Graciela Casillas
| Graciela Casillas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1957 (age 59–60) Oxnard, California, United States |
| Other names | The Goddess |
| Nationality |
 American
|
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
| Weight | 53 kg (117 lb; 8.3 st) |
| Division | Bantamweight |
| Style | American Kenpo Karate, Cabales Serrada Eskrima, Jeet Kune Do, Kickboxing, Kodenkan Jujitsu, Shen Chun Do, Taekwondo |
| Fighting out of | Santa Monica, California, United States |
| Team | Olympic Gym |
| Trainer | Jimmy Montoya |
| Rank |
3rd degree black belt in American Kenpo 3rd degree black belt in Kodenkan Jujitsu 10th degree black belt in Shen Chun Do |
| Years active | 1976-1986 |
| Professional boxing record | |
| Total | 6 |
| Wins | 5 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Kickboxing record | |
| Total | 32 |
| Wins | 31 |
| By knockout | 18 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 1 |
Graciela Casillas (born 1957) is an American former boxer and kickboxer who competed in the bantamweight division. After training in several traditional martial arts, Casillas began competing as a kickboxer in 1976, and in 1979 she became the first fighter to hold world titles in both boxing and kickboxing by taking the World Women's Boxing Association's and the World Kickboxing Association's bantamweight championships. Although Casillas' Boxrec record is 5-0, Black Belt Magazine reported in May 1984 that she had 27 boxing matches, winning 15 by KO up to that point.
Noted for her punching power and also as one of the first American fighters to incorporate low kicks into their arsenal, Casillas retired undefeated in 1986. She is considered a pioneer of women's combat sports.
Casillas was born as one of eleven children to Mexican parents in Oxnard, California. She took up taekwondo at the age of fifteen when the church she attended began offering self-defence classes. After the classes were discontinued, she began training in hwa rang do and then American Kenpo karate. It was at her karate school where she was introduced to kickboxing.
After going 6-0 with all of her wins by knockout as an amateur, Casillas turned professional in 1977. On June 13, 1979, after winning her first eight professional full contact karate fights, she defeated Karen Bennett by unanimous decision at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California to win the WWBA World Bantamweight (-53.525 kg/118 lb) Championship in what was her professional boxing debut.
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