Ana Maria Torres Q&A: ‘Nobody Cared About Women’s Boxing’

New International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Ana Maria Torres made her debut as a super flyweight in 1999 and retired having made her mark in the sport in 2012. By the time she called it a day, she had not lost for five years. She twice held the WBC super flyweight title in 2007 and 2012. “La Guerrera.”

Torres is now 44 and boxed 34 times as a professional, winning 28 times (16 by stoppage) with three losses and three draws. 

BoxingScene: How do you feel being here at the International Boxing Hall of Fame and seeing your plaque on the wall in the museum?

Ana Maria Torres: I’m really happy, and it makes me feel it was all worth all the work that I did. I want to thank Canastota and the Boxing Hall of Fame because they recognize that the women and we get recognition for that.

BS: Did you think this time would come?

Torres: No. I never thought about it. I dreamed of being a boxing champion but I never thought about this point, so the people that were paying in Mexico to see me fight, it was exciting but I never imagined being in the Boxing Hall of Fame, even when I was a champion and now this is the highest point in my career.

BS: Women’s boxing is now flying high, was it a struggle for you in those days?

Torres: It was really hard in the beginning, nobody cared about women’s boxing. It was hard for us to open doors. But once we did, we showed that women’s boxing has a lot of action where it was worth paying for a ticket to watch us fight. Once we did that, promoters realized that there was business, too, with women’s boxing so that opened the path, and now it’s a reality.

BS: Do you feel like you helped pave the way for what we see today?

Torres: Each woman boxer around the world had an effort, and now it’s a reality that it’s open for the new fighters that are coming. I’m very happy that I opened up that in Mexico with some other fighters and now it’s a reality and women can get paid. That’s what we were looking for, that women can get paid from boxing.

BS: A lot of boxers struggle in retirement, they don’t like to give up. Was it hard to walk away?

Torres: It was not hard for me because I was planning a new phase in my life. I became a wife and mother and my husband told me to realize that if I come back after my kids, it’s just going to be the same, I was at a new phase in my life, so it was not hard because I wanted to live this new phase.

BS: Who do you like to watch now?

Torres: I think it’s a good thing that both [men and women] are watching fights, but now when there is a big fight, women are supporting and watching both.

BS: If you could tell a fan to watch one of your fights, which one would you select?

Torres: There were so many good fights with great champions and tough fights, but I would say the one that I had with Jackie Nava [who she fought twice] for the WBC diamond belt, it is the best and it is considered one of the best in boxing history.

BS: Have you had a better feeling that the buzz you get from boxing, walking out in front of the fans and celebrating a victory?

Torres: It is hard to find something that gives me that high, as much as the adrenaline of the ring and people cheering, but right now I’ve got a great feeling when people approach me and ask for pictures, and autographs, or they go to my gym and ask for a picture or a signature. And now I’m a mother, it’s great. I’ve been out of the ring for 12 years but I still get that feeling of what I did was wonderful.