Jennifer Han (born June 25, 1983) is an American

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who held the IBF female

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title from 2015 to 2020, and was the first world champion boxer from

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Professional career

Han made her professional debut on July 31, 2009, losing via

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

(MD) over four rounds against Melissa St. Vil at the

Pan American Center Pan American Center is a multi–purpose arena in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, located on the campus of New Mexico State University. The arena has a current seating capacity of 12,515 people. The arena serves as home of the Ne ...

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

. After compiling a record of 10–2–1 (1 KO), she challenged reigning champion Ji-Hye Woo for the International Female Boxers Association

title on March 23, 2014, at the Wooseul Gymnasium in

Haenam Haenam (''Haenam-gun'') is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. The capital of Haenam-gun is Haenam-eup (Haenam town). The economy of the county is based mainly on agriculture, with rice and Kore ...

, South Korea. Han suffered the third defeat of her career, losing via ten-round MD. Two judges scored the bout 97–95 and 96–93 in favor of Woo while the third judge scored it a draw at 95–95. Two fights later, she was scheduled to face

Helen Joseph Helen Beatrice Joseph OMSG (''née'' Fennell) (8 April 1905 – 25 December 1992) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Born in Sussex, England, Helen graduated with a degree in English from the University of London in 1927 and then de ...

on April 18, 2015, with the vacant IBF female featherweight title on the line. However, Joseph was forced to withdraw from the bout after she was unable to obtain a

VISA Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

to enter the U.S..

Fatuma Zarika Zarika Njeri Kanghete (born 13 March 1985), commonly known as Fatuma Zarika, is a Kenyan professional boxer. She held the WBC female super-bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight c ...

stepped in as a late replacement, with Han emerging victorious via

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) to capture the vacant IBF female Intercontinental featherweight title. The fight with Joseph for the vacant IBF world title was rescheduled for September 19, and took place at the

Don Haskins Center The Don Haskins Center, formerly known as the Special Events Center, is the home of UTEP Miners men's and women's basketball. The venue is located in the heart of El Paso, Texas. In addition to hosting sporting events, the Don Haskins Center is al ...

. Han captured her first world title via UD with the judges' scorecards reading 98–91, 98–92 and 97–92. With the victory, Han became the first world champion boxer from El Paso. After two successful defences of her world title, Han faced Olivia Gerula on February 17, 2017, at the Don Haskins Center. At the pre-fight weigh-in, Gerula weighed 1.5 lbs over the maximum weight limit, making her ineligible to contest for the IBF championship. With the title still on the line for Han, she made a successful defence, winning via UD with all three judges scoring the bout 100–89. She made one more defence–a UD victory against Lizbeth Crespo in February 2018–before taking two years away from the sport after giving birth to a child in May 2019. Han returned to the ring on February 15, 2020, scoring an eight-round UD victory against Jeri Sitzes in a non-title bout. Han relinquished her title in July 2020, and moved up to the

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. On September 4, 2021, at

Headingley Rugby Stadium Headingley Rugby Stadium (known as AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium due to sponsorship) is a rugby league stadium in Headingley, Leeds and shares the same site as Headingley Cricket Ground. It is the home ground of the Leeds Rhinos, and is the ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, England, she challenged reigning champion

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She was the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, and has held the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight ...

for the undisputed female lightweight championship losing the contest by unanimous decision. Switching weight divisions again, Han's next fight was a unanimous decision loss to IBF and WBO female super-featherweight world champion Mikaela Mayer at the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California, on 9 April 2022.

Personal life

Han's sister

Stephanie Stephanie is a female name that comes from the Greek name Στέφανος (Stephanos) meaning "crown, wreath, garland". The male form is Stephen. Forms of Stephanie in other languages include the German "Stefanie", the Italian, Czech, Pol ...

is also a professional boxer.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Jennifer Living people 1983 births American women boxers Boxers from Texas Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas World featherweight boxing champions Super-featherweight boxers International Boxing Federation champions 21st-century American women