Kali Reis

Jade Bahr · April 14

562c5cfda4c3c22acb66d9f996d77176cc489b0e

Kali Reis (born August 24, 1986) is an American professional boxer and actress. She is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC female middleweight title in 2016 and the WBA, WBO, and IBO female light welterweight titles between 2020 and 2022. She also challenged Cecilia Brækhus for the undisputed female welterweight title in 2018.

In 2021, Reis made her acting debut as the star of the American thriller film Catch the Fair One. For her performance as a boxer endeavoring to rescue her missing sister, she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She has since starred in the mystery series True Detective: Night Country (2024).

2e9acf1a3287ac0a534a535c7cc524cf2651745a

Personal life

Reis was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 24, 1986 and is the youngest of five children. She and her siblings were raised by their mother in East Providence, Rhode Island. Reis claims Cape Verdean ancestry, and identifies as being of Native American descent, specifically Cherokee and Nipmuc ancestry. She is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, an unrecognized tribe in Massachusetts.

As a child, she attended and competed in powwows regularly. She has incorporated the name Mequinonoag, which she translates as "many feathers" or "many talents," into her boxing nickname, "K.O. Mequinonoag." The name was given to her by her mother, whom Reis identifies as being "the medicine woman of our Seaconke Wampanoag tribe."

Reis was an athletic child and often played rougher sports with the neighborhood boys. She also was involved in her school's marching bands, color guard, and on her high school volleyball team. Beginning in her junior year of high school she was active in basketball and softball leagues. She started boxing at age 14 out of Manfredo's Gym in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and was coached by a friend of her mother. Reis later went to school for criminology and also learned how to repair motorcycles at MTTI. Reis went on to continue her training at Manfredos Gym and Big Six Boxing Academy in Providence. Before going pro, Reis had a successful amateur career, securing the 2007 Rocky Marciano Championship, the 2007 NYC Golden Gloves, and the 2006 New England 154 Championship.

Reis is an active supporter of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) movement.

36f6f9ec9b057298d663a80c0c5675e4963d2ee1 ff2db0fd9ec25755b57c9046ba551065658c892f

Professional boxing career

In 2012, Reis was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that sidelined her for the remainder of the boxing season. However, she returned in 2013 and fought for the WIBA title in November of that year. Reis gained further attention in the sport after the match. On November 12, 2014, Reis won the IBA crown defeating Teresa Perozzi in Bermuda. Reis also coaches boxing for youth and works as a trainer. In April 2016, Reis won her first major world title in New Zealand against Maricela Cornejo for the vacant WBC World Middleweight title.

HBO broadcast its first women's bout between Cecilia Brækhus and Reis, on May 5, 2018, which Brækhus won.

93fcc93f5b271dccf688c11ed7f45bfd13cf2c77

Acting career

Reis became involved in Catch The Fair One after filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka discovered Reis's advocacy for the MMIWG movement and asked if she would collaborate as a co-writer and lead actress on a film about that subject. Catch The Fair One premiered in June 2021 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film and Reis's debut performance received critical acclaim.

Reis was cast in Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's 2023 film Asphalt City (originally titled Black Flies, adapted from the 2008 novel of the same name by Shannon Burke), starring Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, and Katherine Waterston.

In June 2022, Reis was announced as the co-lead of True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season of HBO's anthology crime series. Reis starred alongside Jodie Foster as a detective investigating the disappearance of eight men from an Alaskan research station.

Kali-Reis_credit-Olga-Filatova_okbutsmal

Accolades

For her role in Catch The Fair One, Reis won the Jury Award for Best Actress at the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival. She was also nominated for Best Female Lead at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards.