Mia St John, Stepping Up and Stepping Out
Bernie McCoy
20.03 - Sam Snead, a golfer from an era that existed long before silly looking slacks and reverential TV annoucers agonizing over whether a putt breaks towards the ocean, took a very clear- eyed view of his game; "if you dont know how to putt", Sam once advised, "play for $100 a putt, you'll learn real fast".
Without realizing it, Mia St John may have taken Sam Snead's advice. St John, whose career, up to now, has taken on many of the aspects of minature golf, is scheduled to fight Jenifer Alcorn on April 19, in Fresno, CA, underneath the Floyd Mayweather/Victoriano Sosa lightweight championship bout. Thus far in her boxing career, St John has been mainly matched against underachieving, underskilled opponents, while compiling a 27-2-2 record. Her most recent win was a somewhat uninspired six round decison over Jessica Mohs in Dallas, broadcast on Fox TV. Prior to that, in December, St John went ten rounds with a clearly out of shape, seemingly disinterested, Christy Martin, losing a ten round decision in a disappointly received PPV event. With Alcorn, St John is taking a major step up in class.
Jenifer Alcorn has been fighting professionally since 1999 and sports a guady string of fifteen straight wins, ten by knockout. Her most recent bout and arguably her toughest, was a split decision win over Jessica Rakoczy in January. Alcorn, while not as well known to the general public, as either Martin, St John or Lalia Ali, is one of the premier performers in the sport of Women's boxing and will be receiving her first truly national exposure with this fight. It is long overdue and well deserved.
Alcorn's skill, power and experience are only a few of the obvious elements St John will have to contend with on April 19. Many boxing "experts" expected St John to be a "walkover" foe for Christy Martin last December. That number, it became apparent when she stepped into the ring, included Christy Martin, who, given her conditioning did not take either the bout or her opponent seriously. Martin's strategy, in retrospect, was, likewise, severely flawed. In coming out fast and looking for an early KO, Martin expended much of what little energy she brought into the ring. St John, on the other hand, who had trained hard for the bout, and was in great physical condition, was at her fluid best early and managed to avoid most of the heavy handed punches Martin threw in the early going. After three rounds, Martin, frustrated, breathing though her mouth and realizing the major portion of the fight was still ahead, contented herself to "mail in" the remainder of the bout, fighting only in ever decreasing spurts on her way to a desulatory unanimous decision.
It is impossible to believe that Alcorn will present similar opposition for St John. Unlike Martin, Alcorn is a very fit fighter and always appears to be in top condition. Additionally, Alcorn has both the speed and ring savvy to to counter St John's movement, and having "gone to school" on Martin's defective strategy, her primary goal will be to cut off the ring on St John, bringing her into range for Alcorn's far superior punching power. Most important, again with an eye to Martin's mistakes, Alcorn will not underestimate St John and should come to the ring with a solid game plan.
Cannot a case be made that maybe the entire boxing community has made the same mistake, over St John's career, that Christy Martin made? Have we, indeed, underestimated Mia St John? In sports, the improbable is often possible, but the fact reamains, that St John has long feasted on the "low hanging fruit" of Women's boxing. Her record defines the phrase misleading. While she has, unquestionably, improved in boxing skill and ring generalship, as one would expect of a female fighter who can afford to spend full time at the sport, it is still difficult, despite her renown, to rank her among the elite or even the most talented fighters in Women's boxing. That said, sports, particularly boxing, has always been correctly defined as "drama without a script". It is the beauty of boxing that we simply do not know what is going to happen.
Why then is St John picking this particular time to fight this particular, seemingly superior, opponent? A return bout with Martin had been discussed, and surely represents a bigger payday than the Alcorn bout. Also temptingly beckoning is the path of least resistance; St John given her eminence in the sport, her attractiveness, her name recognition could continue to fight lesser opposition, of which there is no shortage (see Tonya Harding). Yet, despite those alternatives, St John chooses to step into the ring in a bout in which most observers would make her a decided underdog. It may be that St John truly believes that she has progressed in skill to the point where she belongs in the ring with a fighter of Alcorn's ability. Or, she may have gotten to the point many athletes reach where they realize it is time to reach beyond the ordinary, to test yourself wekk past former limits. Whatever, her reasoning and whatever her motivation and whatever her past performance record, one fact remains indisputable, St John is to be applauded for choosing to step in the ring with Jenifer Alcorn rather than another lackluster opponent. There's nothing "minature golf" about this matchup, Mia St John had moved to the "back tees".
