Spike Lee championed her, but she still had to battle misogyny and racism to make it to the top. Now, more in demand than ever, she talks about her trailblazing career
Rosie Perez apologises for sounding a little hoarse – it’s partly because of a cold, but mainly because she spent Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, screaming for Amanda Serrano during her historic bout against Katie Taylor. “I shouldn’a went to the fights, but I went to the fights,” she mutters in that unmistakeable Brooklyn accent. But how could she have missed the biggest women’s boxing match in history? “On one hand, it’s gonna go down in the history books as one of the best fights ever, and that’s saying a lot. And on the other hand, I was really upset that Amanda didn’t get the win.”
Perez is no casual fan. Moviegoers know her as a distinctive, expressive actor, veteran of everything from 1989’s Do the Right Thing to the current HBO hit The Flight Attendant. But, in other circles, Perez is better known as “the first lady of boxing”. Around New York, she is often to be found ringside, not just at the big title fights but the lower-tier prospect matches. All the promoters know her, and many of the boxers, too – including Serrano, a fellow Puerto Rican from the same neighbourhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn.
