12 October 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val
Henning
"It was a great fight for Jane", says
Heather
"It was a welcome victory", says Balio
Devon and Val are looking at video of the WEBA fights in Devon's plush office at the WEBA Towers.
Val: We've got some heavy hitters coming out of their summer training, Devon, we saw some big wins by rising fighters this week! .
Devon: Yeah, and there were some exciting KO endings this time!Val: How about the title fight?
Devon: We
had so many walking wounded recovering from the last
card, there
was only one championship fight! But it was a war as
Chicago's Dangerous Diedre
Dornan beat back a tough challenge for the WEBA welterweight title from
former world and WEBA champ Cyan Locklear, the Lumbee Princess. After
telling us she'd
"beat that loser to a
pulp", Diedre ended up in a ferocious slugfest with Cyan and they
pretty
much beat each
other to pulp for twelve straight rounds. Going into the tenth both of
them were bleeding profusely, Diedre from her nose and Cyan from her
mouth, after a slugfest that had seen them both go to the canvas
several times. It was a war with both fighters ending rounds dazed at
times. Diedre came close to knocking
Cyan out in the second and sixth, but the Lumbee Princess had
come back to hammer Diedre in the seventh. The fight looked
totally up for
grabs going down the stretch and Diedre needed a big final round to be
sure of the decision. The Chicago slugger came up with exactly
that
and she knocked the Princess down three times in the twelfth
to make sure of a unanimous decision and retain the
title.
Val: Diedre packs a heckuva punch to back up all her trash talk! Cyan beat her bloody but she kept comin' and got the win. Diedre's spent a lot of her career in the shadow of top welterweights like Heather Corrigan, Cyan Locklear and Lucille Perkins, but she's reaching her peak now and she's notched at least one win over all of the other welterweights except the world champ, Natalya Borozdina.
Devon: Diedre's already held both the world and WEBA titles briefly, but until now she couldn't hang on to them long against her top challengers. She seems to have hit her stride now and is looking to make a name for herself. I may have to get some winter clothes for more interviews in Chicago, dammit!
Val: Yeah, Chicago's gonna be kinda chilly soon, but there were some red hot KO's to heat things up this week, hon!
Devon: Yeah,
Russian middleweight Olga Ivanova turned out to be a bit more fighter
than Canadian welterweight Irena Hrbkova could handle. It was a
gutsy challenge by the Czech-born Hrbkova, who was on a three-fight
winning streak, but she soon found out that a 5 foot 10 inch 159-lb
Russian is a lot more opponent than Sandra Perez or Laura Chartrand!
Apart from the third round where Irena briefly did some good work
with Olga's back against the ropes, this fight was dominated by
the big Russian's experience and punching power. Irena ate a power
uppercut at the end of the fourth that put her down and sent her to her
corner still looking wobbly at the end of the round, and the ring doctor
was called in to check her over before the fight continued. Olga
stepped it up in the fifth and knocked Irena down twice, knocking her
mouthpiece out one time and again sending the smaller fighter
back to her corner looking shaken up. Irena's tough and the doctor let the
fight go on into the sixth, but it was just a mater of time until Olga
put Irena away after that.
Val: Ivanova's tuff, she's won seven of her last eight fights with middleweights, and she was simply too much for Irena to handle! The other catchweight bout was a different story, though!
Devon: You bet. Anyone who thought Baby Doll
Ramirez might be losing her edge when she dropped the world
lightweight title to Keiko Suzuki just before the break got another
wakeup call this week when the lightweight champ knocked out former
world welterweight champ Rose Mora. Carla came back from a
terrible first round where Rose caught her repeatedly with hard lefts
and rights to the head and body and began to surprise and hurt Rose
with fast combinations. By the end of the third it was clear that Rose
was in trouble, as her left eye was closing and Carla left her
rubber-legged and wobbly against the ropes at the bell. The fourth was
all Baby Doll as she took Rose apart with uppercuts and combinations.
