24 Facts About Giselle Salandy

Joenette Giselle Ife Salandy ORTT was a Trinidadian professional boxer.

Giselle Salandy was an undefeated unified light middleweight world champion, holding the WBA and WBC, as well as the IWBF, WIBA, WIBF, and GBU female titles, from 2006 until her death in 2009.

Joenette Giselle Ife Salandy was born on 25 January 1987 in Siparia in southern Trinidad.

Giselle Salandy then resided with Ivy Corian who raised her until she was 14 years old.

Giselle Salandy attended St Bridgid's Girls' RC School, Penal Junior Secondary School and then Fyzabad Composite School.

At the age of eleven years, nursing a broken arm, Giselle visited the White Eagles Gym with her stepbrother Joel Eligon and started punching a punching bag.

Giselle Salandy was immediately recognized by the trainers in the gym, Kim 'Bone Crusher' Quashie and Fitzroy Richards.

Giselle Salandy picked up a series of six victory fights throughout Trinidad and Tobago and the islands of Tortola and Anguilla, with opponents such as Johanna Pena-Alvarez and Ria Ramnarine.

In October 2001, Giselle Salandy fought and defeated Paola Rojas, becoming the youngest person to win a boxing title, WIBA IBERO Title, at age 14.

Five days after her 17th birthday, Giselle Salandy returned to the ring in Chaguanas and successfully defended her IBERO Title against Paola Rojas on a card co-promoted by Curtis Joseph, Boxu Potts and Cecil Ford.

Giselle Salandy became frustrated with this and severed her work relationship with Curtis Joseph.

Giselle Salandy fought Manela Daniels at the Petrotrin Grounds in Fyzabad, a fight she had previously booked, which was promoted by Arthur Sanderson.

Giselle Salandy then signed a promotional contract with Potts and left her Fyzabad home and went to live with Potts and his family at their Arima home while Miller was in training camp in Ghana.

Giselle Salandy was awarded Top History Making Fighter of the year 2006 by WBAN, was awarded First Citizen Sports Woman of the year 2006 by The First Citizen Sports Foundation in Trinidad and Tobago and was presented with the Chaconia Gold Medal by the President of Trinidad and Tobago for her achievement in boxing.

Giselle Salandy successfully defended her six world titles against Yvonne Reis on 24 March 2007.

However, only two weeks later at the Centre of Excellence in Trinidad and Tobago, Giselle Salandy fought and defeated the then unbeaten Karolina Lukasik in her mandatory defense, regaining her world record by winning eight title belts in one fight.

Again on 26 December 2008, Giselle Salandy fought and defeated the fourth ranked Yahaira Hernandez, securing her eight title belts and breaking a Caribbean record by being the first boxer in the history of the Caribbean to successfully defend all her world titles six consecutive times.

On 31 August 2009 Giselle Salandy was posthumously awarded Trinidad's highest national award, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Giselle Salandy was the first boxer in the history of the Caribbean to ever receive such an award.

Giselle Salandy was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in July 2016.

Giselle Salandy was named as an Eternal Champion by the WBC.

Giselle Salandy died in a motor vehicle collision on the morning of 4 January 2009, crashing her vehicle into a concrete pillar while driving west into Port of Spain on the Beetham Highway.

Relatives of Giselle Salandy questioned why she was allowed to drive herself on Sunday, as she had a driver was assigned to her.

Giselle Salandy, who held a driver's permit for the last two years, hired a 21-year-old man to be her driver because of her hectic schedule.