24 May 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val
Henning
'Sue was just a tuneup', says Stephanie
'She got lucky', says Heather
'I didn't want it to go to the
scorecards', says Maria
'I was pretty confident', says Mónica
'The wins were the confidence booster', says Sandra
Val Henning is.sweaty and breathless after a long sparring session with Devon Ling at Devon's gym. She takes off her headgear and grins at Devon.
Val: Hey, not bad for two old-timers, huh?
Devon: That jab of yours is still good, Val, I don't think my nose was quite this shape when we started!
Val: I got a fat lip though, ya popped me some good ones too. You're gonna be ready for sure if any of the WEBA girls want to fight you again!
Devon: Yeah, Heather Corrigan better watch out!
Val: Not just Heather, girlfriend. These girls today all gotta know you were a good one in your time! But I still don't think ya could take Baby Doll Ramirez, she looked good again last week!
Devon takes a swig from a water bottle.
Devon: Yeah,
Ramirez made it a tough night for Frida Svensson. and got the job done
in six rounds. They went toe to toe right from the opening
bell,
Frida let it all hang out looking to land something big right away, but
Carla worked her body and got the better of the action against the
ropes. The Texan cracked some great uppercuts through Frida's defense
and looked confident after just one round, staying on her feet and
shadowboxing in her corner between rounds. Some WEBA girls
get
too cocky and then get caught napping, but Baby Doll stunned Frida with
another
great uppercut in the second and Frida went down for seven. To Frida's
credit she recovered and had maybe her best round of the fight in the
third, bloodying Carla's face and mouth with some stiff straight
shots. Carla got her rhythm back in the fourth, but Frida
boxed
good in the fifth and Carla went to her corner looking kinda annoyed.
That turned out to be all she wrote for the Swedish girl, as
Baby Doll
turned
it on in the sixth, knocked Frida's mouthpiece out,
then dropped
her with a sweet body-head combination. Bang-bang, and Frida was down
for eight! The Swedish girl got up looking stunned and Baby
Doll
poured it on, Another uppercut dropped Frida again, she got
up at
the last moment to beat the count, but got obliterated by a
haymaker right that knocked her mouthpiece out again and left her face
down on the canvas!
Val: That was one of the most brutal knockouts I've seen in a long while, Carla just about took Frida's head off with the finisher punch! Carla's dominating this lightweight division now, her last thirteen fights with other lightweights have all ended up with the other girl KO'd!
Devon: Seems that Baby Doll was totally born to box, and she's gonna be a champ longer than anyone ever before her in WEBA. She's even held her own with the top welterweights ... it might take a middleweight to put a dent in her. She's made the lightweight race a battle for second place now, that's for sure.
Val:
It's a different story for the featherweights, though, as
Chile's Mónica Rodriguez pulled a huge upset to take the world title
from the Carolina Cutie!
Devon: Yeah
it was an upset for sure, but there were a few signs in the last WEBA
featherweight tournament that Rodriguez was starting to come on
stronger, Val. Mónica beat out Dynamite Diane McFee, who's
one of the
WEBA originals, then got a win over scrappy Scot Fiona Black, then
handed
a loss to our li'l Boppa girl in the semifinal. Raquel Rivera beat her
out for the title
that time, but you could see that Mónica was starting to get it
together, those were three good wins for her and she went on to earn
the junior title with another win over Fiona Black
Val: But then she lost the junior title to Stephanie Page, that must have a downer for the Chilean, and I was kinda surprised when she decided to take a run at the Cutie for all the marbles just three fights later!
