23 November 2008
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val
Henning
"Jane's going to be a bigger star than me",
says Heether
"Git yer gloves up", says Diedre
WEBA Roundup with Devon Ling and Val Henning
Devon and Val meet at the WEBA Towers after Devon's encounter with Diedre Dornan in Chicago.
Val: Wow your face is a mess, hon. Did Diedre break your nose? Last week it was just the WEBA boxers who got laid up, this time it looks like it was your turn! What happened to all that training you were doin' with me?
Devon: Being in shape didn't do me much good against a bruiser like Diedre, I may have to quit doing "interviews" if I'm going to get beaten up while doing them! First Kusmagk decked me, now it's Dornan, and in Chicago, yet ... you get to stay here in the sunshine and warm while I go to Obamaland to get my nose smashed and my innards pulped. .
Val: Well a lot of California tried to burn down while you were gone, hon, so it's been rough everywhere. But what about the official fights this week? Two new world champs! Let's start with the middleweights, wasn't that a big upset?
Devon: Yes, Mikee The Mauler Mulroney had begun to look
unstoppable
as our world
champ! She was on an eight fight winning tear
since her
loss to Telisha Cooper,
and seven of those were by KO including one KO of her challenger,
WEBA champ
Sharon "Smashmouth" Brown. Sharon's been knocking jer
opponents out, too,
though
and her
only bad results in a twenty-fight run since
early 2007.were
two KO losses to Mikee and one on points to Maria
Lozada. So Mulroney vs Brown shaped up to be the
best
big-girl fight in WEBA, and
this time it was a scorcher. Both boxers came out
swinging right away though not a lot of the leather landed in the
first
round. Mikee started the second round strong but
Sharon backed her up with several fierce flurries and they
went to
war
against the ropes. Both got angry in hot
and heavy action in the third, with
elbows and head butts at close quarters, this was a brawl with neither
holding back at all. Sharon was getting the better
of the fourth round and she even started to taunt Mikee by the
middle of the round, but Mikee put a stop to that when she dropped
Sharon for a short count with a body shot. The rest of
the fourth was all Mikee trying to knock Sharon out and end the fight
right there!
Sharon
was badly cut over her left eye and barely survived
the round. With the ring doctor and the referee in Sharon's
corner
between the
rounds it was crunch time for the challenger. Mikee came
out trying to hammer Sharon's face some more,
but neglected her own defense and left herself open
for several ferocious uppercuts from the USMC
boxer. Mikee went down for a seven count after eating one of
those
uppercuts and now it was Sharon's turn to try to put Mikee away! Both
boxers were now bleeding heavily from cuts over their eyes so it was
obvious the
fight coudn't last much longer, Late in the fifth Mikee was cowering
against the ropes when Sharon finally found the
opening to knock her out - and became
the
new world champion!
Val: There'll be a mandatory rematch and I figure that will be another total war, anybody's fight to win. These two have awesome power when they get into bombs away battling which does not take them long, but they're both sidelined for one card after this fight so it'll be another week before they can get it on again. How about the world featherweight title fight?
Devon: It
was veteran "Carolina Cutie" Jordan Strongarm trying to
hold
off a red hot challenger in Raquel "Rocky" Rivera. Inside
this
weight division, Raquel's got a great record
- her
only recent losses in the division have all been to
Jordan sp this was another "top two" battle on paper but it turned
one-sided as
Raquel got the upper hand early and Jordan couldn't get back into it.
Raquel got increasingly
cocky and dominant as she outworked Jordan through the
middle
rounds while Jordan veganb to crumble under the Arizonan's
relentless attack. The
wheels amost came off for Jordan in the eighth when Raquel put
her on the canvas twice for short counts and then hammered her
around the ring
the rest of the way. Jordan was able to slow things down and
right her ship a little in the ninth and tenth, so a late round
comeback
by the reigning champ might have been in the cards, but Raquel
squelched that with a big
flurry against the ropes in the eleventh. Jordan went back to
her
corner barely able to see, both of her eyes were closing up
from the
swelling produced by Raquel's barrage of punches. Even in a
world title fight, it was more damage than the officials could let
Jordan
take so the fight was stopped with the battered Cutie sitting
on her
corner
stool, obviously upset,
Val: Sometimes a fight that could gave been closer gets out of hand and then falls apart in a big way for one boxer and that's what happened to Jordan this time. I wouldn't count her out of the championship ring yet because this one fight got so one-sided. Mónica Rodriguez is the other top contender in this group, of course, and we may see Fiona Black or Cathy Simmons try to give them a run for their money soon so Raque; Rivera could have her hands full after this big win and Jordan's still right in the hunt if ya ask me. How 'bout the other titles?
