Kali Reis

Reis was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on August 24, 1986,{{cite web |url= http://tbdata.ootpdevelopments.com/fighterrecord.php?fid=466374 |title=Kali Active |author= |access-date=September 25, 2015 |year=2015 |work=TB Data |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150926144046/http://tbdata.ootpdevelopments.com/fighterrecord.php?fid=466374 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url= http://nativemaxmagazine.com/what-a-knockout-an-interview-with-k-o-kali-reis/ |title= What a Knockout: An Interview with K.O. Kali Reis |first=Gia | last=Bolton |access-date= September 30, 2015 |year=2015 |work= Native Max Magazine |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151002185737/http://nativemaxmagazine.com/what-a-knockout-an-interview-with-k-o-kali-reis/ |archive-date=October 2, 2015 |url-status=dead}} the youngest of five children.{{Cite web |title=Kali Reis |url=https://www.womenboxing.com/biog/bio-reiskali.htm |website=womenboxing.com}} She and her siblings were raised by their mother in East Providence. She has Cape Verdean heritage,{{Cite web |last=nativemax |date=2024-02-26 |title=From the Ring to the Screen: Champion Boxer Turned Indigenous Advocate & Storyteller |url=https://nativemaxmagazine.com/from-the-ring-to-the-screen-champion-boxer-turned-indigenous-advocate-storyteller/ |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Native Max |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Dawn |first=Randee |date=2024-06-13 |title=For 'True Detective's' Kali Reis, showing Indigenous people as they really are is key |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-06-13/kali-reis-true-detective-jodie-foster |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} and is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe.{{Cite web |last=Sun |first=Rebecca |date=March 9, 2024 |title='True Detective' Star Kali Reis Embraces Her Afro-Indigenous Heritage: 'I Have Two Rooms I Can Stand In' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/kali-reis-afro-indigenous-1235847340/ |access-date=July 21, 2024 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}{{Cite web |last=Dawn |first=Randee |date=2024-06-13 |title=For 'True Detective's' Kali Reis, showing Indigenous people as they really are is key |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2024-06-13/kali-reis-true-detective-jodie-foster |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |quote="with Cape Verdean ancestry and as a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe"}} She has incorporated the name Mequinonoag, given to her by her mother, which she translates as "many feathers" or "many talents", into her boxing nickname, "K.O. Mequinonoag".{{Cite news |last=Blackistone |first=Kevin |date=2024-02-26 |title=The power and purpose behind Kali Reis's 'True Detective' arrival |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/26/kali-reis-true-detective-native-american/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317032121/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/02/26/kali-reis-true-detective-native-american/ |archive-date=2024-03-17 |access-date=2024-11-22 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Reis was an athletic child and often played rougher sports with the neighborhood boys. She participated in her junior high and high school's marching bands and color guards and competed in high school volleyball, basketball, and softball. Reis started boxing at age 14 at Manfredo's Gym in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She was also coached at home by a local Native American boxer who was a friend of her mother.

Reis later attended school for criminology, aiming to be a corrections officer for juveniles.{{Cite web |last=Paiella |first=Gabriella |date=2024-01-25 |title='True Detective: Night Country' Star Kali Reis on Why She Made Her Character a Scorpio |url=https://www.gq.com/story/kali-reis-true-detective-night-country-interview |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=GQ |language=en-US |quote="I went to school for criminal justice and wanted to be a corrections officer for juveniles."}}{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Rendy |date=2024-02-14 |title=How 'True Detective' Star Kali Reis Found Navarro's Balance of Vulnerability and Strength |url=https://www.them.us/story/kali-reis-true-detective-night-country-interview |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Them |language=en-US |quote="I did a bit of law. I did study criminal justice. I originally wanted to be a probation or parole officer for juveniles."}} She also learned how to repair motorcycles at MTTI.{{cite web |url=http://www.powwows.com/2014/11/17/native-knockout/ |title=Native Knockout |first=Dawn |last=Karima |access-date=September 25, 2015 |year=2014 |work=PowWows.com |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926140631/http://www.powwows.com/2014/11/17/native-knockout/ |url-status=dead }} She continued 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. While beginning her boxing career, she also worked in nightclub security. During this time, she sued the city after being attacked by a police officer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/kali-reis-true-detective-interview.html|title=Night Country's Kali Reis Claims Another Victory|first=Roxana|last=Hadadi|date=July 17, 2024|website=Vulture.com}}

