| Junior lightweight Margaret McGregor was trained and managed by Vern Miller of the Twin Tigers Gym in Bremerton, Washington. She racked up an 8-0-1 record as a professional kickboxer then began to train for professional boxing in 1998.
On April 3, 1999 in Bremerton, she won her pro debut with a four-round split decision over Layla McCarter of Spokane, Washington, who fell to 1-2.
On April 24, 1999 at the Art Museum Masonic Temple Annex in Portland, Oregon, she weighed in at 126½ lbs for a rematch with McCarter (129 lbs), this time winning the four rounder by unanimous decision.
On June 5, 1999 at the Community College in Edmonds, Washington, she weighed in at 131 lbs and won a four-round unanimous decision, every round on every card, over Shelley Lay (130 lbs) of Ogden, Utah to move her pro record to 3-0.
Margaret McGregor claimed that she was unable to find further opponents, and this became the rationale for her manager setting up a controversial fight in Seattle with 0-2 male boxer Loi Chow of Vancouver, Canada on October 9, 1999. This male-female match was sanctioned by the Department of Licensing in the state of Washington, but was recognized only as an exhibition by the Association of Boxing Commissions. McGregor's official record as a female boxer therefore stayed at 3-0 despite her easy win over Chow, who put in a lackluster performance.
The media furor attracted by this controversial fight earned McGregor a fight contract with Event Sports, which planned to showcase her on live TV (if she continued to win), and a TKO endorsement contract.
McGregor was soon the recipient of many challenges from boxers who questioned her reported inability to find opponents, including one on this website from Florida's Chevelle Hallback.
Her first Event Sports bout was a a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision over Cheryl Nance (128 lbs). on November 14, 1999 at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon. McGregor weighed in at 130 lbs and moved to 4-0 with a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision. This bout featured good toe to toe action but McGregor clearly got the better of it and all three judges scored it 59-55 in her favor. The fourth and fifth were particularly strong rounds for McGregor as she maneuvered Nance onto the ropes and unloaded with fierce combinations. Nance was also rocked by some great right hands in the fifth but stormed back for a rousing finish in the sixth. Nance fell to 5-3. Despite McGregor's notoriety, Fox Sports TV failed to show this bout live.
On December 3, 1999 in Temecula, California, Margaret was handed her first loss as a pro boxer by Snodene Blakeney of Austin, Texas, who moved her own record to 9-3 with a points win. Blakeney was too aggressive for McGregor and the decision was unanimous for the determined Texan after six rounds.
McGregor was slated to fight Canadian newcomer Donna Parent on the IFBA all-female card in Kenner, Louisiana on February 11, but canceled a few weeks before the fight owing to ill health. On February 15, the Seattle Times reported that McGregor had retired from boxing due to a liver ailment.
McGregor "continues to rest and recover her strength while she shifts to a new career helping train other contenders in her home Twin Tigers gym" according to trainer Vern Miller, who attributes McGregor's Dec.3 loss to Snodene Blakeney to the liver problem. "She just didn't have any endurance. She was wiped out in the first round" according to Miller. A visit to a doctor confirmed the liver ailment, which leaves her fatigued and unable to train. |
USA