The Italian Assassin went to the canvas five times before ending
the fight on her knees, conceding defeat to the little Texas whirlwind!
Val: Despite the loss to Suzuki, where Carla was stopped on cuts in a close fight, I think we could make the case that Baby Doll Ramirez is the best pound for pound fighter we've ever seen in WEBA, hon. The biggest question in the whole WEBA league may be whether one of the other lightweights can eventually step up to Carla's level and give her a real run for the world title! She looked awesome in this fight against one of the most experienced welterweights,
Devon: Sweden's
Greta "Iceberg" Bergstrom could be one who could test Baby Doll soon!
Greta ran her unbeaten streak to fourteen straight with a total
thrashing of former world champion Tammy "The Franchise" Quinton that
ended with a sixth-round KO. Greta got hurt by a one-two to her
body that dropped her to her knees for a short count in the first, but
after that it was all the Iceberg, as the pounded the veteran
"Franchise" to a convincing loss. Tammy was bleeding heavily from
her nose by the end of the third. Greta looked confident at that
point but Tammy took it to her hard against the ropes early in the
fourth, only to be overwhelmed by Greta's angry comeback. A hook
to the stomach put Tammy down for a short count and Greta poured on the
pressure to floor Tammy again with a big overhand right to
her nose. By the bell, Tammy was in trouble with
blood pouring from
her nose and the doctor was called to her corner to check her over.
Greta did a number on Tammy against the ropes in the fifth, but
once again Tammy was allowed to continue, only to be knocked out by a
right to the jaw in the sixth.
Val: Tammy's another of the WEBA veterans whose best days may be behind her now, but she's game to keep fighting and to give the contenders for Baby Doll's title a stiff test! This time she was sliced and diced by the Swedish boxer who may be shaping up as a very hot prospect in this group. OK, Devon, so how about Balio's middleweight Maria Lozada on this card?
Devon: Maria's
fights with Canadian big girl Jenny Johnson are always a
tossup, Val! These two middleweights have been trading wins
recently, although Jenny had the
edge in all their early fights, so Balio's been improving Maria's style
for dealing with the big Canadian.
I thought Jenny had the upper hand in the first round of this one, but
that good early start crumbled when the going
got tough on her later in the fight. Maria had Jenny in trouble
against the
ropes in the fifth and almost knocked her out at the end of that round
with a ferocious three-punch combination. At this point Jenny was badly
cut over both eyes, and obviously in big trouble but she showed lots of
heart by insisting that she could continue into the sixth.
To Jenny's credit, she boxed well in the next round and kept her
fans' hopes alive but her right eye was closed and her left was cut and
badly swollen, so she was rapidly becoming a big defenseless target for
the Bolivian. Maria quickly got Jenny against the ropes at the
start of the sixth and continued to batter her face Jenny
was dropped for five and then nine by brutal uppercuts, then the
referee intervened to hand her a standing eight late in the round.
Right after that, Maria jumped forward to deck Jenny with a huge
right hook to her damaged left eye, and that persuaded the
Canadian to stay on the canvas as the count reached ten.
Val: Jenny's been struggling to break into the top ranks at middleweight, so this loss to Maria is a big setback for her, Devon. Jenny's often struggled late in her fights but Balio's gotta be pleased by Maria's performance this time! Another statement got made by BJ Fulton this week, too!
Devon:
Yeah, BJ went up against Spanish welterweight star Sandra Perez, who's
a couple of inches taller and twelve pounds heavier, and looked like
she might blow BJ outta the ring as they were getting their
instructions from the referee! But right in the first round BJ
showed that her speed and energy might be a problem for the bigger
girl, who went down from an overhand right just before the bell and
looked stunned as she got up from an eight count on the canvas.