Devon:
Canada's
Karen "Kickass" Kelly got into a slugfest with
Ireland's
Hannah "Hot
Stuff" Riley for
Karen's junior middleweight title. They're both KO artists
who
love to mix it up, and Hannah started out well, putting Karen down with
an overhand right to her nose in the first round. Karen looked shaken
up after taking a short count but she was able to stay out of any more
big trouble until the bell/ Hannah also had Karen in
trouble
against the ropes at the start of the second but the Canadian started
to dig in and fight back in the middle of the round. Hannah
ended
with a good flurry that left Karen wobbly at the bell. Hannah
tried to put the fight away at the start of the third, and put Karen
down twice with vicious lefts, so I figured she was going
to pull off the upset, but Karen had other ideas, kept plugging away
and
had Hannah in trouble against the ropes later in the round.
When
a big uppercut put Hannah down for five it was clear we had a
barn
burner under way! By the end of the round Hannah was bleeding
badly over her right eye and the doc was called to her corner
to
check her over. Karen's killer instinct showed as she kept
huge
pressure on Hannah for the rest of the fight and overwhelmed
the Irish fighter with a mix of head and body shots in the fifth,
knocking Hannah down several times before the final KO. This was an
impressive win for Karen Kelly after a shaky start against the capable
irish fighter.
Val: The middleweights are a strong group, lots of them have KO power in both fists so we see some great fights with tons of action. Karen Kelly may have her eyes on the WEBA title soon. Hannah had Karen's number when Hannah first joined the WEBA but the rugged Canadian seems to be putting her fights together better these days. It took Sharon Brown a good while to do that, so perhaps Karen's the next one who'll make a big move in this division. How about the junor bantamweight rematch?
Devon:
We have a rivalry building
up in this group between "British Bombshell" Penny Holt from London,
England and Diana "Pearl" Rancier from the Bulldog
Gym in Trinidad. The flashy Penny's still unbeaten in the
WEBA
and is the reigning junior bantamweight champ after just five fights,
but Diana already had a close loss and a draw with her coming into this
title
rematch. Ten rounds of action is a tough test for a newbie boxer, and
Penny and Diana
sure didn't make it easy on each other, as they went at it hard from
the
opening bell. Diana caught Penny with a combination that
opened a
cut over Penny's left eye right away and she made that a target for the
rest of the fight. Penny got a little rattled as Diana's punches kept
finding the target and the British boxer showed a sharp-elbowed style
as well as some skills as she tried to keep Diana in check early. By
the end of
the fourth Penny appeared to be outworking Diana to build a points lead
but she was getting breathless and Diana began to turn
the
tide in the seventh, working on Penny with body shots to open
the
way for more shots to the gash over Penny's eye. Penny still seemed
confident but after a strong eighth and ninth round by Diana the fight
was getting close on the scorecards. The challenger came
out strong to start the tenth, and began to knock Penny
about,with
a mix of head and body shots. For a while it looked like
Diana
might be about to hand Penny her first WEBA loss, but the
Bombshell stunned the Trinidad
girl with a head butt late in the round and then dropped her to her
knees with a vicious one-two to the body. Rancier showed her
toughness by getting up quickly and she was ready for more as
the
final bell sounded, and it went to the scorecards. The judges
were totally split, one calling it for Diana, one for Penny, and one a
draw. so Penny kept the junior title belt but she knows she has
Diana chewing at her heels in this bantamweight race!
Val: All three of their fights have been close and there's no love lost between them, so I think we can expect more fireworks to come as they both gain more experience.
Devon: individual rivalries like this always add some edge to WEBA action! What stood out for you on the undercard, Val?
Val: There
was another hard fought middleweight battle this week between Canada's
Jenny Johnson and Bolivia's Maria Lozada, who've been trading fights
back and forth for a while now. Balio Frez's big girl started well and
tried to take the fight to the tall Canadian but Jenny caught
her
in a corner late in the opening round and opened up with a string of
lefts and rights that put Maria on her knees, barely beating a ten
count right at the bell. The referee called the doctor to
Maria's
corner to look her over before letting the fight continue, and Jenny
looked confident as she began to hammer Maria on the ropes again early
in the second. Maria was in trouble but she eventually fought her way
off the ropes and turned the tables on Jenny with a big flurry of body
shots that hurt the Canadian. Jenny got mad and was banging Maria
around in a corner at the bell with the crowd excited and urging them
both on. Jenny got the better of toe to toe action in the third and
fourth despite getting a bloody mouth as she continued to catch Maria
against the ropes and work her over with rugged combinations to the
body. The body attack backfired on Jenny late in the fourth when she
hurt her left
hand throwing a hook to Maria's ribs, With Jenny's firepower reduced by
the injury to her hand, Maria was able to get the better of the action
and and continue to batter Jenny's damaged mouth. Jenny's notorious for
giving up early leads in her fights and Maria looked dangerous
going into the late rounds with Jenny hurt and badly cut over
her eye. The Bolivian pulled out all the stops in the final round and
knocked the Canadian down three times, coming close to a KO like she
had ended their last two fights, but this time Jenny hung on and sent
it to the scorecards, where her early lead just held up
in the eyes of all three judges.
