Tanya Popova
	Nickname Terrible Hometown Novosibirsk, Siberia Gym Russian Women's Boxing Team Trainer Sergei Kalashnikov Height 5 ft 7 in Weight 142 lbs WEBA Record

"Terrible" Tanya Popova is a hugely aggressive puncher who grew up fighting in bars in Novosibirsk. She throws many wild haymakers and is quick to anger. "Terrible Tanya" has brawled with all of the top WEBA welterweights and has been in a running duel with "Hellcat" Heather Corrigan for the World Welterweight belt.

Popova and Corrigan first met in a Moscow tournament in 1997. They fought a twelve-round thriller in which Tanya dished out ferocious punishment to Corrigan in the early rounds, but then faded and allowed Corrigan to make a tremendous comeback on the way to an eventual twelfth-round KO.

Tanya first won the world welterweight title at a tournament in Moscow when she defeated Britain's Paula Goodwyn by a tenth-round TKO (Corrigan had been upset in a fourth-round KO by Sonia Koloff in the tournament quarter finals!). Tanya broke Paula's nose in the ninth round of this very tough fight.

Tanya then knocked out Rose Mora in the second round and Krissy Roberts in the first round while defending her title.

Tanya then lost the title to Heather Corrigan by a sixth-round KO on 3 October 1998 but quickly avenged that loss on 24 October 1998 with an eighth-round KO. Tanya defended the title again by knocking out Sheryl Hammer in the ninth and Erin O'Rourke in the third.

On December 5 1998, Tanya lost the world title belt once again to Heather Corrigan, this time by a shocking third-round KO. A rematch with Heather on December 21, 1998 ended with a seventh round KO for the Hellcat, who had apparently found some answers to Tanya's freewheeling, hyperaggressive style.

Tanya went into training and reclaimed the world title by knocking out Rita Fields in a Moscow Tournament on 23 August 1999 (after defeating Corrigan in the tournament semifinal).

Since then Tanya has kept a stranglehold on the welterweight belt and has left a trail of destruction and broken hearts in the WEBA. Tanya came West to KO Heather Corrigan in the second round on 16 January 2000 and to TKO Cyan Locklear in the third round on 31 January 2000. Heather Corrigan challenged her again on February 10, 2000 but the Hellcat took possibly the worst loss of her career in a fight that was stopped in the fourth after Heather's jaw was broken by a ferocious Popova uppercut. Popova went on to knock out fellow Russian Sonia Koloff in the third round on March 1, and Britain's Emma Waghorn in the third round on April 1.

Tanya won a 15-round split decision over Heather in yet another rematch on June 1, 2000, then came back to KO WEBA welterweight champion Crazy Claire Freeman in the fifth round on July 7th.

With the Russian fighters playing a growing role in WEBA as the rough, tough opponents who'll fight anyone at the drop of a hat, Popova stands as one example of the successful Russian warrior. Early in her career, she was all power and aggression, a wild slugger who staked it all on overwhelming her opponents in the early going. The early rounds against Popova have been survival for opponents desperately keeping open the faint hope of wearing her down in the late going. But Russian women's boxing czar Sergei Kalashnikov has been working on Tanya's endurance and using the money from her title fight successes to train her for the long haul.

Tanya still tries to end her fights early, but her successful fifteen-rounder with Heather Corrigan showed that she now has what it takes to go the distance as well.

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