16 March 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val
Henning
'Some odds are too big to overcome', says Heather Corrigan
'Fun comes first', says Carmen
'A whole new fight', says Stephanie
Devon and Val meet in Devon's office at the WEBA Towers. It is late afternoon but sunny and bright on Daylight Saving time. Another sure sign of spring is Devon's new dress.
Val: Hey Devon, you look pretty in that ... where did you pick that little number up?
Devon: I was in Phoenix visiting Stephanie Page and she took me to a place called Biltmore where I did some spring shopping together in the boutiques!
Val: You were the traveling girl this week with Florida on your route as well. I don't think Heather was so pleased to see you! But how about the fights? We have a new world welterweight champion again!
Devon:
Yeah, Lumbee Princess Cyan Locklear from Strongarm's Gym in
Carolina challenged the world champion Rose The Assassin Mora from
Rome, Italy.
They haven't fought each other as often as some of the
other welterweight champs have, but when they do, they always go
at it hard. None of their battles ever went the distance! They've split
the KO wins but Rose had the better of their last two so the
Lumbee Princess was looking for revenge in this rematch. It
was hard fought all the way. Cyan got her nose
bloodied
while Rose fought the later rounds with her
eyes both battered and swelling shut. They both came out
showing they were going to fight rough, throwing elbows to
the face and doing damage at close quarters. Rose went down
in
the third but she came back to pound Cyan in the fourth, knocking the
challenger down
twice. The Princess was practically out on her feet at the end of that
round and the doctor went to her corner to check her
over. Rose punished Cyan against the ropes in the
fifth but couldn't finish her off and the Princess began to
get
back into the fight in the sixth, sending Rose back to her corner
shaken up. The action slowed in the seventh and eighth but
Cyan stepped it up in the ninth, again using her elbows to add to
the damage she was doing to Rose's face. Cyan got a
warning for that but Rose was having trouble seeing properly out of
either
eye, Even so, Rose rallied in the tenth and bloodied Cyan's nose as
well as
sending her to the canvas for a four count, but the Princess held her
ground in the eleventh and began to control the action in the twelfth
as she punished a now-tiring Rose to her head and body. The thirteenth
was brutal as Cyan continued to land heavily to Rose's battered face.
The champion gradually crumbled under a ferocious onslaught
that sent her to the canvas multiple times before the final
KO.
This was a tough fight all the way, both will have to sit out
the
next card for injuries, and I think we can expect a rematch as the
Italians weren't at all
happy with Cyan's rough tactics when this was over!
Val:
This
has always been a close rivalry, with the loser on the canvas every
time! Rose took a beating at the end of this fight but it had
been
close up until the final round. How about the
juniors, Devon
- two Chileans are starting to rule the roosst amog the newbies, huh?
Devon:
Welterweight Tereza "Dinamita" Delgado's been on an eleven-fight
winning streak since she dropped her debut to Katelyn Kennedy,
and the Chilean's training paid off as she took her third straight fight from Toronto's Irena Hrbkova,
this
time with a seventh round KO. Irena started well and won the opening
round with busy combination punching but Tereza matched her punch for
punch in the second and they traded evenly again in the third
and fourth. Irena made a run at Tereza in the fifth but the Chilean got
the upper hand late in the round and Irena went back to her corner looking
wobbly. Tereza got Irena cornered early in the sixth and went to work
on her with body shots against the pads. Irena tried to tie
Tereza up in clinches but the Chilean was doing damage at close
quarters and again went to her corner looking dazed. The
seventh
was all action by the Chilean as she pounded Irena against the ropes and
eventually battered her to a KO after knocking her down several
times.
Val: "Dinamita" is establishing herself as the rising star of the welterweights and she might be moving into the territory of the veterans like Cyan Locklear, Rose Mora and Lucille Perkins soon!
Devon: Twelve wins in a row is impressive, especially as her wins are starting to come by KO now.
Val: The other junior title fight was also a Chile vs. Canada affair with Cathy "Slick" Simmons from Regina, Saskatchewan taking on Mónica "KO" Rodriguez from Santiago for the junior featherweight title.
Devon: Cathy had traded this title back and forth with Scotland's Fiona Black for a
while but Mónica began to show some new talent in the WEBA featherweight tournament
and has got herself back in the junior picture for her last few fights. Meanwhile Cathy's struggled with a four-fight
losing streak. Mónica was quick to take the initiative in this
fight, moving Cathy onto the ropes and knocking her down for a
short count early in the opener. Cathy boxed Mónica ok in the second
but got into trouble again in the third as Mónica corralled her on the
ropes again and opened up a bad cut over the Canadian's left eye.