Devon: It was a narrow escape for Jenny Johnson, though ... and almost a KO for Maria at the end. If there's a tournament for the open WEBA title soon we might see another rematch of this thriller! How about the newbies, Val? What's going on there?
Val: We
saw a slam-bang battle between two newbie lightweights ... Heather Corrigan's protege Jolting Jane McGowan from
Miami, Florida and Rockin' Rachel Todd from Barry
McGee's Western
Fight Palace in Perth, Australia. There was plenty of jolting
and
rocking in this slugfest as Rachel came out fired up and
hammered Jane against the ropes early in the first round but Jane
stormed back to return the favor later.
Both went to their corners bloody-mouthed and angry
with the
fans cheering them on at round's end. And that was just a sample of
what was to come as they beat each other bloody in the second and the
third. Jane got the better of it late in the third with Rachel
trapped in a corner and the doctor was called to
Rachel's corner between the rounds. Jane got the upper hand
early
in the fourth and trapped Rachel in a corner again, where the
referee
called a standing eight count on the Aussie, but Rachel came
out of the
standing count firing with both fists to extract payback from the
American. Both went to their corners battered and bloody with
the
crowd giving them a standing ovation. The action
cooled down in the fifth but McGiowan continued to land to
Todd's
mouth, wearing the Aussie girl down. At the start of the
sixth Jane continued to work on Rachel's battered mouth. and
drove Rachel into a corner yet again. A huge three-punch
combination dropped Rachel for five, then again
for seven
before Jane finally delivered the coup de grace with a swinging right.
Rachel almost made it back to her
feet at the five count but her legs
wouldn't do her bidding any more and she pitched face down on the
canvas for the
knockout.
Devon: They're both shaping up to be knock 'em out or be knocked out brawlers, Val! Jane got the win this time but Rachel Todd showed she's no pushover and did her share of damage before it was over. Both went to the infirmary and will be sitting out the next card! How about the other newbie action?
Val: Billy-Jo
Fulton's bantamweight protege Lisa "Lightning" Jackson finally got her
first WEBA win with a hard-fought decision over fellow newbie Anika
"Fists of Steel" Hu from San Francisco. Anika had won her debut against
India's Manju Devi, but had then dropped three straight fights
by decision
while Lisa had a five-fight string of close losses or draws before
finally eking out this win. Penny Holt and Diana
Rancier have emerged as the front-runners in the bantamweight
group, but Lisa and Anika put on a good show in this battle,
particularly in a hard fought action packed first round where both
worked the body in an attempt to wear the other down. This
strategy may have worked for both of them as neither was able to mount
the same level of offense again until the fifth, another round that
went back and forth with Lisa throwing in a little dirty work during
their infighting. Both boxers went to their corners shaken up
after the fifth as they had gone toe to toe and Anika was now bleeding
from her nose as well as a cut under her right eye while Lisa had a
split lip. The ring doctor checked Anika over before letting her
continue and she seemed to fade late in the final round
despite beating Lisa to the punch earlier in the session. It
went to the scorecards, where Lisa had finally earned her first WEBA
win, though only by a narrow margin.
Devon: Both Lisa and Anika are still trying to hit their stride in our ring, Val, and it's going to be up to their trainers to figure out the way to bring them along to contender status against Penny and Diana!
Val: Yes some WEBA boxers do great right from the start and others mature a little later as they gain experience. It can take a while to produce a good all-rounder in this league!
"Jane's
going to be a bigger star than me",
says Heather
Heather Corrigan and Jane McGowan are together in Miami at the press conference after Jane's KO win over Rachel Todd. The reporters are eager to talk to the young lightweight after her impressive win over the Australian.
Reporter: How does it feel to get your second KO win, Jane?
Jane: Rachel Todd gave me a good fight and a big fat bloody lip, so it felt good to knock her out. Heather told me it was like one of her fights!
Reporter: Are you happy with Jane's performance so far, Heather?
