6 January 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val
Henning
'It got a little out of hand!', says
Heather
Santos on the beach
Devon and Val meet for the first time in 2008 at the WEBA Towers in San Jose, California, to go over the last WEBA card.
Val: How's that jaw of yours doin' hon?
Devon: I'm good. Might even get in the ring a few more times this year, Val!
Val: At Wu's?
Devon:
It will have
to be there, the regular WEBA won't let me back, as they want
to make
room for new bantamweights! Should be
interesting,
but what did you think
about the last card? The title
fights showed the
top girls are all in good shape, huh?
Val:
Carolina
Cutie Jordan Strongarm had her hands full with Arizona's Raquel
"Rocky" Rivera ... they've traded wins back and forth and their
fight was close to the end. The Carolina Cutie ended up with
her
nose broken and a hurt right paw that will keep her out of action for a
while but she used her good left well in the final rounds to
stymie Raquel who'd knocked her down and got some
standing eights on her in the middle rounds.
Devon: Strongarm's tough and has had a lot more fight experience than Raquel, but the Arizona girl's one of WEBA's hottest contenders with a 34-8-9 record. Raquel's career took off like a rocket in 2007 and as she's still able to hit the gym and improve, she's got to be a top prospect in the featherweight group for 2008, Val!
Val: Yes, our girlfriend Tina Boppa used to be a factor at featherweight but she's already had trouble with Fiona Black, Jordan Strongarm and Raquel Rivera, and it looks like Tina's glory days may be over. Fiona, Cathy SImmons and Mónica Rodriguez may be the ones who will step up to test Raquel and Jordan this year. Mónica and Fiona made it through the first leg of the featherweight tournament this week with impressive wins, Fiona stopping the reigning junior champion Cathy SImmons, and Mónica handing veteran Diane McFee her head with a big points win. Fiona and Mónica will go against each other in the next leg of the tourney and that should be a good one!
Devon: It will be good to see the tough Scots scrapper going up against the Chilean gangsta girl! Their records are quite similar but Fiona's had the edge in their previous bouts. But back to the title fights ... the other two Strongarm boxers both took it on the chin this week, huh?
Val:
Yeah, the two trainers at Strongarm's House of Pain have
had a
lot of success with Jordan and with Lumbee Princess Cyan Locklear, and
their
#3 girl Rikku Hui may have been one of the biggest surprises of 2007,
but Cyan went down to a tough KO loss in her WEBA title fight
with
Canada's "Lucky" Lucille Perkins this week. Perkins has
gone 18-1 in her
last 19 fights, and although there were five split decisions and a loss
to
Diedre Dornan in that run, she's become one of the most
consistent performing welterweights. Lucille sent Cyan an early message
with a first-round knockdown in this fight, then fought off a
good challenge and comeback from Cyan for several rounds. Lucille took
control again with a barrage of leather that put Cyan down three
times late in the seventh. Cyan still looked dazed at the start of the
eighth and Lucille cut her no slack at all, going right at her and
putting her on the canvas three more times before getting an impressive
win by KO. Lucille's built her reputation as a tall boxer who
uses the ring and her size well, but she's begun to
show finishing power in 2007 with some big wins by stoppages..
Devon: Perkins has been around the WEBA for a long time, but her gym in Halifax seems to be just putting the finishing touches on this girl's style, Val, and she's becoming an impressive fighter. I know Cyan Locklear must think so when her head cleared!
Val: The welterweights have always had a great group at the top, they may be the most competitive WEBA weight division of them all, and there should be another showdown looming between Perkins and the current world welterweight champ, Heather Corrigan! Heather used to have the edge between those two, but Lucille's won three of their last four fights and their careers may be going in different directions now - with Lucille reaching her peak and Heather losing some of her staying power!
Devon: We've predicted the end of the road for Corrigan for a long while now, but she keeps surprising us. Of course, Rikku Hui was one of the WEBA's biggest surprises in 2007 but she met her match with Keiko Suzuki this time! How about their title bout, Val?
Val: Japanese
veteran Keiko "Kamikaze" Suzuki boxed with Strongarm girl Rikku Hui for
the first round, then tried to close things out early with an
aggressive start to their second round. Keiko met with some
spirited
resistance from the Carolina fighter but Rikku took a standing
eight
midway through the third as Keiko put even more pressure on her. The
Kamikaze girl began to dominate as she knocked Rikku to the canvas
for two nine counts that the younger fighter barely survived.
Rikku was saved by the bell at the end of the third and went
to
her corner looking wobbly, but the Strongarm team put her back together
again and she surprised Keiko with a tenacious performance in the
fourth. Rikku even caught Keiko with a picture perfect
uppercut
that dropped the Japanese boxer for a short count but the ring-savvy
Keiko tied her up in clinches for a while until her head
cleared. The fifth round saw Keiko back in charge as she wore Rikku
down, dazed her with a couple of knockdowns and then kept ferocious
pressure on her until she delivered the coup de
grace with
two big lefts to the head.
