Hear anything about Lucia Rijker lately? Here’s
another one: anything especially new with Christy Martin these
days?
The answer, of course, on both counts, is no.
Two or three years ago, that was enough to shake women’s boxing
to its tenuous roots. It was their mega match, long rumored but
never realized,
that was instantly going to generate a million pay-per-view buys,
elevating women’s boxing to heretofore untold levels of money,
media and Mia mania.
Women’s boxing, like its male alter ego, is littered with
unfulfilled matchups that tantalize, tease and tempt, but
ultimately wind up as nothing more than internet boxing board
filler.
Fact is, there is no one major mega fight out there right now,
even Rijker v. Martin. Sure, it would garner lots of attention,
and casual fight fans would at least show some interest. But
Rijker has been as inactive as Al Gore since his presidential
loss. And since Coal Miner’s Daughter has gotten a little
hackneyed, may we suggest "Stealth" as Martin’s new
ring moniker.
After all, she’s barely on the women’s boxing radar screen.
A funny thing happened on the way to the sport’s grand slam
fight. It didn’t happen, but thankfully a bunch of relatively
anonymous ladies have at least lately been showing the boxing
world the best of what the sport has to offer.
Name Gloria Ramierz ring a bell? How about Susan Howard? Anyone
jumping on the Sherry Huchber bandwagon? Promoters beating down
the door of Amy Burton for their next PPV extravaganza? Of course
not. But these are the names that have been paraded in front of
the American boxing public in the last couple of months. And
frankly, they have been just splendid for the sport, thank you
very much.
Both Fox Sports and ESPN have shown a number of undercard women’s
fights in recent weeks. Blessedly absent have been famous
daughters and neophyte nobody’s who barely know boxing wraps
from sandwich wraps. No one in the public was out there clamoring
for a look at these little known fighters.
No one was confusing these ladies with the sport’s
"elite". No one was even making the argument that any of
these ladies were among the most skilled or polished in their
weight class, much less their sport.
What they did was bring impressive heart, effort and excitement to
the boxing shows that the men’s fights often lack. What they did
was show the boxing public at large the sport is growing, that
entertaining, competitive women’s boxing comes in many sizes,
shapes and names. It is, to be sure, a manifestation of many
things: more women spending more time in the sport, the growth of
women’s amateur boxing, and trainers, manager and promoters
becoming more generally receptive to the very notion of women in
the sport at all. Best of all, the cable networks have seemingly
come to realize fans can and in fact do appreciate and applaud the
kind of bouts these women have provided.
Sure, embrace the mega events, the mega bouts, when they
occasionally come along. But don’t let it overshadow the best
route to a greater and more
widespread acceptance of women’s boxing as a whole. In other
words, to use a sports analogy: slow and steady wins the race.
Collectively, the sport has wasted a lot of time worrying about
when Martin and Rijker will get it on. Lately, these comparatively
obscure boxers, who
undoubtedly have put in as much time and effort and made every bit
as much of a sacrifice as any of the big money fighters, have
hopefully taught us an
important lesson. Maybe, just maybe, it’s the best way to build
the sport. One bout, one boxer, at a time.
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