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It seems apparent that the torch has been passed in Women's boxing. For
years, the coveted slot for female fighters on the undercard of
heavyweight championship bouts featured Christy Martin as the main
attraction. It is now being reported that the distaff bout underneath the
June 21 Lennox Lewis/Kirk Johnson fight will feature the new, though, as
yet, uncrowned "face" of the sport, Laila Ali. It has also been speculated
that Mia St John and Lucia Rijker are currently negotiating for an
additional undercard spot. However, given that, in the past, St. John has
been somewhat difficult to deal with in her pre-fight demands and Rijker
has a history of backing out of scheduled fights this second bout may be
problematical, at best.
Martin, whose last "major bout" was a ten-round "track meet" in December
in which she conspicuously ran out of steam after three rounds of chasing
St. John before decisioning the former Playboy centerfold in what was
cringingly billed as the "Battle of the Covergirls", has begun the final
stages of her career. She recently fought a six-round exhibition bout, in
Iowa, with one Ragan Pudwill, stepping in for Tonya Harding (yes that
Tonya Harding) who dropped out of the bout due to an injury or lack of
training (take your choice). Needless to say, Osceola Lakeside Resort is a
long way from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and not just in miles.
Martin first came to national attention in March, 1996, on the undercard
of a Mike Tyson championship fight in Las Vegas when she defeated, over
six rounds, a game Irish fighter named Deirdre Gogarty, who Martin
outweighed by upwards of ten pounds. Gogarty managed to hold her own
against the more experienced Martin, and over the six rounds Gogarty
landed some heavy shots to Martin's countenance. Following the fight, that
same countenance, bloody, bruised, but victorious, landed on the cover of
Sports Illustrated. As for Martin the fighter, the resulting publicity
vaulted her onto a lengthy series of lucrative championship fight cards.
The Martin "camp" however, learned well from the Gogarty bout and, as a
result, were somewhat less than daring when selecting opponents for
Martin's national appearances. The likes of Bethany Payne, Sabrina Hall
and Dianna Lewis all were "fed" to Martin as erstwhile opposition with the
result being easy wins; in the case of Payne and Hall, seemingly
effortless first rounds KOs. Even when Martin chose to step in with a
fighter with a modicum of talent and experience, the opponent was
handpicked with the greatest of care. A primary requisite was that the
fighter be a relatively light puncher, thus posing no knockout threat to
Martin. Thus, while fighters such as Kathy Collins, Jeanne Martinez,
Belinda Lacracuente, and Lisa Holewyne brought substantial experience and
at least intermediate talent to the ring, they did not pose a knockout
threat for Martin. Martin, who decisioned all these fighters, never
experienced "heavy bombardment" in any of these fights. Even Andrea DeShong and
Daniella Somers, both of whom Martin TKO'd on championship
cards, did not possess the punching power to trade power shots with
Martin.
Notably absent from these national events were Lucia Rijker and Sumya
Anani. Anani had beaten Martin in December, 1998 and had scored what many
considered a knockdown of Martin, although it was ruled a slip by the
referee. Rijker, who was considered by most observers to be the hardest
puncher in Women's boxing, for several years, played the "Inspector Javert"
role to Martin's "Jean Valjean" in a vain attempt to get Martin into the
ring in what, undoubtedly, would have been the biggest payday in the
history of the sport. A return with Anani and the Rijker "clash of the
titans" never happened, in large part, it would seem, because both Anani
and Rijker possessed the common trait that worried the Martin camp to
distraction, punching power. Gogarty had exposed the fact that Martin had
never been the hardest fighter to hit and Anani and Rijker had knockout
power and thus both were blatantly bypassed as Martin foes.
Now ascends to the national spotlight, Lalia Ali. She will make her
national championship card debut on June 21 on the Lennox Lewis card.
While the "face" of Women's boxing has seemingly changed, the matchmaking
machinations, so prevalent in the Martin era, seem to remain largely
intact. With the June 21 date slightly more than a month away, an opponent
for Ali has yet to be named. This does not portend well for the chances of
Ali stepping into the ring against a well known or quality fighter. Ali's
last three opponents have included a "coaxed out of retirement"
Mary Ann Almager, an undersized Valerie Mahfood and an embarrassingly out of shape
Suzy Taylor, all of whom Ali dispatched with little trouble. Aside from a
ten round win over another "daughter", Jacqui Frazier, the only notable
fighter Ali has been in the ring with has been Kendra Lenhart, who Ali
defeated over six rounds in November, 2000. Lenhart, a veteran boxer, has
fought some of the best fighters in the division, including ten tough
rounds with Frazier and Lenhart's career losing record belies her well
earned reputation as an "honest" fighter.
Thus, as the torch of national championship card exposure seems to have
passed from Christy Martin to Lalia Ali, it appears that the Ali "camp"
intends to be just as judicious in choosing opponents as Martin's. There
is even a "Lucia Rijker" in the Ali scenario of opponents; that would be
Ann Wolfe. Wolfe, currently sporting a 14-1 record including a recent
dismantling of a tough Marsh Valley, has, to this point, been summarily
ignored by the Ali management team in much the same way Rijker received
the "head in the sand" treatment from the Martin contingent. It is fairly
safe to assume that come June 21, Ann Wolfe will not be coming out of the
other corner against Lalia Ali. Hopefully, in the future, the near future,
the Ali/Wolfe matchup will happen, but the control is completely with the
new face of Women's boxing, Lalia Ali.
It is further hoped that Laila Ali will provide the sport, the boxing fans
and, most importantly, her burgeoning talent in the ring, the respect they
deserve and, the opponent for the June 21 bout will be a fighter whose
record, talent and experience does not prompt the use of the adjective
"mismatch" in the next sentence. Now that Laila Ali is stepping out on the
national championship stage, it is time for her to step up in competition.
Bernie McCoy |
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