30 March 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val Henning
'One Tough American Boxer' says Gotti Schwarz
'We are pleased to get out unscathed', says Balio
'This will be my toughest fight', says Jenny Johnson
'What happened?', asks Heather
'I love playing the spoiler" says Stephanie
Devon Ling is unwinding at her office at the WEBA Towers after a strenuous gym workout as Val Henning breezes in, fresh off the plane.
Val: Hey Devon! How's it going?
Devon: I'm good. How was your trip?
Val: Missed ya, and you missed a good card at Wu's. Jodi Carlson and Paola Salazar beat each other bloody, Lilka Nowak steamrollered Taylor Reynolds and Carmen Santos made it two in a row by knocking out BJ Fulton.
Devon: How'd Crazy Claire do against the new Russian?
Val: She won, but it wasn't easy, and Raquel Rivera took sixteen rounds to put Fiona Black away, broke her jaw in the fourteenth. It was tough, How's the training going?
Devon: Good, I've taken off a few pounds and I'm feeling fitter already.
Val: You're serious about maybe getting ready to fight again?
Devon: I figure I'd better be ready in case Heather Corrigan actually does call me out. I could call her bluff if she tries that on again in another interview.
Val: Well spending more time in the gym again won't hurt you any whatever happens. How about the title fights on the last WEBA card?
Devon:
Carla Ramirez defended her world title against Keiko Suzuki again.
It was a good fight with the action going back and forth in the early
rounds, then Keiko started to do some damage with Carla backed
up
against
the ropes in the fifth. Carla was in trouble for a while but
she
stormed back in the seventh, put Keiko on
the canvas for a short count then pounded her to a standing eight.
Keiko stayed out of trouble in the eighth and ninth but Carla
began to take her apart in the tenth, shredding Keiko's defense
and making her pay for every mistake! It was a vintage
Ramirez
finish as Keiko was hammered round the ring then to a
KO on the canvas, and the Texan raised her gloves high in victory
despite a badly bloody mouth.
Val:
Carla's got things pretty well under control against
Keiko, who
used to be her closest rival. Someone
else's gonna have to step in to give Baby Doll a run for
her money again. The lightweight battle's all for the #2 spot
now, and that's not got a clear leader. There's some real sorting
out to do to find the next contender in this group, someone who can
give Baby Doll a stronger challenge. How about the welterweights,
Devon, there's some sorting out going on there, huh?
Devon: Canadian
WEBA champ Lucky Lucille Perkins KO'd fading veteran Hellcat Heather
Corrigan, This fight was close for a while, but Lucille's speed, size
and skills started to take over in the third and fourth rounds.
Lucille
bloodied Heather's mouth in the fourth and fifth but then was
decked for a short count against the ropes by a hard right to the
head. Lucille ended the round with her right eye starting to close and
Heather did more
damage to the eye in the sixth, then put her down for a
short count and a standing eight. Corrigan was showing
some sign of her old form at this point and the doctor went to the
Canadian's corner
to look at the gash under her right eye before the fight went
on. Heather started the seventh well by working Lucille over
against the ropes again ... but then the champ cut loose with
a
series of combinations that put Heather down for
a short count. Heather got up with blood streaming from her
mouth
and from then on Lucille made no mistake as she tore into Heather and
finished her off with a brutal series of knockdowns. It was
another impressive KO win for
Lucille Perkins who had been in trouble in the
sixth but then was relentless once she got Heather hurt in the
seventh.
Val: Lucille's won 18 of her last 19 fights while Heather's been KO'd three times in a row now. Their careers are going in totally different directions with Lucille reaching her peak and Heather starting to struggle ...
Devon: Corrigan's fading, and she's often getting into trouble in the late rounds. Sooner or later she's got to accept that her glory days are finally over in WEBA, Val. The other fighters who have hung around the ring a long rime are all getting their asses kicked by younger girls with better skills who are in better shape and it's a shame to see storied fighters like Heather Corrigan ending their WEBA careers this way.
Val: How about the WEBA lightweight fight?
Devon: It went the
distance
with challenger Rikku Hui coming on strong in the
middle rounds to
make it pretty interesting against reigning champ Frida Svensson.