In 2012, Reis was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that sidelined her for the remainder of the boxing season. However, she returned in 2014 and fought for the WIBA title in November of that year. Reis gained further attention in the sport after the match.{{cite web |url= http://girlboxing.org/2014/04/30/k-o-mequinonoag-reis-exclusive-q-a-ahead-of-her-may-3-2014-fight/ |title=K.O. Mequinonoag Reis: Exclusive Q & A Ahead Of Her May 3, 2014 Fight! |author=Girlboxing |access-date=September 25, 2015 |year=2014 |work=Girlboxing}} 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.🖉{{Cite web |url= https://www.ringtv.com/535148-cecilia-braekhus-outpoints-kali-reis-remains-undisputed-welterweight-champ/ |title=Cecilia Braekhus outpoints game Kali Reis, remains undisputed welterweight champ |date=May 6, 2018}}🖉{{Cite web |url= https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/02/sport/cecilia-braekhus-hbo-history-boxing-intl/index.html |title=HBO's first televised female boxing match breaking 'the last barrier' |first=Zahid |last=Mahmood |date=May 2, 2018 |website=CNN}}

Reis won a total of 19 fights during her career, 5 by knockout.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/kali-reis-interview-true-detective-b2489201.html|title=True Detective star Kali Reis: 'I got accused of my character being a rapist!'|date=February 6, 2024|website=The Independent}}

Reis became involved in the movie 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.{{Cite web |last=Feldberg |first=Isaac |title=By Any Means Necessary: Kali Reis on Catch the Fair One |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/by-any-means-necessary-kali-reis-on-catch-the-fair-one |access-date=September 14, 2022 |date=February 8, 2022 |website=RogerEbert.com}} Catch the Fair One premiered in June 2021 at the Tribeca Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Kay |first=Jeremy |date=June 24, 2021 |title='Catch The Fair One', 'Blind Ambition' win Tribeca Festival audience awards |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/catch-the-fair-one-blind-ambition-win-tribeca-festival-audience-awards/5160864.article |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Screen |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Andreeva |first=Nellie |date=June 28, 2022 |title=True Detective: Kali Reis Joins Jodie Foster in Season 4 as It Gets HBO Greenlight |url= https://deadline.com/2022/06/true-detective-kali-reis-cast-jodie-foster-season-4-hbo-night-country-1235053150/ |access-date=September 14, 2022 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}{{Cite web |date=January 29, 2024 |last=Morris |first=Nicky |title=Meet True Detective star Kali Reis's famous husband |url= https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/512258/meet-true-detective-kali-reis-husband-brian-cohen/ |access-date=February 16, 2024 |website=Hello!}}

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 and that event's possible connection to the earlier murder of a young woman, an Iñupiaq activist.{{cite news |last=Tobias |first=Scott |title=True Detective Season 4, Episode 3 Recap: 'Toxicity' |work=The New York Times |date=January 30, 2024 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/28/arts/television/true-detective-recap-episode-3.html |access-date=June 2, 2024}}

For her role in Catch the Fair One, Reis won the Jury Award for Best Actress at the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival.{{Cite web |title=2021 Awards |url= https://newportbeachfilmfest.com/2021-awards/ |access-date=June 11, 2022 |website=Newport Beach Film Festival}} She was also nominated for Best Female Lead at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards.{{Cite web |title=Best Female Lead Archives |url= https://www.filmindependent.org/nominee-category/best-female-lead/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220305072356/https://www.filmindependent.org/nominee-category/best-female-lead/ |archive-date=March 5, 2022 |access-date=June 11, 2022 |website=Film Independent}} In 2024, Reis became the first Native American woman nominated for a Primetime Emmy for acting; Reis was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her work in True Detective.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/awards/lily-gladstone-kali-reis-first-indigenous-emmys-acting-nominees-1236074451/|title=Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis Make Emmys History as First Indigenous Women Nominated for Acting|first=Clayton|last=Davis|date=July 17, 2024}}{{Cite news |last=Hale |first=Nardos |date=January 9, 2024 |title="I'm not fully this either": Lily Gladstone discusses pronoun inclusivity |url=https://www.salon.com/2024/01/09/lily-gladstone-pronouns-gender-nonbinary/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=Salon |archive-date=February 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227090057/https://www.salon.com/2024/01/09/lily-gladstone-pronouns-gender-nonbinary/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2023 |title=Pride Guide: 15 LGBTQ+ Filmmakers and Artists on the Rise in 2023 |url=https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/pride-guide-2023-lgbtq-filmmakers-and-actors |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=A.frame |publisher=Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences |archive-date=June 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617013232/https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/pride-guide-2023-lgbtq-filmmakers-and-actors |url-status=live }}