Devon: Ya gotta get in the ring and try, to see what happens, and it paid off for Mónica this time in a tough hard fight that really could have gone either way until the twelfth round. They'd both had some good rounds and had done damage to the other, Mónica's right eye wasn't in good shape and I really thought she was toast when Jordan backed her up against the ropes and knocked her down early in the round. Jordan looked to be in charge but Mónica tagged her with an overhand right that turned the whole round on its head as Jordan went down for a three count. Jordan got up quickly and they went toe to toe briefly but then Mónica dropped Jordan again with a sweet body-head combo. Jordan was in trouble after that and Mónica kept the pressure on, smashing power shots to the body then going upstairs. Jordan took heavy punishment around her eyes, and staggered to her corner almost blind with both eyes swollen shut. The ref took a look at Jordan in her corner between rounds and decided she should not continue because she could not see properly. The fight was stopped and Mónica got the win and the world title by TKO!.
Val: Someone can always question a stoppage like that, but Monica really did have the upper hand and Jordan would have been a sitting duck with her eyes closing up like that. So Mónica goes from losing the junior belt to gaining the world belt, that's quite a jump for the gang girl from Santiago!
Devon:
She's
a tough one and she's been improving with her trainer, whatever you
think about the TKO decision it was a close fight all the way, and
Rodriguez has "arrived", that's for sure. That gym she trains
in
may be too cold for me, but she's smokin' hot these days!
Val: That's
been a couple of setbacks in a row for the Strongarm team, with both
their world champs taking tough losses. But those girls are
great
competitors and they'll be be back for more, you can take
that to
the bank. No surprise in the WEBA welterweight title fight,
huh?
Devon: Not in the
result, as Canadian Lucille Perkins added to her ten-fight unbeaten
streak
with points decision over gritty Mexican contender Esther Gonzalez. It
was
Lucille's sixth straight defense of the WEBA welterweight belt
but it wasn't plain sailing for her even though she
opened well and controlled the early rounds and pummeled Esther to a
flash knockdown in the fourth. The Mexican was falling behind
by big margin on points when she stepped it up several
notches in the sixth, rocked Lucille with an uppercut against the
corner ropes then dropped her to her knees with a body shot.
Lucille took the full nine count and was in big trouble for
the rest of the round as Esther tested her chin repeatedly. Lucille
recovered between the rounds but the fight was much closer after that
with the Mexican coming forward looking to work under Lucille's long
reach. Lucille needed to re-establish herself late and she
did that in the eleventh with a good flurry that put Esther on
the canvas again for a short count. The final round was closely fought
with both landing some good shots but neither able to take the other
off her feet. Overall it was a well-fought fight
that ended with a close but unanimous decision for the defending
champ.
Val: A solid performance by the reigning champ except for the sixth round when Esther almost stole the whole thing from her. I gotta agree it was a good fight for Gonzalez to come that close someone who's ranked #2 overall in the whole WEBA and who's had five times as many fights as her. Lucille and Esther both looked like they belonged in a top title fight, so the Gonzalez team has to be pleased with their girl's performance in tis fight. She's pulled some upsets in fights this close and with a little more training she could be a threat right at the top soon.
Devon: The welterweights have been a tightly contested group at the top for a while, and this week's Corrigan vs Kusmagk fight showed it may be tightening some more! What did you think of that, Val?
Val: This fight
oughta
throw a scare into the Corrigans about whether Heather has
enough left in
the tank now. Heather gave an interview last time saying Carolina
Kusmagk was someone she could hardly be bothered to
fight, but it didn't turn out that way at all. The big
Swede came out swinging and gave the veteran all she could handle when
the bell went, landing haymakers to Heather's head right from the
get-go! Heather went toe to toe with her and briefly looked
like she might blow Carolina clear out of the ring in the
third round when she sent the Swedish fighter to the canvas twice and
also got a
standing eight. Carolina looked like she was out on her feet after the
second knockdown, but she was saved by the bell and then got her act
back
together big time later in the fight. By the end of the sixth Heather
had blood
pouring from her nose and Carolina totally turned the tables on her
with a three-knockdown round that almost sent Corrigan
packing. The
ring doctor was called to the Hellcat's corner between the
rounds The rest of the fight was total war, both
fighters gave up on defense and landed huge shots that sent the other
spinning to the canvas!