They traded in the early rounds with both scoring well at
times,
and there wasn't a lot to choose between them for a while but then
Rikku caught Frida with several good combination in the sixth, knocked
her mouthpiece out, and dropped her to the canvas for a seven count.
Frida struggled for the rest of that round and again in the
seventh, as Rikku started to look confident, but she landed some good
combinations at times and started to turn the fight back her way in the
eighth. Frida stepped it up in the ninth and scored to standing eights
on the challenger, then kept the fight on an even keel the rest of the
way. It went to the scorecards with neither boxer much
damaged
and the judges all seeing Frida as the winner by a narrow
margin.
Val: Rikku Hui 's lost four in a row now but this was a close one, and she was definitely in the fight, while Frida bounced back ok from her loss to Carmen Santos at Wu's. Just another example of how the lightweight division's tightened up below Baby Doll Ramirez, it's a pretty competitive groups! STill, we had some shockers in the junior title fights, huh?
Devon: You
can say that again. Sandra Perez from Spain's been running a
mini-streak with wins over Shanice Tyler at Wu's, then a KO of Gina
Silva and a points win over veteran Laura Chartrand, but she came into
this title fight with Tereza "Dinamita" Delgado as decided
underdog against a boxer who'd won twelve straight. But they'd never
faced each other before and this bout showed why we need to fight the
fights and not just look at boxers' records. After a closely fought
first round they both got a little edgy in the second and traded some
dirty shots, but Tereza was called for pushing her glove laces into
Sandra's face and had a point deducted. Sandra connected well in the
third but Tereza showed some of the form that's propelled her to the
winning streak when she decked Sandra with a looping right to the head
in the fourth. Tereza tried to keep the heat on Sandra in the fifth but
the Spanish boxer gave almost as good as she got and turned the fight
back her way when she broke Tereza's nose with an elbow strike late in
the round. Sandra got a warning for the infraction but she
came
on strong for the rest of the fight. Tereza went to the
canvas
from a head-body combination late in the eighth, rallied in the ninth
but then got hammered again in the tenth and took a standing eight
count. When the dust settled, Sandra Perez was the talk of the town and
also the new junior welterweight champion by a clear margin on all the
scorecards.
Val: Just when everyone had started to figure the Chilean as the latest hot thing in the division, Sandra Perez brought her down to Earth and said "remember me". This was a rough fight at times with both doing dirty work in the clinches, but Perez showed she's up to the task. It was a tough night for the Chilean boxers across the board as Mónica Rodriguez also went down to defeat in her final tussle as a junior featherweight.
Devon: That
was a little less of a surprise as she was up against Stephanie
"Diamond" Page who's recently had a nine-fight unbeaten streak
of her own including a string of KO wins at Wu's. Stephanie just
loves to fight and she's been one of the busiest boxers in the WEBA,
fighting as often as she can in both the regular league and in the
grudge
ring at Wu's. This fight was a dilly as Mónica
started well but
Stephanie took over for the second through the fifth, outhustling the
Chilean boxer and working her over effectively against the
ropes. Mónica needed a big
rally to turn the fight around, and she decked Stephanie
with a barrage of leather late in the seventh round.
Val: Stephanie may have gotten a little too confident after winning the middle rounds, and Mónica made a fight of it the rest of the way. The final round was a dilly as both went to the canvas in rip-roaring action that I thought Mónica won ... but it went to the scorecards where Stephanie came away with a close but unanimous decision. This was a tough fight that could have gone either way, but it may have established Stephanie as the new one to beat in the junior division which Monica now has to vacate.
Devon: This was quite a turn-around for the two Chileans who had both looked so sharp in their title defenses the week before. Styles make fights and Sandra Perez and Stephanie Page both brought what styles were needed to upset the two Chilean champions this time. Did you see any highlights on the undercard, Val?
Val: I'd
pick out Balio's big girl Maria Lozada bringing a boatload of
Bolivian
attitude into her fight with newbie Irish middleweight "Hot Stuff"
Hannah Riley and KO'ing the Irish girl in the eighth.