In February 2022, Reis was honored for her achievements as an athlete and for mentoring local youth by being inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |date=February 16, 2022 |title=Boxing Champ, Film Write Kali Reis Visits Her Native East Providence |url=https://eastprovidenceri.gov/news-announcements/mayors-office/boxing-champ-film-writer-kali-reis-visits-her-native-east |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=City of East Providence |language=en |quote="Earlier this month, Reis was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame (NAIAHF) for becoming a role model for the youth of the community and for her great feats as an athlete."}} That same year, she also received the "Misty Upham Award" at the Red National International Film Festival and was honored with a key to the City of East Providence.{{Cite web |title=Misty Upham Award |url=https://www.rednationff.com/misty-upham-award/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Red Nation Film Festival |quote="Past recipients Summer Testawich 2023, Kali Reis 2022, Deborah Parker 2015"}}{{Cite web |last=Bowker |first=Brittany |date=March 20, 2024 |title=R.I. House to recognize actress Kali Reis with hero award - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/20/metro/true-detective-night-country-actress-kali-reis/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320220739/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/20/metro/true-detective-night-country-actress-kali-reis/ |archive-date=March 20, 2024 |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}} On March 28, 2024, a panel of Rhode Island House of Representatives recognized Reis with the Community Hero Award for her advocacy and support of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.{{Cite web |title=State of Rhode Island General Assembly |url=https://www.rilegislature.gov/pressrelease/_layouts/15/ril.pressrelease.inputform/DisplayForm.aspx?List=c8baae31-3c10-431c-8dcd-9dbbe21ce3e9&ID=374204 |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=www.rilegislature.gov}} The award was inscribed: "She needed a hero, so she became one."{{Cite web |last1=DaSilva |first1=Melanie |last2=Cortese |first2=Joe |date=2024-03-29 |title=Champion boxer and actress returns home to RI for special honor |url=https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/champion-boxer-and-actress-returns-home-to-ri-for-special-honor/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=WPRI.com |language=en-US}}

Reis identifies as two-spirit, and has been in relationships with both women and men. She is married to Brian Cohen, a retired professional boxer.{{Cite web |last=Bowker |first=Brittany |date=January 31, 2024 |title=Rhode Island native Kali Reis on starring in 'True Detective: Night Country' - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/31/metro/rhode-island-native-kali-reis-starring-true-detective-night-country/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cabe |first=Caroline |date=2024-08-26 |title=From The Boxing Ring To The Big Screen With Kali Reis |url=https://www.cowboysindians.com/2024/08/women-of-the-west-kali-reis/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Cowboys and Indians Magazine |language=en-US}}

She is an active supporter of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) movement.{{Cite web |date=February 4, 2021 |title=Kali Reis: Everything - or nothing at all |url=https://boxing-social.com/features/kali-reis-everything-or-nothing-at-all/ |website=boxing-social.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://overthrownyc.com/blackfeet/|title=BLACKFEET}}

{{BoxingRecordSummary

|draws=1

|nc=

|ko-wins=5

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|dec-wins=14

|dec-losses=7

|dq-wins=1

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}}

• List of female boxers

{{Reflist}}

• {{Boxrec|466374}}
• {{IMDb name|11140905}}

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{{s-text|style=background:#C1D8FF; font-weight: bold;|text=Minor world boxing titles}}

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{{s-vac|last=Mary Jo Sanders}}

{{s-ttl|title=IBA
female middleweight champion

|years=November 21, 2014 – 2015
Vacated}}

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{{s-vac|last=Tori Nelson}}

{{s-ttl|title=UBF
female middleweight champion

|years=February 19, 2016 – March 2016
Vacated}}

{{s-vac|next=Tori Nelson}}

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{{s-vac|last=Svetlana Kulakova}}

{{s-ttl|title=IBO
female light-welterweight champion

|years=August 20, 2021 – 2022
Vacated}}

{{s-vac|next=Chantelle Cameron}}

{{s-text|style=background:#C1D8FF; font-weight: bold;|text=Major world boxing titles}}

|-

{{s-vac|last=Tori Nelson}}

{{s-ttl|title=WBC
female middleweight champion

|years=April 16, 2016 – November 5, 2016}}

{{s-aft|after=Christina Hammer}}

{{s-vac|last=Jessica McCaskill}}

{{s-ttl|title=WBA
female light-welterweight champion

|years=November 6, 2020 – 2022
Vacated}}

{{s-vac|rows=2|next=Chantelle Cameron}}

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{{s-vac|last=Christina Linardatou}}

{{s-ttl|title=WBO
female light-welterweight champion

|years=November 19, 2021 – 2022
Vacated}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reis, Kali}}

Category:1986 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century African-American actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century American sportswomen

Category:Actresses from Providence, Rhode Island

Category:African-American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century African-American sportswomen

Category:American LGBTQ actresses

Category:American LGBTQ sportswomen

Category:American people of Cape Verdean descent

Category:American women boxers

Category:Boxers from Rhode Island

Category:International Boxing Organization champions

Category:LGBTQ people from Rhode Island

Category:Light-middleweight boxers

Category:Boxers from Providence, Rhode Island

Category:Two-spirit people

Category:Welterweight boxers

Category:World Boxing Association champions

Category:World Boxing Council champions

Category:World Boxing Organization champions

Category:World light-welterweight boxing champions

Category:World middleweight boxing champions