Ali vs. Martin predictions plus my thoughts on Woman's Boxing

by Jim "Boxadamus" De Pierro

23.08 - The dog days of summer have certainly brought along a drought in quality boxing matches of late which is why I haven't written a column in quite some time. I was going to write a column last week on the Marquez-Gainer fight but when that fight fell apart I was only left with Johnson-Montiel as a fight. I don't think anybody needed me to tell them that Juan Manuel Marquez would easily beat a last minute substitute. Fernando Montiel, in my opinion, is a joke. Too Sharp totaly exposed him. Montiel had the look of a scared fighter. There was one point I think it was in the third round where Johnson was getting ready to load up on a punch that he never threw but Montiel had his face grimaceing as though he had already been hit. Total flinch. Contray to what a lot of people said I thought Johnson put up a spectacular performance. It was a dull fight (especially the early rounds) but technically it was a well executed gameplan by the former champ.

Laila Ali 15-0 (12 KOs) vs. Christy Martin 45-2-2 (30 KOs)

If you were to have asked me about a year ago who would win in a fight between Laila Ali and Christy Martin I would have been inclined towards towards the coalminers daughter emerging victorious despite being several weight classes below Ali. Christy Martin, I believe will be inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame someday not because she is an exceptional talent but rather because she is really the first woman boxer to put woman's boxing on the map. When I say Christy Martin is not an exceptional talent I don't mean that disrespectfuly but only that the best female fighters in the world don't even come close to the skill levels of fighters such as Muhamad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson who truly were exceptional talents. Maybe someday in the future a female talent with the skills of an Ali or Leonard will emerge.

I will admit that I haven't seen Christy Martin fight in several years but from all accounts that I have heard of her last fight with Mia St. John I think Martin is at the tail end of her career. Her inability to stop the queen of silicone inside the distance says to me that Martin is no longer the fighter she once was. I will try not to be to mean to Mia St. John because she comes off as a very likeable person in interviews and she does try her best every time out but she is a lousy boxer. Too often in St. John fights I feel that the judges are scoring a beauty pageant rather than a boxing match.

How Christy Martin, a full fledged welterweight, couldn't stop Mia St. John who is a natural lightweight and a very limited one at that is beyond me. Now I will concede that it is possible that Mia St. John might be tougher than I and many other people give her credit for. St. John did go the distance with the highly rated Jennifer Alcorn a short while ago. I strongly suspect that Martin may have carried St. John as it was reported that Martin threw almost no headshots at Mia St. John. Now I am all for good body work but I find that odd given Christy Martin's go for the kill brawling type of fighting. It could also be that Martin may no longer have that killer instinct that she once had earlier in her career. Martin has only scored one KO in her last seven fights and only two KOs in the last three years. The prospect of Christy Martin stopping Ali inside the distance is a longshot at best given that Ali is used to taking punches from supermiddleweights. I feel pretty confident in that I think Laila Ali can take a good punch based on her fight with Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde can't box but boy can she fight. I saw her on the undercard of Holmes-Butterbean. I have never seen a women fighter with that was a pure slugger like her. If Frazier-Lyde didn't start so late in boxing she could have really made a name for herself in her own right even without the Frazier name. I don't think Martin could hit anywhere near as hard as Frazier's daughter who gave Laila Ali a very rough eight rounds.

Laila Ali in the last year or so particularly since her first fight with Valerie Mahfood has really developed in terms of skill. I don't like anybody living off their daddy's name but unlike some of the daughters particularly Freeda Foreman, Laila Ali has shown some potential. Ali in her last couple of fights has been making good use of jab to set up her power punches. I still think Laila Ali thus far with the exception of the Frazier fight has been paired with overmatched opponents who are a little smaller and older than her who really didn't have much of a chance of beating her. Christy Martin is no exception to this pattern.

