The last year hasn't gone exactly the way Christina Kwan, '02 BS Marketing, envisioned but she knows not to spend more than a few seconds down on the canvas. After going 23-1 in her career as an amateur boxer and winning the national and world championship at 95 pounds in 2004, the alumna had dreams of becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing. But, on Kwan's 25th birthday, the International Olympic Committee decided not to introduce the sport at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.
As her visions of becoming the second member of her family to medal in the Olympics — cousin Michelle Kwan figure skated to two Olympic medals — Christina and husband and longtime trainer, Vinny Perozzi, decided it was time to turn pro.
The couple soon forged a relationship with Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions, which gave her portfolio to an executive at Wynn Las Vegas. Soon Kwan, who earned her bachelor's degree with honors, was offered a position marketing the resort to clients from Asia.
Kwan got her chance to get paid as a pugilist on June 3. She was scheduled to fight Jennifer Trzicky in a bout on the undercard of the Diego Corrales-Jorge Luis Castillo III fight at the Thomas & Mack Center. Then a rash decision and about 10 pounds gave Kwan & Co. a real taste of the darker side of the sweet science.
After training for months with Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and sparring partner DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley, Trzicky withdrew just 10 days before the fight. Kwan and Perozzi reluctantly agreed to fight Valerie Rix (4-0), a boxer offered by the matchmaker who weighed 110 pounds at the time of the fight compared to Kwan's 102 pounds.
Kwan lost by a technical knockout after catching a left hook from Rix at the 48-second mark of the first round.
After the fight, Kwan got a pleasant surprise when one of her idols, Roberto Duran visited her dressing room. "He, too, lost his first fight," she says. "It was great to have him take the time to come talk to me because he's been there. It was a complete surprise; I didn't even know he was (at the fight)."
Kwan admits she might have taken the match a bit too quickly. "I felt tremendous pressure (to fight June 3) because Top Rank held a special press conference just for me in Chinatown to promote me up to the Chinese media," says Kwan whose parents were born in Canton. "The Wynn had given me a month off before the fight to exclusively train. I felt like I couldn't have won either way."
After the loss, Kwan and Perozzi regrouped and she left her position at the Wynn to pursue her career as a boxer. She hopes to have her second professional match this fall.
Nicknamed "School Girl" because of her commitment to education — she's now working on her master's in marketing — Kwan started boxing as an undergraduate. "I walked into the gym at UNLV and was inspired by what was going on there," she says. "And I met Vinny there. I was a tennis player and I'd always been athletic, but being a small person (5 foot 3 inches), I thought it was important to be able to defend myself. I came down to Las Vegas by myself at 17."
In addition to getting her sheepskin, sport, and spouse at UNLV, Kwan also established several relationships with faculty and students. "My favorite professor was (marketing professor) Michael Mejza," the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society and Golden Key National Honor Society member says. "I still talk to him to this day. He was one of my toughest teachers but he was also the best."
As for now, Kwan is planning on opening a boxing gym in Summerlin later this year but still is intent on going the distance as a fighter. "My main thing is just getting the fights under my belt right now," she said.