Corrigan was bleeding profusely from her nose and mouth,
while Kusmagk had a huge cut over her left eye, so this turned
into a rock'em sock'em
bloodbath that sent both boxers to the infirmary when it was over.
We've seen tamer fights at Wu's and the crowd loved
it ... but both camps looked upset by the decision, which was a 73-73
draw on every scorecard when the dust finally settled and they mopped
up the
blood out of the ring
Devon:
The Hellcat was so cocky coming into this fight, she
thought she was going against a tomato can but she took a
huge beating and was real lucky she wasn't knocked
out! It was a great fight if what you want
to see blood flying all over the ring and two boxers
beating the living daylights outta each other, but it came
close to being a total disaster for Corrigan. Heck, I knocked
Kusmagk out when I
fought her at Wu's, this coulda been the career ender for Corrigan, and
I wonder whether she's still got what ittakes to win a title belt
again. Any highlights from the rest of the undercard, Val?
Val: Yeah,
Balio's big girl Maria "The Huntress" Lozada put a big dent in the
career of Dublin's
Hannah "Hot Stuff" Riley in an exciting fight that ended in the fourth
with a huge
KO by the Bolivian brawler. These are both fighters who got
off to
really great starts in the WEBA, Maria Lozada won five straight and
knocked out
Amanda Watt for the junior title in just her fifth outing.
Hannah Riley
won seven straight by KO, then got KO'd herself in her eighth
fight but went on to win the junior
middleweight title by KO in her ninth. They've both been
hard-hitting KO artists from the get-go so it
was no surprise when the leather started to fly all through
the early rounds of
this rematch. Hannah had a badly bloody nose by the end of the second
round, but Hannah rocked Maria with a series of shots to the face in
the third and scored a standing eight.
Both girls were fighting mad as they went back to their
corners but the fourth round was all Maria Lozada as the
Bolivian beat the Irish
girl bloody and knocked her down three times on the way to the final
KO. Maria rocked Hannah repeatedly against the ropes and had
the Irish girl in huge trouble before
an uppercut knocked Hannah totally into la-la
land.
Devon: Frez has to be scratching her head that's she's produced a KO killer phenom like Maria, Val, it was so not Balio's own style! But no doubt about it, Maria made a big impression here and now Hannah Riley's the one who's gotta regroup. Maria's knocked the Irish star out twice in a row and that shows it's no fluke. Maria also owns their series 2-1 now, and every fight they've had has been a KO! We got a hot rivalry going now, and it looks like Maria has the upper hand for the moment. Any more action to spotlight, Val?
Val: It was a big
card, lots of great action all around, so it's hard to choose just a
few fights to talk about but I'd
say another big one was New Mexico's Katelyn Kennedy putting away
Xiao-wei Zhang from China. Xiao-wei rocked the tall, slim
Katelyn a few
times in the opening round, but the later rounds saw
the American take charge and gradually start to take
Wu's ferocious featherweight apart.
Zhang was rocked at the end of the second and she went back
to her
corner with blood pouring from under her left eye. Kennedy
kept the heat on and dropped Zhang twice more in the third,.then again
in the fourth, plus a standing eight. Kennedy was just too fast and
too furious for the smaller Chinese fighter, who absorbed
two more standing eights
in the sixth. Katelyn put the hammer down in the seventh and
finally knocked the Wu girl out with a huge left to the head.
It was a dominant performance by the
Albuquerque redhead that suggested Xiao-wei might need to stick to
smaller
opponents for a while!
Devon: Kennedy's quietly built a strong record at 8-2-1 and this was her second KO win in a row., She's not been hogging the spotlight in WEBA but she's off to a pretty good start, including a win over possible lightweight rival Carmen Santos in just her second fight. If Katelyn can keep the KO's coming like she did in this fight she'll be a big threat in an already very competitive lightweight division.
