| Chandler AZ - Sunshine Fettkether began her fighting career in 1997 as an amateur kick boxer and boxer, training Muay Thai under Bob Karmel in Mesa Arizona. She had trained consistently in the martial arts, starting with Tae Kwon Do at age 13, and moving on to various other arts until finding Muay Thai. She took her kickboxing career as far as possible, fighting at every available opportunity, which included bouts in Mexico, Ukraine and throughout the USA. Her final two kickboxing matches were fought in the Ukraine with Sunshine being the only female member on USKBA Team USA in November 2001. Her current record is 8-2-2 and she has gone undefeated in her last 10 bouts. |
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| AH:First thing most people would notice about you is that you’re a very pretty girl. I have a mental division of women fighters, real fighters (Ann Wolfe comes to mind) and pretty girls that use boxing as a tool to promote themselves for various other ventures. So are you a pretty girl promoting yourself, or are you the real deal? |
| SF:I train twice a day, six days a week. A strength and conditioning program, a running program, then of course the boxing gym. I take off on Sundays. That's about as real as it gets. I'm very serious about my training and my boxing career. I was convinced by others (referring to her website) that getting a good photo portfolio done would help in getting exposure, etc. They were right. Everything is in good taste and having a website that we can refer people to for information and photographs is a valuable tool. |
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| AH:What does a typical training session in the Boxing Gym consist of? |
| SF:I start by skipping rope for 30 minutes. 5 rounds shadow boxing. A few rounds on the double end bag, pad work with my trainer, some heavy bag work, speed bag. The intensity and number of rounds grows as we get closer to a fight. On Mon, We'd and Fri we go to another gym in Phoenix for sparring. |
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| AH:Since there are less female boxers are you forced to spar with men? |
| SF:I've always sparred with men. I've never even trained with other female boxers. I think there's only 2 pro women in Arizona, Becky Garcia and I. She's a lot smaller than me, so we don't spar. |
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| AH:Have you ever been dropped in a fight or in the gym, and if so what went through your mind? |
| SF:No, fortunately I've never gone down in a fight or sparring. |
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| AH:Just wondering, Sunshine is kind of unusual, is it your real name? |
| SF:Yes, Sunshine is my real middle name. My first name is Deborah, but I've always gone by Sunshine. No one calls me Deborah. |
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| AH:As a fight approaches do you get nervous, the weeks before the fight, the day of the fight, in the dressing room before walking out to the ring? |
| SF:Maybe just a little in the dressing room before going out. That's about it anymore. I used to get more nervous, but not too much anymore. |
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| AH:Are there any fighters out there that you are particularly "aware" of? Who do you see yourself squaring up with in the future? |
| SF:From now on I'm going to stay at 147. Getting below 147 kills me. I can do it, but its not a good situation. I'd like to eventually fight Sumya Anani, but I don't know if we could agree on weight. Holly Holm from New Mexico comes to mind also. We fought kickboxing twice and have tried several times to get something set up for a boxing match, but have been unable to so far. Also need a rematch with Eliza Olson. |
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| AH:Why did you start boxing? |
| SF:I started in kickboxing and since its not very popular, I ran out of opponnents. I had done some amatuer boxing when I was kickboxing just to stay busy. I turned pro in kickboxing, then two weeks later I fought my pro debut in boxing. I decided that I had to pick one or the other because the two styles just don't mix. So, because of better opportunities, I chose boxing and I haven't kickboxed since then. |
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| AH:Who are you fighting next, when, where? |
| SF:August 6 in Walker MN. at the Northern Lights Casino. Its a rubber match with Lisa Hollewyne for the WIBF Welterweight world title. |
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WithinTheRing.com would like to thank Sunshine Fettkether for sharing her time with us, and wishes her continued success in her boxing career.
Story by http://www.Withinthering.com |
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