MARY JO SANDERS

25-0 (8 KOs)
Age: 34
Born: January 13, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan
Hometown: Auburn Hills, Michigan
4-Time World Champion, 4 Divisions
Reigning IBA Middleweight Champion
(Photo: Dan Graschuck)

It’s in Mary Jo “KO” Sanders’ genes. The Queen of the Middleweights is a born athlete, the daughter of Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Detroit Lions star tight end, Charlie Sanders.

Mary Jo is no sporting slouch, either, having excelled in track and field, basketball, gymnastics, bodybuilding – 1998 Miss Natural Michigan heavyweight champion – and kickboxing. She also competed in Tough Woman contests, in which, she won a world championship in the open-weight competition in 2000, giving away as much as 90 pounds to her opponent.

Also a gifted boxer, Sanders won her division in the 2002 Detroit Golden Gloves and has gone on to win all 25 of her professional prizefights, four world titles in four different divisions – light welterweight through middleweight. She is 5-0 in world title fights and has beaten nine world champions.

Sanders made her pro debut on February 7, 2003, putting Willicia Moorehead to sleep in the opening round. Mary Jo’s first real test came in eighth fight, when she won a six-round decision versus the first of the nine world champions she eventually defeated, Layla McCarter (17-9-4). Mary Joe came right back to capture her first title, winning a 10-round decision against world title-holder Chevelle Hallback (20-3-1) for the IBA Continental light welterweight crown.

Two months later, Mary Jo defeated world champion Terri Blair by the same result, four-round decision, in a rematch, followed by a ninth-round TKO of Lisa Holewyne her first title defense.

In 2005, Sanders won seven fights, including a six-round decision against Melissa Del Valle (29-4-1), 10-round decisions versus Belinda Laracuente (21-7-2) for the IBA Intercontinental welterweight belt and Eliza Olson (8-4-3) for the WBC light welterweight crown, Yvonne Reis by six-round decision, and Holewyne again in 10 rounds.

Mary Jo started 2006 off with an impressive third-round TKO of Iva Weston (10-3) for the WBC and IBA welterweight championships. Sanders added the IBA light middleweight title with a perfect shutout (100-90 three times) of previously unbeaten Tricia Turton (8-0) and then took home the IBA middleweight title belt when Gina Nicholas retired after the second round.

Sanders’ most defining fight to date, perhaps, was her completely dominating 10-round decision (100-90 three times) against Valerie Mahfood (19-12-3) on March 30, 2007 in Detroit’s famous Cobo Hall. Mary Jo out-boxed Mahfood from the opening bell, displaying superior hand and foot speed, along with stiff jab and highly effective combinations.

In her last action, Sanders stopped Veronica Rucker in the fourth round last November in a non-title match.

Mary Jo was a member of the Adams High state championship basketball team in the early nineties. She attended Oakland University and Baker College. When Mary Jo wasn’t lifting weights, she worked construction, pouring cement and digging ditches, which helped her develop strength and power.

 

Tickets, priced at $50.00, $100.00, $150.00, $200.00, $350.00 and $500.00, go on sale March 18 at the Isleta Casino and Resort box office, www.tickets.com or at Fresquez Productions, Inc. (508.884.7484). For more information go to fresquezproductions.com  or holmvssanders.com. Doors open at 5:30 PM/MT, first bout 7:00 PM/MT, first televised bout 8:00 PM/MT.