The top-ranked independent welterweight contender in British Columbia female amateur boxing has roots in Estevan, recently defeated a Vancouver Island hometown favourite and has plans on conquering the ring in Ireland next.
Sarah Fraske, 31, beat veteran boxer Susanne Jane Douma by unanimous decision in a four-round fight at the Victoria Conference Centre on Oct. 22 in one of three main events at the 2016 B.C. Silver Gloves Championship. Douma, 40, was contesting her retirement match in front of a supportive hometown crowd, but Fraske used her superior speed and technique to outbox the bigger and taller fighter in the slugfest.
“My coach, Jack Corcoran from Ireland, actually kept telling me to go for the body and that’s what wore her down so much,” said Fraske, who weighed in at 145 pounds and stands 5-foot-7, which is 10 pounds lighter and one-inch shorter than her opponent. “I was faster than her, but we ended up both being really tired because we didn’t take time to rest. It was just an all out brawl, back and forth the whole fight.”
The contest was Fraske’s fifth since the longtime Estevan resident and Vancouver transplant first stepped into the ring at an at-risk youth charity boxing event called Aprons For Gloves Restaurant Rumble on July 23, 2014. The event’s title refers to its idea of having employees in the restaurant industry doff their kitchen garb for boxing gloves in an attempt to help those less fortunate.
Fraske said that first fight changed her life. She said while growing up sports was always a major focus but as she entered university other interests took over, so jumping in the ring helped her get back into sports and concentrate on exercise.
The chance to face Douma came through an invitation by her opponent for a fight, and considering matches in the female welterweight division with a classification of 147 pounds aren’t easy to come by, it presented a welcome opportunity for Fraske. However, a month-long vacation in Northern Ireland during September with her coach and boyfriend proved a bit of a challenge in getting ready.
“I trained very hard before my trip to Ireland and then in Ireland it was more casual training,” she said. “I landed back home on Oct. 1, so from the 1st to the 22nd I just trained severely, three or four times a day, to get ready for the fight. I was super nervous because I had taken that holiday in Ireland. I didn’t think I was well prepared, plus she was a bit bigger than me.”
Fraske’s plans on moving to the Emerald Isle next June where she noted boxing seemed to be more culturally ingrained than in Canada. She said her purpose until then is to make up for a B.C. Golden Gloves loss last fall with, hopefully, an invitation and victory in this December’s event.
“My next future goal is just to win the Golden Gloves,” said Fraske. “Then after that I don’t know.”
