize this million-dollar dream. On July 20, 2005, it was announced that she had ruptured an Achilles' tendon while training for the fight; recovery time was estimated to be 4-7 months -- perhaps long enough for the commercial appeal of the promotional gimmick to grow stale .
External link
- http://www.luciarijker.net/
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