Mónica worked this injury mercilessly through the round and Cathy
went to her corner dazed and bloody, drawing the attention of the
ring doctor who looked her over before letting the fight continue.
Cathy rallied for a while in the fourth but Mónica kept landing to the
cut and it was all the Canadian girl' cut man could do to contain the bleeding between
rounds. Cathy bravely tried to hang tough but Mónica added to her woes by
bloodying her nose in the fifth and battered her
mercilessly in the sixth. I thought the fight should have been
stopped but Mónica Rodriguez was allowed to punish Cathy for two more rounds before the KO finally came in the eighth.
Val: This was an impressive win for Mónica, who'll have to step up to the WEBA belt against Raquel Rivera and Jordan Strongarm soon as she has had 49 fights. Her next junior title defense will have to be her last fight for the junior belt! Meanwhile Cathy's trainer Joe Dewdney has to figure out how to get Cathy Simmons back on track as she's dropped five in a row and is taking it on the chin these days.
Devon: Got some highlights from the rest of the card, Val?
Val: There
was another exciting battle in the middleweight tournament as
Canada's "Brandon Bomber" Jenny Johnson built up a big lead over
Bolivia's Maria
"The Huntress" Lozada, only to see Maria almost turn the fight around
in the
later rounds. Jenny's usually got height on her side as she's a
whopping six feet tall, but Maria's a big girl too and the Bolivian
came out
strong to draw first blood in the opening round
with cuts over both of Jenny's eyes. Jenny stepped it
up after that and had Maria in trouble in the second round, knocking
Maria down twice. Jenny kept up the pressure in the third, put Maria
down again and then got a standing eight, so by the end of the round
the Canadian seemed ready to cruise into the tournament semi-final.
That's when Maria dug in and made her stand in a hard-hitting fourth
round. She took her lumps against the ropes at first but then came
back to drop Jenny with a body shot. Maria also opened up
a huge gash under Jenny's left eye which became a distraction for
the Canadian later in the fight. The fifth and sixth were
evenly fought but Maria got the better of the seventh and went
into the final round with a ton of aggression against a boxer who's
had a tendency to fade and get knocked out in the late going.
Maria
threw everything she had at Jenny in the final round, looking for the
late upset, and Jenny was
lucky to survive,as she had blood
pouring from under her left eye and from her nose as Maria
tore into
her for almost the whole round. Johnson took
two trips to the canvas and also two standing eights as came as
close as it gets to being knocked out again. Somehow she was able to
stay on her feet so it went to the scorecards, where one judge
saw it as a draw but two still had it for Jenny by a single point
from the early rounds.
Devon: Jenny Johnson flirted with disaster yet again, and this was a tough loss for Maria who'd been a bit of a surprise in this tournament and almost pulled off a significant upset this time. Anything else, Val?
Val: Carmen
"Leoparda" Santos of Brazil
made it seven straight wins since her loss to Mindy Li in the junior
lightweight tournament, with an impressive eight-round KO of Kentucky's
Billy-Jo Fulton. The Brazilian's already hanging tough with some serious contenders for
the WEBA lightweight title, so she must now be a major
threat to Mindy Li in the contest for the junior title. Billy-Jo started this fight well, and put Carmen down on the
canvas with a right to the jaw, followed by another that brought the
referee in to hand the beautiful Brazilian a standing eight.
It looked like "Leoparda" might be in over her
head against the more experienced American, but she recovered
well between rounds and it was Billy-Jo who looked wobbly as she
returned to her corner after a rough second round. Carmen
hammered Billy-Jo to a standing eight count in the third and again in
the fourth, then decked her with a combination to the head in the
fifth. Now it was Carmen Santos who was in the driver's seat and she kept the heat
on a reeling Billy-Jo right into the final round, where she stepped it up some
more and eventually put the Kentucky boxer away for a ten count with a few
seconds left in the fight.
Devon:
Carmen's shown staying power and a knockout
punch, and she's definitely bringing more to the WEBA ring than just
a pretty face,
Val:
This was a very
good week all round for the contingent of Latina
fighters, with Delgado and Rodriguez both looking sharp in their title
defenses while Santos continues to look like someone who'll be in title
races. If Maria Lozada had pulled off a KO in the final
round of her fight with Jenny Johnson, this could have been a clean
sweep for South
American fighters across all four weight divisions this time!
Devon: I'm sure Balio will have something to say about that, as she continues to look for title possibilities for Maria and Tulia!
The Hellcat is lifting weights at her gym as she builds herself back to fighting form after her brutal loss to middleweight Mikee Mulroney. Instead of the usual crowd of reporters watching her work out, there is just one -- Devon Ling!.