Heather: She's doing great, but she needs to be patient, and to work on her defense more.
Reporter: Isn''t that what your Dad used to say about you, Heather?
Heather: It
sounds familiar, but Jane has shown she can hang tough like me, now I'd
like her to fight smart as well. She just needs more
experience
and gym time and then she'll be fine. She'll be carrying on
the
Corrigan tradition soon.
Reporter: How about you, Heather?
You challenged Diedre Dornan to a title rematch, but that
hasn't happened yet.
Heather: I want to fight Dornan again because I know i can beat her. I should have had the decision last time. She wanted me to fight her in Pattaya but she fights dirty so I want a referee to keep her in check. I can beat her in a fair fight, I know I can. I also want Kusmagk and I want to see Jane win the junior lightweight title. Then I might be ready to focus on training Jane. She loves to fight and I am looking forward to taking Jane to the top.
Reporter: Jane, do you think you can beat Katelyn Kennedy?
Jane: Maybe not yet, but I'm going to train for her, and for Carmen Santos as well. I had Santos in trouble and I know I was close to winning that fight. With Heather coaching me I am sure I can get the junior title one day. After that I'll go for Carla Ramirez and I'll try to make Heather and her Dad proud.
Reporter: That's aiming high, Jane.
Heather: Where else would she aim? Jane's going to be a bigger star than me before she's done!
"Git
yer gloves up",
says Diedre
Devon Ling comes into the Windy City Gym on a cold November day, expecting to interview Dangerous Diedre Dornan. Devon's chilled and she shivers as she reaches the ring where Diedre is doing a focus mitt drill with trainer Tony. The champion sees Devon and grins.
Diedre: Hey Tony the Chink chick's here again.
Tony: Yeah, she called. She wants to talk to ya.
Diedre: Screw her, I gotta get ready for my next title fight.
Devon (annoyed): Hey, I came all the way from California to talk to you!
Diedre: Ya wanna talk to me, git in here with gloves on. Show me what ya got first. Ya look cold, I'll warm ya up, China doll.
Devon (flustered): I wasn't expecting ... I'm not ....
Diedre: Ya used to be a world champ, didn't ya?
Devon (beaming): Yeah, I used to be ...
Diedre: You got a sport bra on under that top?
Devon: Uh, yeah ...
Diedre: So git yourself trunks and gloves from the back room. I'm fighting the world champ soon. Show me something I don't know about that, doll, then we can talk.
Devon comes back wearing her sport bra, shiny white shorts and boots, and an old pair of boxing gloves. Diedre licks her lips and watches as Devon starts to dance and throw punches to warm up.
Diedre: OK China doll, that's enough, ya ready to fight? Git yer gloves up and show me what ya got!
Devon nods and they start to spar. Devon flicks jabs and dances while Diedre crouches, plants her feet and throws bombs. Devon lands quick jab and right hook combinations. Diedre misses with a haymaker right then curses as Devon jabs at her and steps away, making her miss again. Diedre goes under Devon's next jab with a smashing right that flattens Devon's boob. Devon drops her left and Diedre smashes a right to her nose then drives her back with a swinging left and a right to her gut! Devon tries to cover up but an uppercut bloodies her nose and knocks her into the ropes. Diedre lands a left and right low into Devon's shorts and Devon doubles over into an uppercut that makes blood squirt from her nose onto the white trunks. Diedre knocks the reporter's mouthguard out, then hammers a one-two to her body. Devon drops to the canvas clutching her guts
Diedre: You're crap, girl! Ya got nuttin' to show me! Ya gonna get up?
Devon gets up slowly, jaw slack and blood dripping from her nose.
Devon: That hurt, bitch!
Deidre: That's tough, doll, so git yer gloves up before I hit ya again.
Devon: I need my mouthguard.
Tony puts Devon's mouthguard back in but Diedre drives a straight right into her nose, splashing more blood down her shorts. Devon starts to fold as Diedre bangs another one-two into her white shorts. Devon drops to her knees and waves her gloves limply. She's had enough!
Diedre: That eggbeater's what I'm gonna chop the Russian with, doll. I'm gonna hack her to bits.
Devon (gasping): Egg ... beater?
Diedre: You're gonna hurt all the way to your ovaries for days, doll. Nobody wants more after I git that shot into their guts. Got any questions, doll?
Devon (grim): Yeah I got a question.
Diedre: Whassat, doll?
Devon: What breed of dog was your mutha?
Diedre throws a haymaker to Devon's jaw, knocking the Chinese out cold on the dirty, blood-spattered canvas.
Diedre: Git this slant-eyed trash outta my ring! That's all the interview she needs.