That would have to
count as a highlight and a big turnaround for Maria as Hannah had KO'd
her in their first
meeting. Balio's boxer had blown up a little storm in the
middleweight title tournament before she lost by a split
decision to
Jenny Johnson, and she kept that tournament momentum going with a late
KO of
the promising Irish newbie. They went toe to toe trading
power
shots in the opening rounds with both landing heavily then Maria
started to take control. She bloodied Hannah's mouth in the
third, then kept big pressure on the Irish fighter in the fourth.
Hannah picked up her game in the fifth and got a standing
eight on Maria early in the round, but Maria stormed back from that and
was rocking Hannah with head and body shots against the ropes by
round's end. Hannah was bleeding more heavily from her mouth but she
rallied a little in the sixth and seventh, but got clobbered early in
the eighth. Maria piled on the pressure and overwhelmed
Hannah with a barrage of leather that sent her to the canvas several
times before the KO. .
Devon: The Bolivian team was very excited by this win for Maria, and Hannah Riley discovered that it may be a rockier road to the top of this league than she thought! I have a felling that these two may be in the ring against each other a few more times before one of them emerges as the clear winner! How about another highlight fight?
Val:
I'd go with the lightweight battle between Canada's Mindy
Li and Germany's Karin Bauer, which was a ding-dong affair with both
taking and giving out punishment early. It was pretty much dead even
for the first four rounds although Karin was bleeding a little from her
nose and from a cut under her right eye. Mindy stepped it up when she
caught Karin against the ropes in the fifth but Karin roared back and
dropped her three times in the sixth. Mindy looked stunned at
the end of this round and the doctor went to her corner to check her
over before letting the fight go on. Mindy knew she was badly
behind on the scorecards after this round so she pulled out all the
stops in the seventh, and they traded hard shots throughout the round,
with Mindy getting the upper hand towards the end of the round and
earning a standing eight on the German fighter. Karin looked
dazed as she returned to her corner at the end of the round and the
doctor was called in to check her over. After looking at the
swelling around both of Karin's eyes, the doc said the fight should be
stopped, so Mindy won by a TKO.
Devon:
Mindy got the win but it was a close fight and
Karin Bauer acquitted herself well. I think there's some
great competition ahead between the middle ranked
lightweights, Val, with all kinds of good matchups
possible!
Val:
We'll see more of that in the weeks ahead as these boxers try to sort
out the pecking order!
Local reporter Gotti Schwartz sat down with the beautiful redhead to talk to her about her last fight and her plans for the future.
GS: It’s great to meet you again, Ms. Kennedy! How have you been doing?
Katelyn: I’ve been doing great! It’s nice to see you again too!
GS: Let us get started by talking about your last fight.
Katelyn: Boy was it a tough fight! Lilka Nowak is an extremely tough fighter. We both beat the hell out of each other in that ring! I give her much love and respect for taking me on. Maybe in the future she’ll want a rematch.
GS: Yeah, I saw that fight. The crowd was going crazy! You sure did give the people a great show!
Katelyn (smiling): I’m glad! My fans really supported me!
GS: Tereza Delgado…
Katelyn (laughing): I knew that dumb chick would lose! I told you that she wasn’t unstoppable! Much love and respect to Sandra Perez. Keep it up girl! As for Tereza Delgado … well she better get a great plastic surgeon to fix up her looks! Then again, good luck in finding a surgeon that’s good enough!
GS (laughing): Oh Katelyn, you’re too much! What about Carmen Santos?
Katelyn: What about her?! She’s just another chick who's more concerned about her looks than boxing! Last time she got in the ring with me, she was beaten to a bloody pulp!
GS: Any chance of you fighting them again?
Katelyn: There is a 99% chance that I will fight them again. The time isn’t right, though. When it’s right, you’ll know….
GS: Well Katelyn it was great talking to you again! Good luck in your future matches!
Katelyn: Thank you, sweetie! Take care!
Devon Ling is suffering. It ain't a recurrence of any wrist injury, or a pain previously gained in the boxing ring. ... and it sure ain't a hangover. Yep, a Frez fighter has just a victory. And Devon's news hound headache has returned.
Devon: Hello Balio.
Balio (with Tulia & Maria both mocking Balio in unison): Hello, Miss Devon.
Devon: Some good fighting this week by both boxers in your charge, Frez.
Balio: Thank you, Miss Devon. We were pleased to come out unscathed. And with at least one victory in our purses. Miss Maria was finally able to put a stop to Miss Hannah in the eighth. And we have seen a new whirlwind, I believe, in Miss Carmen holding out our Miss Tulia.
