Our Cousin, Hanna fought in Managua, Nicaragua at the National Stadium on December 19th 2009 and won the World Boxing Championship in the 147 lbs. division!
Hanna went through a grueling seven to eight hour training period which requiered her to succumb to a diet from hell program in order to drop weight to compete at the 147 lbs. division.
With her strong drive and focus she made everything look easy until the day of weigh in. On this day she had several dizzy episoides due to feeling weak because of the drastic diet. Which then became even more extreme because she now found herself in a position where she had to drop another pound and a half in a two hour span.
Once the weigh in was met she was able to finally eat for the first time in two months after completing her goal of a 15 pound weight drop.
History was then made not only as Costa Rica's first world champion but also the first latina champion on an international level.
The victory was heard around the world but in little Costa Rica the sound was ground moving. Along with history comes the new juggling of a schedual filled with press coverage, events and a need for a total re-organization of time.
Hanna's days were now starting with a 3:30am run, mid day four training session and finally going to bed between 12am-1am due to the juggling of press interviews and events.
Within the juggle she consulted with one of the her sponsored professional nutritionist and a doctor, Hanna was faced to make the hardest decision in her life, she was forced to decided between her overall health and the world championship title.
A decision that her father and manager Leslie Gabriel was allowing her to make until she decided to continue the grueling regimen. Leslie then made it very clear to Hanna and every one on the team that "first Hanna Gabriels is my daughter after that fact she is the world champion and as her father her health comes first".
Leslie Gabriel being a former boxer as well knows the sacrifice needed to attain this over-achieving goals but with the coma fall of fellow boxer and friend "Timon" due to extreme weight loss that left him weak for matches against opponents of greater experience, Leslie made the decision and begged Hanna to trust him.
On her 27th birthday 1/14/10
The World Boxing Organization (WBO), her promoter and the overall Hanna Gabriels team are disappointed yet extremely enthused because in less than 6 months she will be in the ring in search of the 157 lbs. Championship.
Hanna says "This has been an emotional time for me and I am very disappointed but I know it is the right decision as I continue to pray for the full recovery of my friend Timon. My goals are huge and I will accomplish them time and time again but in a healthy fashion. I need to because my family needs me and I truly want to be the type of champion that kids can look up to inside and out of the ring."
All in all we are very proud of Hanna and she will always be our Family Champ not because of boxing but because of the type of loving, positive, supporting and family driven individual that she is.
Her actions this week goes to show that Hanna Gabriels is much more than a professional boxer. This individual is one that continues to grow as a person because she understands that her actions cause ripples... she is just making sure that her ripples are all in a positive direction.
The picture above captures this cousins essence at its purest: her smiling with the family behind her. In the picture you see Olga Gabriels Cyrus, Maritza Cunningham Cyrus, Rebecca Cunningham Cyrus (Nena) and one of her biggest fans the late Tia Julie (Julieta Cunningham Cyrus).
Tia Julies last year of life was spent looking forward to sitting front row at Hanna's boxing matches. Hanna... Tia Julie will always be in your FRONT ROW.