Val: The league competition seems to be tightening up everywhere but right at the top of the lightweights, Devon, and several of the newer girls showed their stuff this week and gave veterans tough fights. I think things are gonna stay pretty interesting for a while, the only champ whose title looks safe at the moment seems to be Carla Ramirez.
Devon Ling heads into the Apache Gym where she sees Stephanie Page sparring with a guy, a little bigger but not much. Devon looks on as Kari shouts at Stephanie to attack the body. Stephanie, after a merciless attack on the guy, pops him in the head with a right hook and he spirals to the canvas, spitting his mouthpiece out. Stephanie comes out, sees Devon, and heads towards her.
Devon: Did you have to hit him so hard?
Page: What? He was only the Arizona Golden Gloves champion in the 125 pound division, or something like that. I was only helping him train for the nationals.
Devon: That says something about the skill level of guys in Arizona! Anyway, you seemed to steamroll Sue Saunders except for that one and a half rounds between the sixth and seventh rounds in which she bloodied your nose. What happened?
Page: She stunned me with a punch during a round and she kept on the pressure. Sue is tough, but it was rather a tune up fight for me.
Devon: Tune up fight?
Page: Yeah, Sue was just a tune up for my next championship match.
Devon: So you're gonna go after Mónica Rodriguez for the world championship? It would only seem right because you are 2-0 against her and took the junior featherweight title from her.
Page: Yeah, but no. The world championship is not on my mind right now.
Devon: Oh, why not?
Page: I think I'd rather test the waters first. Fight a few other boxers first and defend my junior featherweight title a few more times.
Devon: Then who are you talking about?
Page: I'm talking about Cathy Simmons. She beat me back at Wu's last year and it's about time I get the rematch going. Another big fight coming up.
Devon: Cathy's no pushover! Any other fighters you are thinking of mixing it up with?
Page: I would love to fight some of the up and coming lightweights like Carmen Santos. She loves to party, which pisses off some of the other boxers but not me. She's serious about what she does and she's one hell of a boxer, as she proves it in the ring. I've seen what she did to Karin Bauer a while back and it would be an interesting fight. I wanna go against her. There's also Katelyn Kennedy. She's the only one who's beat me handily in WEBA. I wanna prove that I'm a better boxer and beat her. I'm still waiting on Marina Galieva for Wu's also. Let's also add Fiona Black to the list. Hey while we are at it we also add Heather Corrigan to the list!
Devon: Heather Corrigan!? She had over a hundred more fights and is 13 pounds bigger than you!
Page (laughs): Just kidding! Still it looks like everyone she faces now has a chance against her. She takes the title then loses it, then wins it back again, then loses it, then takes the title back only to lose it again. Maybe it's time for the Hellcat to lace up the gloves before she starts losing to Sandra Perez or that Canadian girl. Hrbkova I think her name is?
Devon: True, she hasn't been the same for some time now. Corrigan or no Corrigan, that's some hit list for you! Thanks for the interview Stephanie.
Hellcat Heather Corrigan looks grim as she sits down for her press conference, but she manages a smile as they take photographs before starting the questions.
Reporter: Heather, you are on a five-fight winless streak now, and you were just held to a draw by a girl you'd called a second-rate club fighter. What's going on?
Heather: It's been a tough run, fellas, but it just makes me more determined to fight harder. . .
Reporter: No thought of retiring, then?
Heather doesn't answer, just glares at the reporter.
Reporter: Have you changed your opinion of Carolina Kusmagk?
Heather (angrily): No! She's a big brawler who got lucky a few times but I'll beat the bitch bloody if she wants a rematch. She had a good fight this time, but she's not in my class, fellas.
Devon Ling: What class is that, Heather? Fading ex-champions who've taken way too many punches to the head? It you can't beat Kusmagk, what's the deal?