Devon: We sure did see a whirlwind, Balio. Santos comes out all in a flurry. And can then back up her actions with talent. She's got a future for sure.
Tulia: I gotta agree with you Devon. I didn't underestimate Carmen one bit at the start. But I did think I might have got her measure as the rounds progressed. It was close with the judges split.
Balio: It was a good fight for you, Miss Tulia. After your recent layoff following the Junior Title contests.
Devon: And your Big Maria had such a huge battle to stop the dangerous Riley late.
Maria: It took me all fight, Devon. I couldn't quite get my finishing shot in on her. Hannah has some deft movements for a 150 pounder, believe me. But the finishing punch finally came late in the last round.
Balio: They were good tight fights, both. And like I say, nice to get home with some winning cash in our purses.
Devon (cocky): My attitude is that it's no joy unless the two purses are winning.
Balio (laughing): My gran'mama would say "the opossum's pouch is happiest when full, but not overflowing."
(Maria & Tulia both on the floor in tears)
Devon : Oh P. Oh What. Frez, you are flipping crazy.
Balio (roaring): Come with us Miss Devon. I know what you need now ...
The phone rings in Jenny Johnson's Winnipeg apartment.
DL:
Hi Jenny, this is Devon Ling!
JJ: Hi Devon! How's it going? It's been a while ...
DL: I'm good, And you must be too ... you have a world title fight coming up now. Are you pleased with how the tournament has gone for you?
JJ: I'm very pleased with four wins in a row against such top competition. I was quite nervous about facing the new girl Hannah Riley, she has so many knockout wins! But that fight went really well for me and I was able to knock her out. That was a great start and it made me feel good about my tournament chances right away!
DL: Which was your hardest fight in the tournament so far?
JJ Definitely the fight with Maria Lozada. She's improved a lot and she did not give up after I won the early rounds. I was bleeding badly so I was glad to get a split decision in that fight. I expect she'll want a rematch when this tournament is over. Crazy Claire is a more experienced fighter but she was easier to fight, apart from her sharp elbows. I was afraid Claire would damage my eye but the referee had seen her fight before and kept control of the fight before throwing Claire out of it. Some girls will do almost anything to win! I know I would have beaten Claire anyway, so her DQ cost me some prize money!
DL: Are you excited about fighting Mikee Mulroney for the world title?
JJ: I am pleased to have come all the way through this tournament, but I know I will need my best performance ever to win it by beating Mikee.
DL: You have never beaten Mikee. In fact, she's knocked you out every time you've fought her. How will you try to defeat her this time?
JJ: I've fought a lot and trained hard since my last fight with her, so I hope to surprise her. I am taller and heavier than Mikee but she is tough and experienced. I know she will come at me and try to knock me out early, so I will need to move well and strike fast to keep her off me. I must not stay still and become a big target for her punches. I know this will be a hard fight for me but I am ready for the challenge.
DL:You have never won a title belt in the WEBA. Do you think your first title ever can be the world title?
JJ: You always ask tough questions, Devon! It is true that I have yet to win any title in the WEBA but I am determined to do that soon. I am also happy to have the chance to go for the world title again. There are other fighters who had also hoped they would get this shot, but they were eliminated already and I am the last one standing in Mikee's way, When the bell goes for this fight, it will be just me and her, starting out from scratch again, and all the others will be watching us fight! I feel good about this and I will give it my best shot..
DL: Good luck to you, Jenny. By the way, how cold is it up there?
JJ (smiling): Too cold for you now but this town will be hot if I can bring home the world title! We'll have a big party if I win and you can come and help us celebrate. We'll keep you warm if I win the belt, California girl!
The Hellcat slumps on her corner stool with blood pouring from her nose and her mouth. She's dazed and confused after being knocked out by Lucille Perkins in the seventh round of their title fight. Her brown hair is wet and disheveled and her green boxing gear is spattered with blood. Her father starts to remove her boxing gloves.
Heather (pulling her glove away) What are you going?
Mike: Taking your gloves off.
Heather: Why? What round is it?
Mike: It's over. honey, she knocked you out.