Devon: Keiko Suzuki was once the front-runner in this division, before Carla Ramirez's career really took off, and we saw why in this fight. Suzuki pressed Hui really hard when she got her backed up and hurt. Keiko's won-lost record is not a whole lot different from Ramirez's, although Carla's been on an amazing 29-fight unbeaten streak since the start of 2006! Keiko showed why she's still in the thik of things with this KO of a much improved Rikku Hui. How about the junior middleweight bout, Val?
Val:
Karen
"Kickass" Kelly from Ontario ruined the New Year for her fellow
Canadian Jenny Johnson, the "Brandon Bomber" from Manitoba by coming
back from a
shaky start to KO Jenny with a ferocious onslaught in the final round.
Karen fights out of the Champions Gym in Windsor
and she lived up to
their name defending the junior title she won by knocking
out red hot Irish newbie Hannah Riley. Jenny looked like she would
control the early going as she used her height and boxing skills to
control most of the first six rounds, bloodying Karen's mouth and
opening a small cut over Karen's right eye. But the late-round
demons
that seem to stalk Jenny Johnson surfaced again as she ran into the raw
KO power of the scrappy
Kelly, whose fights rarely go the distance. Karen erupted big time in
the
seventh, bloodied Jenny's face and battered her to a standing eight.
Jenny was able to slow things down some in the eighth and
ninth
although Karen was still landing the best punches. But the
Kickass Kid
from Windsor took it to her taller challenger all through the tenth,
knocking
Jenny all over the ring on the way to a ferocious KO that left the
bigger girl stunned and bloodied as she was counted out.
Devon: Jenny's lost a lot of fights in the late rounds after doing well earlier, while Karen's got a punishing, aggressive style that often ends in a KO ... or with her being KO'd! The middleweight division seems all shook up for 2008, with Karen Kelly and Sharon Brown resurgent, and Telisha Cooper upsetting Mikee Mulroney for the world title. They also had one of the hardest hitting newbies we've seen in a long time, Hannah Riley, who began her career with seven straight KO wins before losing to Sharon Brown in the middleweight tournament.
Val: It looks like a rock'em sock'em year may be coming our way with these big girls, Devon! But what did you see as highlights on the undercard?
Devon: There
was a
huge win by Mexico's Esther Gonzalez over veteran welterweight Rosa
Mora from Italy. Esther was in some close
decisions on her way to taking the junior welterweight title which she
won by
surprising a much more experienced Carolina Kusmagk. This fight
carried on the Mexican's success showing she can fight with confidence
against much more experienced boxers. Gonzalez got off to a great start
in the first round, putting Rose on the canvas twice to establish that
she could more than hold her own with a WEBA veteran. Rose's
180-fight experience showed from the second through the fourth
rounds as she slowed down the action and worked counterpunches through
Esther's defense, but the Mexican picked up her pace in the fifth,
worked Rose into a corner and knocked her down for a six count against
the pads with a
barrage of leather. Rose went to her corner bleeding
heavily from her mouth and got a visit from the ring doctor before she
was allowed to continue. To Rose's credit she held her own better in
the final rounds against the increasingly confident Gonzalez, although
Esther finished with a good flurry that brought still more blood from
the Italian's mouth as she punished her against the ropes.
Val: This was a very good win for Esther, who lost the junior title to Irene Hrbkova and later dropped a decision to Chilean newbie Tereza Delgado, and it shows that these rising junior welterweights may be able to make bigger waves in the WEBA very soon!
Devon: Yes, and that's a very healthy sign for the welterweight division! Given how long some of the veterans have hung in the WEBA competition, it may be important that there are new fighters coming up who can hold their own with them this early in their careers, with around 20 fights!
Val: And speaking of veterans hanging around, Hellcat Heather Corrigan and Tammy "The Franchise" Quinton went at it again this week!
Devon:
They have not been big rivals because they fought in
different weight classes, Heather at welterweight and Tammy at
lightweight, but this scrap showed that they were quite evenly matched,
and could both generate a lot of action in the ring. Tammy started
aggressively and had Heather shook up in the first round, but the
Hellcat stepped it up and they went toe to toe in the second.
Heather caught Tammy with a tremendous combination to the
head right at the end of the third, and The Franchise went down for a
five count just before the bell. Tammy held on through the fourth but
the fifth was ferocious as Tammy started to get the better of close
quarters action and she knocked Heather down twice. The Hellcat ended
the round shaken up and with both of her eyes badly swollen. She
appeared to be in big trouble throughout the sixth as Tammy
continued to pepper her with punishing shots. Heather could barely see
and the ref was watching her closely so it looked like Tammy
might get a TKO any time. But Corrigan's no quitter, even in a
non-title fight with just the two girls' pride on the line. Corrigan
started to swing in the seventh and Tammy was in major trouble
late in the round as the Hellcat went after her hard with her trademark
body punching. Tammy looked dazed after a round in which she
took a lot of punishment and went to the canvas twice, and the eighth
was ferocious as Heather Corrigan pulled out all the stops
... Tammy's mouthpiece and breast protector both came flying
out and she went to the canvas three times before Heather finally
delivered the coup de grace with a right to her jaw.