Heather glares at Devon Ling, who's standing at the back of the room wearing a cheap silk dress that shows too much of her legs and her cleavage.
Heather: Who let the pop tart in again? Didn't I say no more interviews with Ling? Get that tramp out of here!
A couple of burly guys in University of Miami T-shirts escort Devon Ling roughly from the room. Devon shouts something about Pattaya as she's led away.
Reporter: She was calling you out there, Heather!
Heather: So what?
Reporter: Would you fight her at Wu's?
Heather: Maybe some time when I've got nothing better to do!
Reporter: How about a rematch with Carolina Kusmagk?
Heather: She knows where to find me, I'll leave that to her.
Reporter: Was that a "yes", Heather?
Heather: Let's see if the Swedish meatball wants it.
The Ling Machine looks jaded. It ain't the lifestyle, it ain't the past fisticuffs catch up, it ain't the ... What the hell, Devon Ling knows well enough Frez is the problem. And another interview now imminent.
Devon (searching): Hello Balio. Hello Maria.
Maria (beaming): Hi Devon. How's things with the ex-Champ?
Devon (still searching): Good enough, thanks Maria. Where's Balio?
Maria: She's around somewhere, Devon. Getting a protein shake, I think. Did you enjoy the WEBA fights last night?
Devon: I always do, Maria. Your bout had plenty of interest too. You took a slapping early. Then came back strong to win with a kayo.
Maria: Yep. And we're still sporting bruises, cuts and pain. (laughing). But that's our trade now, isn't it!
Devon (laughing): It never bothered me a cent's worth how I felt the day after. As long as I inflicted some pain the night before in the ring.
Maria: Well, we respect Hannah plenty at our gym. She got me right under the ribcage in the second, and had me winded and on the canvas early.
Devon: You got up pretty quick. And knew you were in for a night then, I guess. Riley has some leverage behind her shots for sure.
Maria: Hannah sure does, Devon. The third had us in more bother with the ref jumping in to give me a standing count. But we settled, took stock, and then grafted away at what we do best.
Devon: Well Riley's nose was a mess by then. I take it you took that as the target and kept whacking at the weak spot.
Maria: Yes, Devon. We could see that the nose was worrying Hannah, so it was our target for sure last night. I saw her wiping it again in the fifth. And let loose with my biggest shots. I sure didn't want it to go to the scorecards after our early points losses.
Devon: Well you did the job fine then. A good victory. (searching) Is Balio coming back soon, do you think?.
Maria: She said maybe not, Devon. But also asked me to tell you that she's had a call from her granny. Something about the "lazy fox only getting the .... "
Devon (quickly on the move): I think I heard my cell phone. Or my chauffeur calling. Or my ...
Maria (roaring): I get the message, Devon. Have a great night. See you later.
The ref goes with the doctor to check the world champ Jordan Strongarm in her corner. After 12 rounds Mónica Rodríguez beated her and cut her badly, enough at least to not see properly, so the ref declares a TKO and he raises the glove of the Chilean boxer as the new world featherweight champion.
As soon as Jordan leaves the ring in a rage, Mónica works the crowd again and again and talks with everybody, poses for all the pictures with her new belt and shouts her joy to the world. Devon Ling wonders how someone that boxed 12 rounds in a tough fight can speak and move so much
Devon: Mónica ... Mónica
The new champ ignores her as usual . Devon thinks if this gal don't want to meet her for the interview as became the new trend, but eventually Mónica talks to her.
Devon: Mónica, finally ... Congratulations for your belt hon! It was a tough fight ...
Mónica: Thanks, and yes it was a pretty cool fight. This gal give me a very decent fight, and even I was beating her at the end, she tried to fight back again. Too bad that the ref stopped the fight, 'coz I wanted to finish her with a spectacular KO..
Devon: The ref have to do it to preserve the boxers integrity hon! What about if you would be the beaten one?