Heather: No way, give me one more round and I'll kill her! Where's my mouthpiece?
Mike: Heather, listen to me. The fight's over. She knocked you out. You lost.
Heather: No. no ... just give me some water. One more round, Please, dad ... I can still win this
Mike Corrigan looks at his battered and bloody daughter and shakes his head. He remembers the years of encouraging her to box, supporting her career from the first time he gave her boxing gloves so she could spar with her brothers, to her first pro fight, to trips abroad with cheering crowds for world title fights. His tomboy had become the best boxer in the WEBA, but now she was losing fights she should have won. She's been bruised, bloodied and thoroughly beaten up by the Canadian who's standing tall in the ring with the title belt around her waist. Mike shakes his head, then puts his arms around Heather and holds her to him.
Mike: Heather, honey, you lost the fight, It's over.
Devon Ling has been in the scrum of reporters interviewing the victorious Lucille Perkins, who's smiling and posing for photos despite her bruised right eye. Devon sees the father-daughter moment and marches over to the Corrigan corner, thrusting a microphone at Mike.
Devon: Very touching, ... any comment on Heather losing another big fight, Mister Corrigan?
Mike: Yeah. Piss off, Devon?
Devon (grinning): Any chance this is Heather's last fight?
Heather: Get lost, bitch!
Mike smiles. There's still a load of fight left in his girl ...
After the decision was announced, and Stephanie Page's arm has been raised, no one was more elated than Stephanie, whose win over Monica Rodriguez gives her the WEBA Junior Featherweight Championship in Monica Rodriguez's last fight in the junior division before she becomes ineligible!
After some of the chaos died down in the ring and a bit of the crowd left, Devon Ling got an interview with the new Junior Featherweight champion.
DL: Stephanie! Stephanie! Over here!
SP: Devon! There you are! I know you want the interview, so here I am!
DL: Great! So how does it feel to win the championship?
SP: You know how it feels! Pretty damn exciting! It feels good that all the hard work in the gym paid off. I couldn't have done it without Marisol.
Marisol Kari comes over
MK (laughing): You damn right you couldn't have done it without me!
SP: (smiling): Yeah, Rodriguez has been tough these two fights, but I edge her out again!
DL: Yeah, throughout the middle of the fight it looks like you dominated, but towards the end of the fight it looks like she had you. She gotten the better of that hectic 10th round, knocking you down three times in addition you the two times you knocked her down. What was the feeling after the third knockdown.
SP: I was thinking I'm not gonna lose this fight, especially not to her. Especially not to her. I lose in the final round by knockout, I would never hear the end of it from her, in fact I don't think I would hear the end of it from her now. She's always got something to say, and as for right now, I just don't care what she says.
DL: Way to be a spoiler! You do realize that you have beaten her in her final fight as an elgible junior fighter. If you fight her as junior champion, it will be a non title fight.
SP: I love playing the spoiler, and the underdog. Davidson and Western Kentucky aren't the only Cinderella this March! Despite my win at Wu's against her, people doubted if I could beat her in a WEBA bout because of how I fought so poorly for most of the Wu's fight. But I shook the performance off, strategized a bit better with Marisol, and found a winning formula to beat her. I told you this was a whole new fight for me, and I treated as it was, and I came out on top.
DL: It's a little Ironic that both you and Sandra Perez pulled huge upsets in one night.
SP: What can I say, March Madness! You always see upsets around this time of year that aren't just in basketball.
DL: Yeah. You said you shook the Wu's fight off and fought better. How did you fight better?
SP: Well, I fought a slower paced fight, and chose my shots a little better. I overall became more efficient, ruined her flow of the fight, and won the title.
DL: So tell me, what's next for Stephanie Page?
SP: An all Arizona featherweight showdown with Raquel Rivera! Just kidding (laughs). I'm gonna take it slow. First I'm gonna go visit Lilka in the hospital. Then I'm gonna train, and rest
DL: Anyone specific you want to fight next?
SP: I can already see two fighters in specific who probably want to challenge me this exact moment; Cathy Simmons and Xiao-wei Zhang. When I'm done with my rest, I'll make a decision which of those two I'm fighting.
DL: Thanks for the interview champ!
SP: Haha no problem. First, kickboxing, then MMA, now boxing!