Devon: How does it feel to be working out again, Heather?
Heather (puffing): I'm on the mend. I'll be sparring again soon.. .
Devon: Do you regret taking the fight with Mikee Mulroney?
Heather: She was too big, too strong, and she'd beaten me before, I knew it was a risky fight, but I rolled the dice anyway, and I paid the price. Some odds are too big to overcome. But there's no point regretting it, it's done
Devon: Fights like that take their toll, and your best days are obviously behind you now. So why do you keep fighting? There is life after boxing, you know ...
Heather (snappy): There will be plenty of time to put my feet up and criticize other boxers when I am older. I am still the one to beat for the best welterweights, and I am proud of my career. I have won more fights, more money, more titles than anyone else. Nobody gets bored when I am in the ring, and I love being there, facing the challenge, win or lose. It's what I do.
Devon: What you do recently is to get beaten up and knocked out! How does that add to your reputation? Carla Ramirez outboxed you, Rose Mora knocked you out, Mikee Mulroney broke your jaw and beat you bloody. Where's the pride in that? Telisha Cooper had a point, leaving while she was at the top of her career after a big win.
Heather: Those are fighting words, Devon! Do you want to try me? In Pattaya perhaps? Can you still walk the walk or is it just talk with you now?
Box Latino finds Carmen Santos at a beach party on Ilha Grande. The beautiful boxer has been swimming in the sea, so her hair is wet and her bikini clings to her glistening body. A sea breeze teases the her damp hair as she reaches for a towel to dry herself.
BL: Carmen, this is not where we expect find a rising boxeadora between her fights. Should you not be in the gym working to get ready for your next battle?
Carmen (laughing): You can ask the Swedish Frida about my readiness to fight as I boxed her for seventeen rounds at Wu's! And you can ask that to the blonde American Barbie who I knocked out in my last fight. She felt the power of my fists and she stayed down on her knees at my feet knowing who was the better woman.
BL: She has challenged you to a rematch in the club in Thailand where she is Queen!
Carmen (smiling): Where she thought she was Queen ... until the Chinese Mindy Li showed her the truth! The American is a blonde with the big bosoms and I will beat her in Wu's as I beat her before. I may make her bosoms even bigger with my punches then perhaps she is happy and goes to sleep on the canvas like the Swedish. I teach the American another lesson and perhaps this time she learn it better.
BL: Ralph Riveros your trainer says you will be the face of women's boxing, yet you spend more time on beaches than in his gymnasium. The sport world is asking, are you quite serious about your boxing, and will you fight Mindy Li again soon for the title?
Carmen: I will confront the Chinese again for her title, but my next fight is to be for the preparation with the Bolivian Minez who has beated Li narrowly several times. I will take my experiences from these fights into the gym for my next training.
BL: Miss Minez has the world famous trainer Balio Frez, who was once champion of the world and who even beats her own boxers in their dress room after they fight. The Bolivians do not live in the indulgent world of beach parties, bikinis and fashion photographers. They make themselves strong as barrels in the mountains while you swim and enjoy the sun!
Carmen (smiling): It is important for each to prepare in her own ways. For Brasilian girls, fun comes first, even in sport, so I shall be sure to enter the boxing ring with a happy smile on my face and fully confident in all my abilities. I shall fight the Bolivian and learn from her if she can beat me, then I shall return to the ring to fight the Chinese for her title with more knowledge of myself.
DL: Devon Ling here in Arizona with Stephanie, who has taken time out of her busy training schedule to talk to me. Page is preparing for her big WEBA championship fight against Mónica Rodriguez, who's been on a roll also. So Stephanie, how's the training going?
SP: The training is going good. I had a little head start with scouting Mónica, as I've been looking at a bunch of tape on her and looking at her KO of Cathy Simmons in person, so I've been doing more than hitting the bags! Marisol had me doing some swimming for stamina and working on my defense that's slowly getting better.
DL: You still haven't lost since November, how confident are you going into your biggest match so far?
SP: I'm not nervous, I've fought in other leagues in other sports of major proportions, so that will help me get ready mentally for the match.
DL: You've had one previous matchup with Mónica Rodriguez, and it was last year, very early in your career when you KO'ed her but it was at Wu's and she out-boxed you most of the fight while knocking you down four times. Does the last fight at Wu's go through your head as you go into your first WEBA fight with Rodriguez?
SP: Sure, the fight goes through my mind, but trust me when I say it doesn't affect me. This is a whole new fight, and I will prove to everyone that I can beat a high caliber opponent and I can shut Mónica up about me not winning without dirty tricks. The "red whore" will beat the bitch. Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my training.
DL: Sure, thanks for the interview Stephanie.