Sandra rallied in the second round and had BJ in trouble in a
corner, but the Kentucky girl outboxed Sandra in the third and then
decked her twice in the fourth. At the end of that round Sandra was
badly cut under her left eye and obviously having trouble with BJ's
quickness BJ kept the pressure on Sandra the rest of the way and
was dominating the fight going into the seventh. Sandra had to
plead with the officials to let her continue as her battered left eye
was now closed, and she made a good start to the seventh, standing and
trading with the smaller fighter. The wheels came off when Sandra
missed with a roundhouse right and BJ flattened her with a great
counter left that put the Spanish girl down for seven. Sandra was
reeling after this knockdown and BJ piled into her, knocking her down
for another six with a straight left before she ended the fight with a
brutal uppercut to the bigger girl's jaw. 
Devon: Laura's
coming off a five-fight losing streak so she really needed a win to
boost her confidence again. She's been boxing in the WEBA for five
years but has never won a title and had an 18-32-8 record coming into
this fight. Heidi Wulf started in the 2006/07 season and got off
to a good start with six wins in her first seven fights, but she's
struggled ever since and was also on a five fight losing streak coming
into
this match. Worse yet, she's never beaten Laura Chartrand and has
been KO'd by her every time they've met! So I gotta think Heidi's
a glutton for punishment when it comes to the French girl, who's been
very consistent in her fights with the German. No wonder Laura looked
confident in the early going as she controlled the first
two rounds, but Heidi threw a scare into her in the third and fourth
when she was able to back Laura into the rpes and do some damage there.
Laura ended the fourth with a nasty cut over her right eye and it was
Heidi who was starting to look confident. Laura changed all that when
she caught Heidi with a big uppercut near the end of the fifth and then
beat her bloody in the sixth. Heidi was in huge trouble with blood
pouring from a cut over her right eye and also trickling from her
mouth, but she begged to be allowed to go on and the officials let the
fight continue. The eighth round was a disaster for Heidi as Laura
dished out tremendous punishment on the way to the KO that finally
ended it. When you see Laura fight Heidi, you wonder why she's
had so much trouble in WEBA, Val!
Val: The
junior lightweight tourney's gonna get very interesting now. For
one thing, the red hot Brazilian Carmen Santos is going to have to
fight in this tourney as she wasn't able to hang on to the WEBA title
against Tulia Minez, and now she's going into it sporting a three-fight
losing streak after dropping a close decision to the ever-dangerous
Rikku Hui. Santos was a big surprise in her first
season but she's gone 0-3 since we came back and she;ll be facing a hot
new prospect in Heather Corrigan's sidekick Jane McGowan.
McGowan won her first fight by a KO and easily won a decision
over Canadian Taylor Reynolds this time, so she's off to a good start
and of course she has Corrigan's training experience behind her.
Santos
vs. McGowan could be a very interesting test for both fighters, and the
other tournament semifinal will be an interesting rematch as
Albuquerque's Katelyn Kennedy goes against Marisol Kari's Polish import
Lilka Nowak. Lilka's established herself as a powerhouse at
Wu's, but she hasn't been quite as impressive in her regular WEBA
fights, and Katelyn has two wins and a draw with her, Last time
they met, Katelyn knocked Lilka out in the sixth, so you have to figure
that Katelyn may be the favorite to win this tournament. She's also
never lost to Carmen Santos. It could get very interesting if McGowan
beats Santos and goes on to face Kennedy, Devon!
Val: Diana
Rancier from Trinidad and Tobago easily defeated AIko Miyakawa from
Japan to earn one berth in the final of the junior bantamweight
tourney. Rancier's stayed kinda under our radar since she
joined WEBA as a bantamweight, but she showed excellent boxing skills
in this fight and has obviously been well trained at the Bulldog Gym in
Port Au Prince. Diana was never really in trouble in this fight
but she put Aiko on the canvas twice and also got a standing eight
count in her favor. She'll be taking a 4-3-3 record into the
tournament final now against an undefeated newbie in British Bombshell
Penny Holt, who's 2-0-1 after getting a hard-fought points win over San
Francisco's Anika Hu this week. Holt versus Hu was a lot closer than
Rancier versus Miyakawa, as Anika Hu showed good hand speed and boxing skills
against Penny in the early going, and looked confident half way through
the fight. Penny dug in and evened things up in the fifth, sixth
and seventh after stunning Anika with some quick combinations in the
fifth that earner her a standing eight count. Penny appeared to be
controlling the late action but Anika scored a flash knockdown by
doubling up with her left in the final round. Penny looked relieved
to get the better of the final decision by a single point on every card.