The only female fighter out there that I know of that is close enough to Ali's weight to giver her a run for her money is Vonda Ward. I would make Ali a slight prohibitive favorite in a potential matchup with Ward but it would truly be an intriguing contest IMO. For those of you who don't know Vonda Ward is, she is an 18-0 (15 KOs) female heavyweight (her weight is anywhere from 185-195 lbs.) standing at 6'6" tall. I doubt Ali's handlers would put her in with Ward at this point as Ward is not distinguished enough in her own right for it to be worthwhile for Ali to take such a dangerous fight. If Laila Ali really wants a challenge to prove that she is the best female fighter on the planet bar none she should fight Vonda Ward. Ali would have to give up about 20 pounds and seven to eight inches in height to Ward but I think she could do it. Nobody ever said the path to greatness was easy.

Laila Ali at this point is a promising Super Middleweight and I think even an average super middleweight could more than likely beat the best welterweight in the world. I think Christy Martin will fight bravely but end up getting pulverized in a very one sided contest. I see Ali's jab taking a toll on Martin's face. Christy will get in a few good shots I suspect but it will be a welterweight hitting a super middleweight and ali should be able to take whatever Christy has got.

Laila Ali UD over Christy Martin

As a lifelong fan of boxing there are a couple of things that really bother me a about woman's boxing. It is not because I am chauvenistic male jerk and I can't bear the thought of two woman bashing there skulls in for my entertainment. That I have no problem with. I guess my number one peeve with woman's boxing is that the rounds are only two minutes. Two minute rounds cheat everyone. As a fan I am only getting two thirds of the action in each round that I would normally get if I were watching two men box. Two minute rounds are also detrimental to woman fighters in several ways. The women get one third less action so thus they won't be able to get as much experience as a male fighter from one fight making it harder for them to develop their skills. Two minute rounds also hurt female fighters marketability because lets face it the name of the game in boxing is to get KO victories on your record if you want to make big bucks. Its harder to get a KO if you have two minute every round instead of three. That's one reason why women fighters tend to not have to many KO's on their ledger.

My other complaint against woman's boxing is that to often their is a total lack of skill. That is not completely the fighters fault because their are only so many female fighters out there particularly in the higher weight divisions so I am sure its hard to find suitable sparring partners and opponents for aspiring female fighters to really improve their skills.

Just for the sake of discussion and to gauge readers interest I thought I would form my top 10 female p4p list. A lot of you reading this will probably see this as a joke but for those of you who follow female boxing and take it somewhat seriously I would appreciate some feedback on this list.

1. Christy Martin - Most distinguished

2. Lucia Rijker - Possibly the best female fighter out there but has been fighting sporadically the last few years with long stretches of inactivity between fights recently.

3. Laila Ali - Will move up to the number one spot if she as I suspect beats Christy Martin.

4. Summya Anani - Beat Christy Martin and has avenged only loss twice

5. Vonda Ward - Very athletic with a lot of punching power.

6. Jacqui Frazier-Lyde - Got started in pro boxing a little to late in her career IMO. Still could make some noise even at the age of 41.

7. Elena Reid - I am a fan of hers for all the wrong reasons. She can fight some and is cute which is why I always route for her. Better looking than Mia St. John IMO.

8. Jennifer Alcorn - I have never seen her fight but is reportedly pretty good)

9. Jessica Racoczy -Never seen her fight but did lose a close SD to Alcorn. Supposedly pretty good.

10. Mary-Jo Sanders - 6-0 prospect who fought on ESPN FNF a couple of months ago. I was very impressed with her. She threw over 800 punches in four two minute rounds. I am sure somebody I haven't thought of probably deserves the 10 spot more than Sanders but she is a prospect worth keeping an eye on.

* * * Bonus Prediction * * *

Paul Malignagi and Zab Judah will fight for a piece of the jr. welterweight title in 2004.

Agree? Disagree? Think I'm full of it? E-mail me at boxadamus@surfglobal.net and tell me what you think or post a comment.