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Chevelle “Fist of Steel”
Hallback, born in Plant
City, Florida, USA on September
3 in 1971, was what many would
call a real old school fighter.
In a pro career spanning
seventeen years, she fought the
best opposition possible and won
four world championships,
including the WBF World
Welterweight title.
Despite being fascinated by
boxing from early childhood,
Hallback was twenty-four years
old before she started training
in the sport, inspired by seeing
female boxing icon Christy
Martin fight on a Mike Tyson
undercard.
Prior to that she had been
active in running track and
playing Basketball, but two days
later she went to a gym and
declared her desire to fight.
Less than a year after that she
made her professional debut,
skipping the amateurs when no
one wanted to face her in the
unpaid code.
In February of 1997 in Miami she
stopped fellow first-timer
Connie Plosser in the first
round. Her second fight would
not be that easy, as Hallback
was matched against Holland´s
Lucia Rijker (4-0), who would go
on to be recognized as one of
the best Pound-for-Pound female
boxers in history and never lose
a fight.
Rijker was an undefeated
four-time Kickboxing world
champion before turning to
boxing, and not a fair match for
Hallback who had only
forty-seven seconds of
competitive experience. But the
American gave it her best shot,
and lasted into the fifth round.
After two more first-round
victories, Hallback agreed to
fight Bonnie Canino (5-1) for
the WIBF Intercontinental Super
Featherweight title on March 6,
1998 at the Memorial Auditorium
in Fort Lauderdale. While it was
a big ask, it was not too big
and Hallback won by TKO 7.
Following the victory over
Canino it became difficult to
find suitable opponents for
Hallback, who only had that one
bout in 1998 and only managed to
get one bout, a four rounder, in
1999. It was very much a case of
taking anything and everything
she was offered, and so she did.
In April of 2000 she lost a
majority decision to Doris Hackl
(3-0) for the IFBA World Super
Featherweight title. The fight
was reportedly close enough that
it could have gone the other
way, and when all was said and
done it was a good learning
experience for Hallback.
She lost another majority
decision to Laura Serrano
(10-0-2), a fight many felt she
deserved to win, and had a
technical draw against Snodene
Blakeney (9-8), before activity
picked up drastically and she
won her next fifteen outings in
only eighteen months, and most
of them in impressive fashion.
During that period she improved
her record to 20-3-1 (9), and
won the IBA World Super
Featherweight title with a
unanimous decision over Alicia
Ashley (7-3-1), and retained
said championship by out-scoring
former world champion Melissa
Del Valle (28-2-1).
Moving up to Light Welterweight,
Hallback lost a decision to
undefeated Mary Jo Sanders (8-0)
in May of 2004, but she quickly
rebounded two weeks later by
stopping Bonnie Canino (11-3) in
four rounds of a rematch.
Back at Super Featherweight she
retained the IBA world title by
defeating Layla McCarter
(17-10-4) by wide unanimous
decision, and in March of 2005
she went to Japan to add the
vacant WIBA crown by besting
Fujin Raika (12-1-1), also by
unanimous decision.
She made one more defense of the
WIBA title, beating Belinda
Laracuente (22-11-2) in November
of 2005, before she ventured
back up in weight to take on
WBA, WBC, IFBA, WIBA World
Welterweight Champion, and
future WBF World Champion
Holly
Holm (17-1-2),
for the vacant IFBA World title
at Light Welterweight.
On May 23, 2007 at the Tingley
Coliseum in Holm´s hometown
Albuquerque, Hallback lost on
points, and it appeared clear
that she was not yet ready for
the bigger opponents.
Consequently she decided to
settle in at Lightweight, where
she made her initial mark by
out-scoring Terri Blair (9-12-2)
the following July.
In February of 2008 Hallback got
the opportunity to challenge for
the vacant IFBA World
Lightweight title against
Melissa Hernandez (7-1-1). One
judge saw Hallback as the
winner, while one scored it for
Hernandez and the third had it
even, resulting in a draw.
Four months later she received a
second chance at the same title,
but this time the opponent was
Canadian Jeanine Garside
(7-0-1). It was another close
call, but this time Hallback was
declared the winner by split
decision and awarded the IFBA
World Lightweight title.
A rematch with Holly Holm (now
26-1-3) was set for March 26,
2010 in Albuquerque, again at
Light Welterweight but this time
with the vacant WIBA World title
at stake. Accepting this fight
again showed that Hallback
craved challenges, and feared no
opponent.
Holm also won a unanimous
decision in the second meeting,
but this time the fight was much
closer and more competitive than
the deceptively wide scorecards
(98-93, 98-92, 98-92) suggested.
Hallback proved in this fight
that Lightweight was not
necessarily her limit.
She won her next fight, a
non-title bout against Victoria
Cisneros (5-10-2), and then
jumped back in at the deep in
twice in a row, coming up short
on points in spirited challenges
against unified World
Welterweight Champion Cecilia
Braekhus (17-0) and
Myriam Lamare
(19-3) for the IBF World Light
Welterweight title.
Following those back to back
losses, Hallback decided to take
some time to regroup. While she
kept on training, it would be
more than two years before she
had another fight, stopping
two-time world title-challenger
Dominga Olivo in June of 2014.
That fight was in reality a
tune-up bout for her challenge
for the vacant World Boxing
Federation (WBF) World
Welterweight title on August 22,
2014 at the St. Pete Times Forum
in Tampa, Florida against former
foe Victoria Cisneros.
Cisneros, now 11-15-2 but an
established world class
contender despite the
less-than-flattering record, had
gone 6-1 in seven outings before
losing a close fight for the WBF
World Light Welterweight title
to Rola El Halabi in her
previous fight.
With their first fight in 2010
ending in a split decision
victory for Hallback, Cisneros
had been calling for a rematch
ever since, and was expected to
give the now forty-two year old
another tough fight. But, while
it was not easy, this time
Hallback left no questions
unanswered and won by eighth
round stoppage.
So far winning the WBF World
Welterweight title has been the
last fight of Hallback´s career.
There has been talks of her
returning to the ring since, but
if she never fights again she
has done very well for herself
and her legacy as one of the
best in recent years.
With world championships at
Super Featherweight, Lightweight
and Welterweight, Chevelle
Halback´s record stands at
30-8-2 (13).
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