Heather Corrigan looks happy at the press conference after Jane McGowan's shutout win over Taylor Reynolds.
Reporter: How do you feel about Jane's fight with Taylor, Heather?
Heather: Ir was a great fight for Jane from bell to bell, fellas. Jane totally outboxed a good opponent. She got a split lip, but Taylor was worn out and exhausted by the end of the fight and Jane was clearly the winner..
Reporter: Were there any moments that made you concerned. Jane?
Jane: Not really, I was never hurt, but I was hurting her as early as the second round and I had her where I wanted her after the fifth. She's a decent girl who fought me clean apart from an elbow in the third when I was starting to get to her, she fought well and took her loss well and I respect that.
Reporter: .You knocked out Paola Salazar, but not Taylor Reynolds. What made the difference?
Jane: I figured it would be hard to KO Taylor after
she got through the fifth, . She's got decent defense and she never left herself wide
open, and she's got a good chin. She's a better boxer than
Paola Salazar, I guess that made the difference
Reporter: How do you feel about your upcoming fight with Carmen Santos?
Jane:
She's just lost,
what, three straight? She's got to be wondering if she's
not as good as she thought she was, I hope that makes her
nervous. We'll see what she's got and whether I can take hjer
Reporter: Do you think Jane can beat a former WEBA champion in just her third fight, Heather?
Heather:
I'm looking forward to seeing her try, fellas! If Jane wins this fight, then I think the sky's the limit for her.
Reporter: How about your next fight, Heather?
Heather: I was hoping to get a shot at that loudmouth Dornan for her title, but Cyan busted her up good and she's sitting out, while Kusmagk's ready to fight anyone but me. She knows she'll lose when I get her in the ring with me, she's running from me like a bunny rabbit. I'd like to fight on the next card but the two I really want aren't available!
Devon Ling has a head ache, back ache, stomach ache and a hangover (she thinks). But none of them seem really related. Then again, a Frez interview is imminent.
Devon (moaning): Helloooo, Balio.
Balio (beaming): Hello, Miss Devon. I trust this evening is treating you as finely as the good person you are.
Devon: Yeah, yeah, Frez. Well done with Lozada in her fight against the ever dangerous Jenny Johnson.
Balio: Thank you, Miss Devon. It was a welcome victory. Miss Jenny is a big heavy fighter and it is always dangerous standing in there with her. We had a plan. And Miss Maria went right for it, securing a win.
Devon: Maria looked plenty puffed up around both her eyes afterwards though. Is she okay?
Maria (strolls in removing her sunglasses): I'll live, Devon. But Jenny sure has a whack and I'm feeling it now post fight. It took every ounce of my will and effort to put her down and out. A big target sure, but a tough obstacle to overcome.
Balio: An immovable object, Miss Maria.
Devon: Well you sure don't wanna feud with her ever. She takes no prisoners.
Maria: It's a hard division, Devon. No guarantees at all, once you're in the ring. (smiling) Makes it interesting though.
Devon: I had one interest, Maria, and one interest only. To end it quick and get out of there.
Balio (chiming in): You had that almost perfected as your trademark, Miss Devon.
Devon (smiling at last): Something you could never do, Frez.
Maria (sunnies back on): Well I gotta rest now. (laughing) And get myself readied up for some further punishment.
Balio: Relax yourself well, Miss Maria. As gran'mama would say "the unwound mountain lion springs intensely on its prey."
Devon (moaning): How'd we get back into your jungle fantasy, Frez? At times I'd just like to ...
Balio (roaring): C'mon Miss Devon. Time for you to put on your large feeding bag.
Devon (purple): Wha ...