Devon Ling
	Nickname Hometown Los Angeles Gym Wu's Fighting Tiger Gym, Toronto Trainer Kwan Shu Wu Height 5 ft 5 in Weight 134 lbs WEBA Record

Devon comes by her interest and skill in boxing honestly. Her father, who was originally from Hong Kong, is a well respected martial artist in Los Angeles. Devon's mother was, for a short time in the late '70s, one of the women in the first wave of semi-professional women's boxers. She fought under the name "Killer" Kim Watson. Devon was in grade school at the time, and the sight of her mother duking it out in the ring left a lasting impression on her.

Devon showed an aptitude for fighting early in life, and usually expressed her ability in ways that did not make her parents proud. She had an overactive sense of right and wrong, which often got her into fights with much larger girls and boys. She didn't always win, but she always impressed her opponents with her ability to take it as well as dish it out.

Devon always found martial arts to be somewhat stifling. When women's boxing started to take off in the US again, Devon's mother suggested that she might try that instead. Devon loved it!!! She had found her sport. Her parents, however, made her promise that she would finish college and be prepared to support herself before embarking on a "career" in boxing.

Within a year after finishing college Devon was off looking for a way to break into boxing. After a few false starts she hooked up with Buddy Rose, who was one of the few promoters who didn't treat women boxers like cotton candy or side-show freaks.

Devon went straight to contention by beating Sonia Koloff and posting a come-from-behind win in a tough battle with Diane McFee. She then took down her crosstown rival Valerie Henning on 16 January 1997 to strip Henning of the WEBA Championship.

While everyone in Devon's camp knew that she was championship material, her quick success brought on a minor crisis as to how to go to the next level. Devon felt that she needed to find a trainer with whom she really connected, someone who could give her a lasting edge.

In the end, Devon went back to her roots in the martial arts. With her father's help she convinced June Castro, a nationally known trainer, to join her camp. June presented the martial arts training and philosophy that Devon had heard, but not learned, in a way that suddenly made sense. It paid off in the ring, too! Devon went toe to toe with Henning in a rematch, knocking Valerie down for the first time ever in the 12th. The judges gave the fight, and the title, to Devon in a close decision.

Devon lost the title in a closely-fought rematch with Valerie Henning but remained in the very top ranks of the WEBA until she retired from the ring in September 1997 after losing to Sandy Jackman.

Devon became a ring correspondent for the WEBA. Her sexy silk dresses and provocative personality caught the attention of Pam Chai's trainer, Kwan Shu Wu. After many months of pleading for Ling to re-enter the ring under his management, Mr. Wu persuaded the WEBA organisers to let him handle both Ling and Chai. Ling moved to Canada to train, and her ring career soon took off again.

Wu schooled Devon Ling in the tough style that he had developed for Pam Chai, adding to Devon's considerable skills and endurance. Despite some early setbacks, Ling battled her way back into contention in the lightweight division, as well as avenging her worst defeat, a brutal loss to Heather Corrigan.

Ling also defeated Chai in their first head-to-head battle in June, 2000 to reclaim the WEBA lightweight crown.

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