Boxing

Rijker Redux?

By Bernie McCoy

14.03 - Woody Allen once said, "Success is ninety percent just showing up", and if Jerry Seinfeld considered the boxing career of Lucia Rijker, he might be prone to observe "Showing up, now that could be a problem". To this, let me add my own thought, "If Lucia Rijker shows up, ready to fight, its probably worth seeing".

It was just short of seven years ago that Lucia Rijker exploded on the U.S. Women's boxing scene after a very successful kickboxing career in Europe. Rijker then proceeded to punch her way to a series of often spectacular knockout wins over the next several years. Rijker did this with a style that was efficent, focused and short on hype and hoopla. There was no pre-fight, press conference preening or posturing, no trite nicknames or introductry sound effects, no in-ring gladiator salutes or any other or the other "look at me" machinations so many other fighters, male and female, seem to feel must be a necessary part of their "look", in today's boxing world. Rijker, usually in "basic black" trunks and top, reminded one more of the young Mike Tyson and the comparison usually didn't stop once the bell rang. I recall her waiting to enter the arena, on a HBO PPV event, staring straight ahead, seemingly unblinking, as she disdainfully ignored a series of insipid "how're you feeling" questions, a reporter, Jim Gray, insisted on posing.

Rijker's 1998 fight with Mary Ann Almager was Tyson-like not only in its quick one round finish, but also in the way Almager seemed to be totally intimidated from the moment she climbed through the ropes. Midway through the first round, Rijker trapped Almager in a corner, landed a series of shuddering punches, crumbling Almager, who was sat in the corner indicating to the ref she wanted no part of continuing. To that point in her career, Almager was one of the top fighers in the welterweight class. Following that bout she was never the same fighter. In a earlier bout that year, Rijker had stopped Andrea DeShong with a paralyzing body punch in the third round, a punch that had DeShong literally screaming in pain. And in a bout, televised in highlight form on CBS, Rijker hit Gwen Smith with a left hook that actually rolled Smith's eyes back in her head, resulting in a standing eight count and leading to the quick, inevitable end early in the next round.

Throughout this series of knockouts, Rijker was also played "Ahab" to Christy Martin's "great white whale". Both women were at their physical and boxing peak and a bout between Martin, who in the late nineties was the acknowledged "best female boxer" and Rijker, "the most dangerous woman", seemed a natural. When Rijker's management would thrust an offer, Martin's group would parry with a reason "why not" and the negotiation dance continued with no tangible results. Some of the hurdles were legitmate; a the split of the purse, some were ludicrous and transparent, Martin questioning Rijker's sexual identity. In the end, the fight didn't happen and the fighters, the public and the sport were the losers. Most objective observers feel that had Martin wanted the fight, it would have happened, given her acknowledged top spot in the sport's hierarchy. However, with reasons, both legitimate and self preserving, Christy Martin chose not to step into the ring with Lucia Rijker.

Not surprisingly, the failure to reach the summit of her boxing trail proved frustrating to Rijker in the late nineties and early in the succeeding centruy. She began to significantly reduce her training regimen, pulled out of several scheduled bouts and began to investigate "other opportunties" in movies and related entertainment areas. Most indictitive of her increasing frustration with the sport and the Martin situation was an unseemly incident where she publicly brawled with Martin in a gym while Martin was training for a fight early in 2000. While some observers cynically saw this as a possible "hype" for the long anticipated Martin/Rijker bout, in retrospect, it was nothing more that Lucia Rijker venting at the realization that she probably had missed the chance to be part of the biggest event in Women's boxing history.

Not surprisingly, the entertainemt opportunties for Rijker were few and far between. This is the case for most athletes, whose primary skills are usually limited to their particular sport. Rijker's skills, and certainly her primary appeal, is inside the ring. Realizing this, she resumed training under the tutelage of respected trainer Freddy Roach and she returned to ring in early 2002. Although exhibiting expected rust from her long layoff, Rijker KO'd Shakunah Witherspoon in four rounds with a body attack that collapsed the overmatched opponent. Since then, although several bouts have been talked about and even scheduled, Rijker has been inactive. However, on April 18 in California, Rijker is scheduled to fight to Sunshine Fetterkether, in what should be a very compettive bout. Fetterkether, another former kickboxing champ, after a slow adjustment to the boxing discipline, has improved significantly, recently garnering an impressive win, in December, over highly regarded Mitzi Jeter. Which Rijker will climb through the ropes on April 18; a better trained fighter than a year earlier or a fighter still enduring the rust of only one fight in over two years? Also, the question of whether Rijker will climb through the ropes, at all, is still a matter of conjecture.

However, if Rijker is ready to resume a full time career, the sport of Women's boxing is never more ready for her return. In a enviromnemt in which the sport has increasingly seen, from some of its bold face names, an infusion of style over substance, specious street tough personas outside the ring and ludicrous mismatches within, the no-frills, straight ahead, no nonsense style of Lucia Rijker will provide a counterpoint to the recent silly ancillary antics that threaten the legitimacy of the sport. Rijker's return would also provide the addition of a woman who not only knows how to fight but is cognizant of the fact that fighting is her primary reason for climbing into the ring.

Here's hoping Lucia Rijker shows up on the April 18th card. Here's hoping she still has her boxing talent intact, because if she does climb through the robes and if she has reclaimed some of her earlier ferocity and ability, as the late Jimmy Durante said, "you ain't seen nothin' yet".

0 comments
 


Bookmark and Share

 

If you detect any issues with the legality of this site, problems are always unintentional and will be corrected with notification.
The views and opinions of all writers expressed on eastsideboxing.com do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Management.
Copyright © 2001- 2015 East Side Boxing.com - Privacy Policy