EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DEBORAH " SUNSHINE" FETTKETHER... 
BY Sue TL Fox		  
  Deborah "Sunshine" Fettfether, 145 lbs., 5'8",  began training in the martial arts at age 13 in Baltimore, Maryland. She started with Tae Kwon Do and after earning her black belt at age 17, she moved on to other arts. These included Shotokan, Kung Fu, Kempo, and Brazilian Jujitsu. Eventually she discovered Muay Thai and fell in love with it. She had her first kickboxing bout in 1997 in Phoenix, Arizona. Although it's been difficult finding opponents, she now has a record of 6-2-1 and has 3 titles. In 1998 Sunshine began boxing and won the silver medal at the Women's U.S. National Championships in Anaheim, CA. Sunshine continues to train in Muay Thai and plans on having her pro debut on Feb 13th. As a pro Sunshine plans on fighting both kickboxing and boxing.   
 

TL Fox: How long have you been into Muay Thai kickboxing ?

Sunshine: I've been doing Muay Thai on and off for about 4 years.

TL Fox: What made you decide to get into contact sports?

Sunshine: My husband and I decided to join a Muay Thai gym. We had both been into martial arts since we were little kids. We were just dating when we joined and just thought of it as something we could do together. After training there for a month or two the trainers asked me if I wanted to fight and I said yes.

TL Fox: When did you first compete in Muay Thai?

Sunshine: My first bout was in 1997, but it wasn't Muay Thai. It was a shootfight.

TL Fox: How many competitions have you been in thus far?

Sunshine: So far I've done one shootfight, 3 boxing matches, and 9 kickboxing.

TL Fox: Have you ever thought of boxing? Pro or amateur if the answer was yes.

Sunshine: Yes, 3 amateur boxing matches and I'd like to do more in the future.

TL Fox:  Last year after the mixed match of Margaret Macgregor and Loi Chow, you were scheduled to fight a male? How did that come about?

The mixed match happened because it had been so hard for my trainers to find opponents for me. There was a local show coming up. I knew there would be nobody for me to fight and so out of frustration I told my trainer to just let me fight a guy. The next day I came to the gym my trainer said we found an opponent for you. Thinking it was a girl, I asked her name. He said HIS name is Randy Pitman.

TL Fox:  How did the public respond to your mixed match?

Sunshine:  Overall the public's response was positive. Of course there were those that disagreed with the whole thing for one reason or another. For the most part, both men and women responded positively.

TL Fox: There were rumors that a promoter was going to offer a substantial sum of money for you to rematch with the male fighter, did that rematch ever occur?

Sunshine:  The promoter did want a rematch to be held in Vegas. I'm not exactly sure what happened with the whole thing as my manager at the time was handling all that for me. I do know the state boxing commission in Nevada didn't want to sanction a mixed match.

TL Fox:  If you had to do it all over again, would you have had the mixed match against the male?

Sunshine:  Yes, I would do it again. Overall it was a pretty positive experience, nothing negative came of it.

TL Fox: How did he get picked to be your opponent?

Sunshine:  Randy was picked, I suppose, because he was the only one they could find willing to do it.

TL Fox:  How long do you think that you will stay in Muay Thai?

Sunshine:  I'll fight for maybe 2 or 3 more years. I'd like to eventually teach and train fighters. I really can't imagine not having martial arts in my life. I've been involved for so long now. When I can't fight, I'll teach, when I'm too old to teach I guess I'll just sit and watch.

TL Fox:  Are you doing other forms of contact sports, or just concentrating on kickboxing?

Sunshine:  As mentioned earlier, I've done some boxing and a shootfight.

TL Fox:  Do you work a regular job, or are you training full time?

Sunshine:   I do work a regular, full time job. I train 4-5 days a week about 3 hours a night. That's in addition to running.

TL Fox:  What would you like to tell other women who want to get into kickboxing or  contact sports?

Sunshine:   I'd say go for it. It's so much fun, and good for you and safer than most people think.

  
     
     
     
     

 WBAN NETWORK PORTAL SITE
  [EMAIL TL FOX]  [ADD YOUR SITE]  [DO YOU HAVE A TIP?]  
[WBAN's MISSION]  [PRIVACY POLICY] 

Copyrighted © June 1998 (WBAN NETWORK) Women Boxing Archive Network
womenboxing.com.  All rights reserved.