ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Holly Holm was officially inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday. During her speech, Holm became emotional when thanking those who supported her during her prestigious career.
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“I will tell you right now, I have been surrounded by people who have only wanted the best for me,” Holm said. “They were very selfless and had love and support for me. So, I don’t see this as my Hall of Fame day, but as a joint effort. Thank you.”
The Albuquerque native began her career at 16 years old when she began taking aerobics classes under the instruction of Mike Winkeljohn. The high-profile fighting coach saw potential in a young Holm and encouraged her to pursue a career in combat sports.
“No matter what I did, he believed,” Holm said. “From the get-go, there’s a lot of people out here in this sport as we all know, between managers and promoters, coaches, they’re in it for their own glory a lot of times. I’ll tell you right now, I’ve been surrounded by people who have wanted the best for me. Very selfless love and support I’ve had.”
Holm made her fighting debut in amateur kickboxing before she made the switch to professional boxing “The Preacher’s Daughter” went on to have a hall of fame career in the sport, tallying a record of 33-2 inside the ring, and winning multiple world championships across multiple weight classes.
While Holm definitely left her mark on the boxing world, she also left her mark on New Mexican sports. She was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, but the announcement that she was going into the International Boxing Hall of Fame still came as a surprise to her. She actually ignored the call to inform her that she was going to be inducted.
“Yeah, I was hanging out with my dad and hanging out at the house, and I had a couple of messages I haven’t really been paying attention to,” she said. “There were a couple of voice mails that were like, ‘Hey this is Ed with the Hall of Fame can you give me a call,’ and then I had a couple of, ‘Hey congratulations!’ I was like, maybe I should call him back and see what this is all about.”
Holm, 40, made the switch to MMA in 2011 and also found success in the octagon. She became the UFC women’s bantamweight champion after knocking out defending champion Ronda Rousey in 2015, and has remained a high-profile fighter to this day.
With multiple fights remaining on her current UFC contract, Holm is determined to keep fighting at a high level.
