The Lady is a Fighter: Leatitia Robinson captures IWBF middleweight crown

by Ron DiMichele

16.12 - Don't like women's boxing? Fine. Just don't mention it to newly-crowned International Women's Boxing Federation (IWBF) Middleweight Champion Leatitia "Baby Girl" Robinson or you may get carried out on a stretcher. This girl can fight.

Leatitia Robinson, 158 lbs (9-0-0, 8 KO's) of Chicago, IL, won the vacant title Saturday night, Dec. 14th over durable Dakota Stone, 159 1/2 lbs (5-3-3, 0 KO's) of Auburn, WA with a dramatic 6th round TKO. The bout headlined a robust boxing card presented by Pendarvis Boxing Promotions at the Dorchester (MA) National Guard Armory.

Robinson entered the ring confident and focussed dancing in a wide circle along the ropes and cutting between Dakota Stone and her handlers as she passed by Stone's corner. Stone appeared unruffled by Robinson's display of bravado looking poised and ready for the championship tilt.

The first several rounds were feeling-out affairs. Robinson cautiously tried to establish her jab and Stone threw occasional exploratory hooks to the body. In the fourth, Stone pinned Robinson in a corner and fired off several shots before Robinson expertly spun herself out of harm's way and returned the favor to her opponent. On the strength of her jab, Leatitia Robinson had the edge in the early going.

In the fifth round, Dakota Stone got through with a nice right hand to the head of Robinson, but Robinson began to work Stone's body and connect more consistently with her jab. As the round ended, she landed her own right hand to Stone's face.

Dakota Stone began the sixth with a right hand to the face of Robinson, but the tide of the battle would soon turn. Moments after Stone's right hand connected, Robinson caught Stone with a swift, thudding left hook to the jaw, dropping Stone to the canvas for the first time in her career. Stone lay motionless for a couple of seconds before slowly rising to her feet. The bout continued with Stone attempting a counterattack, but "Baby Girl" backed her into the ropes and quickly closed the deal. Unleashing a flashing array of rights and lefts to Stone's head and jaw, she soon had Stone out on her feet and gave the referee no choice but to wave an end to the proceedings. Robinson's corner flew into the ring and pounced on the new champion in jubilation.

With a spirited crowd gathered around her clamoring for a bout with Laila Ali, Leatitia Robinson calmly answered questions after the fight. She said she was very happy to have won the title and felt she had "made history" with her victory. When asked about her strategy entering the bout, she smiled and said, "I just wanted to have fun." She deferred future career decisions to her handlers.

In the evening's co-feature, former Romanian olympian, light-heavyweight Adrian Diaconu, 169 lbs, (9-0-0, 4 KO's) now fighting out of Montreal, Canada, won a unanimous decision over Boston's Sean Creegan, 170 lbs, (14-2-2, 2 KO's). Diaconu handled the hard-charging but overmatched Creegan with clever, polished ring movement and smooth combinations. One could not help but admire Sean Creegan's ability to absorb punishment and continue pushing forward. With 4 knockouts in his 9 professional fights, the jury is still out on Diaconu's punching power, but he can't be faulted for going the distance with the stone-jawed Creegan.

The evening's other action consisted of four-round bouts:

In a women's featherweight bout, highly-talented 5-time Canadian women's amateur champion Danielle Bouchard, 124, (2-0-0, 1 KO) of Montreal, Canada won a split decision over game Trisha Lynn Hill, 123 1/2, (2-2-0, 1 KO) of Atlanta, GA.

Middleweight Martin Thornton, 162, (4-0-0, 1 KO) of South Boston, MA (Galway, Ireland) won a majority decision over Keith Sonley, 160, (3-6-4, 1 KO) of St. John's, Canada.

Light-Heavyweight Tommy Fitzgerald, 175 lbs (2-0-0, 1 KO) of Dorchestor, MA (Cork, Ireland) decisioned Jerald Lowe, 174, (3-6-0, 2 KO's) of Atlanta, GA.

Heavyweight Mike Beverly, 255 lbs, (1-0, 1 KO) of Jamaica Plain, MA TKO'd Anthony Debardelabin, 210 lbs, (1-3-0, 0 KO's) of Indianapolis, IN in the second round of Beverly's professional debut.

Junior welterweight Wayland Willingham 145 1/2 lbs, (2-0, 2 KO's) of Albany, NY survived a first-round knockdown to TKO Michael Bernal, 143 lbs, (0-1, 0 KO's) of Dorchestor, MA in the fourth round of Bernal's professional debut.

A capacity crowd filled the small venue and clearly enjoyed the night's action. The evening's line-up
struck a nice balance between exciting up-and-coming talent and local professional debuts. Pendarvis Boxing Promotions is planning another boxing card for March, 2003.