Val: A very tough KO loss for Tammy Quinton, and an utterly ferocious performance in the final rounds by the reigning world welterweight champ! It's looking good for 2008 across the board, Devon, with tough veterans and rising stars going toe to toe in WEBA fights and in Wu's club in Pattaya!
Devon: It's good to see so many newbies doing well, but some of the veterans can certainly still put on quite a show, Val. It'll be good to see what the year brings!
The Hellcat looks relaxed as she talks with the reporters after her win over Tammy Quinton.
Reporter: How do you feel about your fight with Tammy?
Heather:
I feel good, fellas! Tammy's tough, and the other
girls were too shy to challenge me to a Christmas fight but Tammy was
ready to lace them on and step up to fight me.
She's been in WEBA as long as me and she's #2 in the all-time standings,
so it made sense for us to fight each other again.
Reporter:
You handed her a brutal beatdown to win by a KO. Were you
extra angry at her for some reason?
Heather: No! Tammy's always been very friendly, in fact she's a total sweetie who always respects other boxers so I was not angry at her at all! But she knocked me down twice in the fifth so I knew I could not take any more chances. I got to her again in the seventh and I decided to go all out in the eighth to be sure I got the win. Then it got a little out of hand.
Reporter: Her equipment?
Heather (grins): Well, uhhh ... yes ... she just sort of came apart in front of me! One of her breast protectors had come out in the seventh and then I knocked her mouthpiece out, and then the other protector. It was getting embarrassing as her equipment kept flying out whenever I hit her hard! I was trying to knock her out, not all her stuff!
Reporter: It made for some "unusual" moments, but let's get back to serious boxing. Will you fight Lucille Perkins soon?
Heather: I am the world champion and she is the WEBA champion, so we should fight again soon, but Lucille has to tell me she wants it. I am ready to fight anyone, I put that out every time. Anyone. This time only Tammy Quinton wanted to fight me. Maybe Tammy regrets that now, but I showed Lucille what I can do when I get going!
Reporter: Do you think you can beat Lucille the way you did Tammy?
Heather: Lucille runs away more than Tammy so I may need track shoes, not my usual boxing boots, to catch her! But first let's see if Miss "Lucky" wants to fight me, fellas!
BOX LATINO - Brasilian boxer Carmen "Leoparda" Santos celebrated the New Year on the beach at Ipanema after knocking out Russian Anna Kulikova. Box Latino found her surfing and playing volleyball in a skimpy white bikini at another beach party with her friends later on New Year's Day, ,
BL: Happy New Year, Carmen. You are having a long party to celebrate it!
Carmen: Brasilian girls love to party by the sea, especially at the New Year! At midnight we jump in the sea and throw flowers while we make our wish to the sea goddess!
BL: What did you wish for?
Carmen: I hope to become a champion of the WEBA, and an example for all Brasilian girls who want to box!
BL: What example is it to have fun all day on the beach in your bikini and not be in the gym already with your boxing gloves on working out? Don't you need to build your muscles and endurance to succeed as a boxer?
Carmen (laughing): All work and no play makes a girl unhappy!
BL: You will not be happy if you lose fights again to Mindy Li or Katelyn Kennedy, and Frida Svensson and Paola Salazar have challenged you at Wu's. What are you doing to prepare yourself for those opponents?
Carmen: I am naturally quick with my hands and my head. It is important to be mentally fast in the boxing ring so I do not plan to go to a fight already dull and tired from being over trained. My model is the leopard, she is beautiful and fast! I will go into the ring with confidence in my abilities and a smile on my face. .
BL: The Chilean Monica Rodriguez called you a "brazuca whore". Will you respond to her?
Carmen: I knocked her out in Pattaya, what better response can I make to her dirty mouth? She says she gets horny for pretty girls but if she wants to play with me she must fight me and impress me first with her fists. Otherwise she will soon be too old and too ugly from all the beatings she will take. She is already quite ugly (laughs)
BL: The American Katelyn Kennedy says you are "stuck up" because you are a photo model.
Carmen: That skinny white girl is jealous of my looks. She should stick to fighting, where she has talents, as no photographers will ever be interested in her!
BL: She had enough fighting talents to defeat you already! Will you rematch with her?
Carmen: Our fight was close, and I expect to fight with her again. But if she calls me "stuck up", perhaps I will stick this (Carmen makes a fist)) up her nose next time we meet!
She laughs and runs
off to join in the volleyball game, followed by
eager photographers.