Ana Julaton: The fight goes on

Former world boxing champion Ana Julaton has always done the improbable. She has managed to be successful in two related but totally dissimilar sports. She has been an underdog, has overcome serious injury, and now, at an age when most fighters retire to the shadows, The Hurricane is embarking on a new challenge as an MMA fighter. However, the contract also allows her to continue to box.

“It was exactly eight years to the day when Ana first became a world boxing champion,” says Julaton’s trainer, Angelo Reyes. “So serendipitous. At Bellator 183, Ana will be back in the arena that is so dear to her heart, back in the Bay Area where she was born and raised. Back where she won her first world title.” 

Under the mentorship of Freddie Roach, Julaton quickly rose to world contender status. In 2008, with only five pro fights’ experience, she lost a world title fight via split decision. Shortly thereafter, she tore her knee in the middle of karate training, and needed major surgery. She spent the first months of 2009 in rehab. This is where it gets improbable. Julaton, with four wins, a loss and a draw, is offered another world title shot. Kelsey Jeffries (41 wins, nine losses, two draws) had reigned as world champion in three different weight classes, and was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world at the time. Julaton wins her first world title at 122 pounds.

Julaton has held the IBA super bantamweight title and had two stints as the WBO super bantamweight champion during her nine-year boxing career. Her ascension also heralded growing interest in women’s boxing. Julaton continues to fight for more exposure and better pay for women fighters, and it is only now that her wish is starting to come true. 

“Male fighters aren’t expected to do all the other things female fighters are expected to do aside from boxing,” Julaton says. “And we’re also supposed to look good after doing everything.”

After leaving One Championship, Julaton boxed again, winning one of two fights. When this writer interviewed her in Las Vegas last November, the plan was to get on the undercard of a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch, win a world boxing title, then parlay it into a contract with the UFC. When that didn’t pan out, she tried to qualify for UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” series. Then the offer from Bellator came, giving her access to a big audience in other parts of the world. Even at 37, she didn’t want to give up on MMA, her first sport, and says she’s been feeling great. Besides, Roach once told her never to pass up a chance on a world title, because you never know when you’ll get one again.

“I didn’t want to pass the opportunity when I’m feeling so good,” she explains. “I’m in great shape, I feel good and I just want to try this.”

Ana has come full circle. She loved MMA but became a boxer. She left her hometown San Francisco because all the action was in Las Vegas. She could have taken it easy, but kept competitive in both sports. Now, she gets to go home and fight in the first sport she first learned and taught. Good things will continue to add to her legacy.

“What the future brings, we won’t know,” Reyes adds. “But if we’ve learned anything about ‘The Hurricane’, we know whatever she does, it will make an impact and blaze a trail. She is an inspiration.”

That is also true.