Mónica: Not a problem really for me, as I'm the beater and I note that the refs in this league tend to protect more the gringas than latinas like me ... I mean I never was saved with a TKO, and even more I lost my junior title to the Page whore even if I practically KO'd her just because they don't wanted to do a new tourney.
Devon: It's a serious accusation, hon. Any proof?
Mónica: Don't need to do it as everybody knows it. That poor thing had to receive my title even if she laid unconscious on canvas! Anyway this title proves that I'm a true champ and the real deal in this league. I hope that I can hold this belt for a long time ... I have the power and the skills to do it but I want to train harder than ever, coz no gringa will take it from me with tricky decisions again.
Devon: What are your plans for the future?
Mónica: Right now? My usual "rematch" with my beated foe (Devon glares), a shower, and to celebrate. But if you ask about this belt, I want to fight back as soon as possible, but maybe I'll be back in Chile for concentration in training...Anyway, now I fought all possible contenders in my division, and it will be a bit boring for me and my fans to beat the very same whores again and again, so I want to meet more lightweights in next matches.
Devon: Lightweight division is pretty competitive hon ... many fine boxers. You think that you can be able to beat them? It's not easy to change..
Mónica: Hey you never believed that I could beat Jordan and here we are! And I don't want to change division ... yet, as a feather I can kick lighties asses pretty well. Ask the poor Jen O'Casey if any doubt ... she made a good fight for her age but I was so strong for her that she don't want the rematch in Pattaya. Or the meatball Frida.
Devon: And what about Carmen and Karin for instance? They beated you very...
Mónica : That was ages ago ... now I can beat them easily. They and any bitch that wants to fight me knows pretty well how to find me. Title, Pattaya, or some easy lightie the same I'm more than ready to fight. Bye bye people, and thanks for your support.
Devon finds Sandra Perez all the way out in her home country of Spain in Madrid.
DL: Sandra, it's feeling good here in Spain today.
SP: Yeah, that's why I train up here. No rain, or strange weather this week.
DL: So this is your first interview?
SP: Yes, it is. Bring on the questions.
DL: So you are the current junior welterweight champion. Going back to your title win, you pulled what has to be the biggest upset this year as you beat Tereza Delgado, who had not only been on a 13 fight win streak I believe, but also had not lost to a welterweight. How did you keep calm in the fight?
SP: Well that's where my experience came in. I believe that she was more nervous than I was coming into the fight. Even though she was 13-1, and like you said, had not lost to a welterweight, and I was 10-10, I believe that she was beatable and no offense to Delgado, I came into fight with no respect for her one purpose. I believe that's what you have to do in these fights, you have to come into the fights not respecting the fighters, and work your game plan. I hit her with some hard shots that she wasn't ready for, broke her nose, and took advantage.
DL: You seemed to be streaking into the fight also with key wins over Laura Chartrand and newcomer Gina Silva. How much an effect did your win streak have coming into the fight?
SP: You could say that the wins were the confidence booster. Coming off a losing streak before the winning streak, winning definitely puts the losses behind your head.
DL: Well after the championship fight, you racked up two more wins by winning your first title defense over Irena Hrbkova and winning again against Carolina Kugmask, who recently fought former WEBA world champion Heather Corrigan into a draw? Thinking of fighting Corrigan too, as her career is going down the toilet?
SP: As good as it would be to beat Heather in match, I don’t feel I’m up to that level yet. She may be down now, but I feel I’m not up at that level yet. I may fight her down the road but not now.
DL: There is one fighter that’s been getting to you and that’s former junior welterweight champ Esther Gonzalez. Five of your ten losses came to her alone. Since your probably going to fight her down the road after this next match against Irena Hrbkova, what has been the problem?
SP: She has been a thorn in my paw. Gonzalez has accuracy and speed gets to me. I have been working on my defense and I’m going to prove that when I fight her.
DL: And that’s it. Thanks for the interview Sandra
SP: You’re welcome, Devon .