|
 Bridgett
Riley, 5'4", was born on May 13, 1973 in Oakville, Missouri,
30 miles south of St. Louis. The 118-lb kickboxer, former Class
II champion gymnast, St. Louis Storm (soccer) cheerleader, flight
attendant and TV Mighty Morphin Power Ranger stunt double is now
making waves as a bantamweight boxer. She took the IFBA bantamweight
championship from Yvonne Trevino in February 1998.
As a kickboxer she lost only to Ramona
Gatto, and to veteran Bonnie
Canino (a defeat that she later
avenged) in building an overall 23-2 record with 14 KO's.
She twice defeated then-U.S. kickboxing champion
Denise Taylor. The first time was in her own pro kickboxing debut;
her second win over Taylor was by kayo, breaking Taylor's nose
on the way!
She recorded knockouts over Gina Hayes and over
Canada's Olivia Gerula, and a 7-round points win over Australia's
Stephanie Curtiss.
She has held world titles from the ISKA, the World
Kick Boxing Association, and the International Kick Boxing Federation
and compiled a 26-2 record with 14 knockouts.
She also suffered an unusual loss to Japan's Fujiko
Ishimoto in a "shootfighting" contest.
Now living in Sherman Oaks, California, Bridgett
trains at the LA Boxing Club. She began her career as a pro boxer
in 1994 by defeating Yvonne
Trevino and went on to defeat Yvonne again in 1998 to win the
IFBA bantamweight title. Later in 1998, she joined the growing
stable of female boxers promoted by Don King Productions.
Bridgett's regular boxing bouts include:
-
On December 6, 1994 in Laughlin, Nevada, she
won a six-round unanimous decision over Yvonne Trevino (in
her own pro debut).
-
On March 8, 1995 in Woodland Hills, California
she stopped Robyn Lopez in the second round and broke her nose
(in an exhibition bout!)
-
On May 16, 1996, in Long Beach, California,
she won a 4-round unanimous decision over Del Pettis.
-
On September 19, 1996 in Los Angeles, Bridgett
was disqualified in the first round against Teresa Arnold,
for wearing contact lenses.
-
On April 12, 1997 in Long Beach, California,
she defeated Diane Berry by TKO (Berry failed to answer bell
for 2nd rd, kick)
-
On May
17, 1997 in Reseda. California, she lost by 6th-rd TKO
to Teresa
Arnold because of a cut over her eye. (IFBA boxing)
-
On August
2, 1997 in Biloxi, Mississippi, she won a 8-round unanimous
decision over then unbeaten newcomer Shirley Prescott from
Winnipeg, Canada (IFBA boxing)
-
On October
24, 1997 in Lula, Mississippi, she won a 2nd-round KO
over Tina Speakman (IFBA boxing)
-
On February
15, 1998 in Biloxi, Mississippi, she won the IFBA bantamweight
title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Yvonne
Trevino in a gruelling match where Bridgett outfought
Yvonne on the inside
-
On June
26, 1998 in Las Vegas, Nevada, she defended the IFBA
bantamweight title against 5-0-1 Aicha Lahsen from Liverpool,
England. She survived a stunning first-round knockdown by
a right that left her visibly wobbly and apparently in big
trouble. But Lahsen could not put her away and Bridgett came
back to dominate the later rounds before knocking the fading
British boxer out in the ninth. [see the links below for
video and still photos of this fight]
-
On December 5, 1998 at the Convention Center
in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she moved her record to 7-2 with
an eight-round, unanimous decision over Tawayna Broxton of
Forest Park, Georgia who fell to 1-6. This was Bridgett's first
fight promoted by Don King.
-
On March 13, 1999 at Madison Square Garden
in New York City, she won an eight-round split (57-57, 59-57,
58-56) decision over Brenda
Burnside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, who fell to 5-6-2.
This was a non-title fight, and for most of the media, a non-fight,
buried deep on a Don King card headlined by the Lewis vs.
Holyfield fiasco. (It was not included on the PPV broadcast.)
In two messages
to fans about the "invisible" fight with Brenda
Burnside in Madison Square Garden and about forfeiting the IFBA
bantamweight title, Bridgett described her hopes for her future
career. She explained why she felt that these developments, seen
as setbacks by some of her fans, were in fact steps to "bigger
and better things ahead" for her!
On March 16, 1999, the IFBA declared the bantamweight
title vacant because Bridgett had declined to defend it within
a year of her win over Aicha Lahsen.
On September 24, 1999, at the MCI Center in Washington,
D.C. Bridgett advanced her pro record to 9-2 with a TKO at 0:48
of the first round over Donyale Williams of Ashtabula, Ohio on
another card promoted by Don King. Williams, who has never made
it through the first round of any professional boxing bout, fell
to 0-4 in a fight that tested the bottom of King's matchmaking
barrel. Bridgett told us later that the match was confirmed at
short notice and she knew nothing about Williams except that she
was 0-3. "I just went in and did what I had to do", she
says.
Bridgett was in the 1992 movie Triple Impact,
with co-star Dale "Apollo" Cook and has been a stunt double for
the lead actress on the TV series "Martial Law".
|
