Weekend update: Mariana
Juarez, Mia St. John. Laila Ali and others
By David A. Avila
(FEB 13) Mariana Juarez sparred with Heather
Percival over the weekend.
Juarez, the IFBA junior bantamweight title-holder from Mexico City, is
gearing up for her main event on Feb. 25, 2005 at the Rio Hondo Country Club
in Downey, California. Tickets are almost gone. For information call (323)
270-6810
“I’m excited about this fight because I get a chance to fight here in
California,” said Juarez, who now lives and trains in El Monte. “Now my
friends get to come and see me fight.”
Juarez brings a nonstop style of fighting mixed with excellent defensive
skills that have caused a lot of notice for the lithe fireball of a fighter.
She’ll be facing Teri Cruz of Colorado.
“Mariana is my favorite fighter,” said Mia St. John, who often spars with
Juarez despite the 20-pound difference. “She’s so strong and she never backs
up.”
Speaking of Mia, the brunette fighter known as “the Knockout” suffered a
severe cut to her left eye during her fight against Jessica Rakoczy last
Thursday.
A clash of heads between the two lightweights opened a cut below her eyebrow
right over the eye. Blood was dripping into her eye and that’s not good when
you’re facing one of the best fighters in the world Pound for Pound.
Though the ringside physician allowed the fight to continue after the second
round ended, St. John’s corner person and former lightweight stalwart Fredia
Gibbs told her friend not to go out again.
“Fredia was looking out for me. She told me the cut was too bad,” said St.
John, who says Gibbs is her best friend. “I trust Fredia to watch out for me
and she did. It’s always good to have someone in your corner who doesn’t
care about the money, someone you can trust.”
A visit to a doctor in Northern California resulted in 27 stitches and a
startling revelation.
“The doctor told me if I had been hit more on that cut I would have been
coming in for surgery, not just stitches,” St. John said. “She said the cut
was clear down to the muscle and could have permanently damaged my eye.”
St. John shudders at the thought that her eyesight was endangered, but she
still wants to fight.
“I plan to come back next month,” she said. “If the doctors says it’s OK,
then I’ll fight. But if they say it’s not healed I’ll postpone it.”
Thinking back on the fight with Rakoczy, St. John is grateful Gibbs
convinced her to stop the fight.
“People think it was the ringside doctor who stopped the fight. But it was
really Fredia who stopped the fight,” St. John said. “Can you imagine if I
had gone back out against Jessica? She is so accurate with her punches I
really believe my eye would have been much worse.”
And about the fight in general, St. John said, “Jessica Rakoczy is the best
fighter in the world.”
Ali
Down in Atlanta, Laila Ali pounded on Cassandra Geigger for nine rounds
before finally forcing the Arkansas prizefighter to capitulate.
Ali dispensed with her jab and speed while concentrating on power shots. It
was a heavy toll for the light heavyweight title-holder who looked like she
emptied the entire arsenal in the last two rounds.
After the fight, Ali hugged Geigger, that was good to see. The Los
Angeles-based fighter showed a lot of class with her post-fight appreciation
of Geigger’s toughness. Though it was a one-sided affair, Ali would have
destroyed most any other fighter in the first three rounds.
And if you saw the first fight on the Atlanta fight card, you would have
seen Leatitia Robinson drop Monica Nunez with the first left hook she
landed. It was right on the button and left the Dominican fighter immobile.
Robinson facing Ali will be the fight of the year.
Now it looks like there are two real challenges for Ali with Robinson, and
of course, Ann Wolfe.
Wolfe’s team sent me a reply on Friday that they did offer a sizeable amount
to fight Ali and Ali’s team said they also offered a sizeable amount to
fight Wolfe. Maybe an arbitrator is needed for the negotiations. It’s a
fight that has to be made.
Chevelle Hallback
Lucia Rijker’s commentary on the Ali fight was very interesting. Especially
the remarks that Ali is afraid.
Seems to me there is a fighter named Sumya Anani who’s been chasing Rijker
for a number of years. Rijker said in the past that Anani is from another
generation, but both are in their 30s. And if she doesn’t want Anani, how
about Chevelle Hallback?
Hallback lost her pro debut to Rijker. In that fight, Hallback was told that
she was fighting another novice so she took the fight unaware that it was
Rijker, a legendary kickboxing world champion and one of the best boxers in
the world. Though she did her best, Hallback was stopped by Rijker.
Since then, Hallback, the IBA junior lightweight world champion, has also
become one of the top prizefighters in the world. She wants another crack at
Rijker and she also wants a shot at Anani and for good measure a match with
Rakoczy.
“I’d love to fight Lucia Rijker again,” said Hallback by telephone on
Friday. “It would be a different outcome this time.”
Hallback is back in Florida after a brief stint in Southern California. She
expects to fight in March on a Florida fight card.
“If Lucia doesn’t want to fight I’d love to fight Sumya Anani,” Hallback
said. “I’d also like a match with Rakoczy, but for the title. Not some
8-round fight.”
Top amateurs
Elizabeth Quevedo the top welterweight amateur in the U.S., was told she
would not be fighting in the regionals next week in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“They (USA Boxing officials) told me my opponent dropped out,” said Quevedo
while sparring at the Maywood Boxing gym. “I’m going to be going to
Colorado.”
The USA finals will be held in Colorado and then a select team will be going
to Argentina.
Another female fighter skipping Las Vegas is Riverside, California’s
Kaliesha West, a junior bantamweight.
Her expected opponent was to be Heather Donoho.
“We heard Heather turned pro, “ said West who will proceed to the finals in
Colorado. “I really wanted to fight her.”
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