The Indigenous pugilist from Providence, breaking barriers and dismantling opponents!!

The Indigenous pugilist from Providence is breaking barriers and dismantling opponents!! KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS (Many Skills) a Nipmuc/Wampanoag warrior, has fought to the top of her sport, and she has the star power to shine brilliantly in women’s boxing! 

KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS makes the historically male-dominated sport of boxing, exciting! She not only has opened the doors for female boxers forever by being the first female fighter featured on HBO boxing, (2018 with a ten-round bought against Cecilia BRAEKHUS), she is the First Native American Woman to hold the middleweight, IBA WBC WIBA titles!

In 2018 KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS fought CECILIA BRAEKHUS who is considered one of the best female fighters of all time, not only in boxing but in kickboxing and mixed martial arts as well. Despite CECILIA BRAEKHUS being favored, she was knocked down, stunned and brought to the brink by KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS! Booing’s from the crowd, was heard throughout California as the judge’s decisions were announced and CECILIA BRAEKHUS retained her title. 

Putting that questionable 2018 decision in her rearview, KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS made her Foxwoods debut vs Patty Juarez sister of Mexican boxing legend Barbie Juarez on August 29^th2019. The crowd was wild for KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS, her entrance to the ring included traditional hand drumming and dancers like Andre StrongBearHeart Gains in regalia dancing ‘The Peoples Champ’ into the ring!! 

KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS, gave a stellar performance, winning the bought by unanimous decision. Juarez was clearly not as surgical, strategic, and definitely did not have the boxing IQ of KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS. Juarez, lacking skill, attempted to frustrate and draw Reis out of fighting in her zone by leaning and holding KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS. However, the power of the people was with our Eastern Woodland Warrior! She was wearing all red warrior trunks, dawning the letters MMIW, and dedicating this fight to honor of all the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women everywhere! 

A recent report by the Urban Indian Health Institute has identified at least “506 indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been killed in 71 U.S. cities, including more than 330 since 2010.” This number is a tragic undercount because they based their report on information they could find and this crime is tragically underreported. According to judge Ruth Hopkins, “unlike other demographics where perpetrators are most likely to be from the victim’s own community and ethnic group, Indigenous women are usually sexually assaulted by non-Natives.” yet prosecution is difficult because non-Native men can’t be arrested or prosecuted by tribal authorities if the assault occurs on a reservation.

The study continues to report “from 2010 to 2018, in the US urban communities where most incidents occur, 71 communities were observed and data gathered. In those 71 cities, 506 cases were reported. Of the 506 cases, 128 or 25% were reported missing, 280 or 56% were murdered, and 98 or 19% are still unknown.” My mother has been a MMIW before it was even acronym, so I can tell you for certain, this topic carries with it a heavy burden for all Indigenous Nations!

With a record of 15-7-1 5 KOs KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS boxing career is taking off! In fact, it has taken her to Spain, Bermuda, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Germany, twice. With all this excitement KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS bring to boxing, the big question on the minds of fans is when is the rematch with CECILIA BRAEKHUS?! Perhaps Creator/The Great Mystery is a boxing fan, and took a moment to look down to see his/her Eastern Woodland Nations coming together, in a good way, for KALI “KO MEQUINONOAG” REIS!