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Fireworks in July
By Bernie McCoy
July 4, 2005
 
  (JULY 4) April, as Mr. Eliot has told us, is the cruelest month. On the other hand, July will be not be a "Waste Land" as far as the sport of Women's boxing is concerned. On the thirtieth day of the month, Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin are scheduled to climb into a Las Vegas ring in a prototypal affirmation of the adage, "better late than never."
 
Also on tap in July, nine days prior to the Rijker/Martin extravaganza is a ten round bout that, while lacking the firepower of publicity that will surround the Las Vegas encounter, has all the markings of a very good, possibly great fight. On July 21 in Lemoore, CA., Jessica Rakoczy will defend her IBA Lightweight title against Englishwoman, Jane Couch.

 

 If the time honored matchmaking wisdom that "styles make fights" is true, this should be a terrific match-up. At the risk of overstatement, Couch/Rakoczy might be the best fight in the month of July, certainly not the most heralded, but, just possibly, the best. The WBC, the major sanctioning body in the sport, seems to agree, as that organization will recognize the winner as it's lightweight champion.

 

Jane Couch is no stranger to great fights. In June 2002, she went toe-to-toe with Sumya Anani in Waco, TX and on ESPN before succumbing, in the fourth round, to the power of the "Island Girl" in a bout many adjudged to be the "fight of the year." Two years later, at Foxwoods Resorts in Connecticut, Couch won a virtually clinch-free ten round fight with Jaime Clampitt  in a bout that anyone with two eyes knew was the "fight of the year" for 2004.

Couch has, over a 25-6 career, been in the ring with most of the top fighters in the sport including Lucia Rijker, Dora Webber, Leah Mellinger and Marischa Sjauw. This will be Couch's first bout of the year after four bouts (three wins) last year. Couch's inactivity was due to a persistent skin disorder, which pulled her out of a return bout with Clampitt and hindered her training schedule well into 2005.

Likewise, Jessica Rakoczy, with a record of 18-1, is a "keep busy" fighter who keeps busy, unlike some others in the sport, with quality opposition, Jane Couch being the latest example. Her lone loss was in January 2003 to Jenifer Alcorn, a decision many ringside observers thought should have gone the other way. While disappointed with her first loss, when asked about the bout, Rakoczy replies that the Alcorn bout actually made her "more hungry to succeed in the sport", providing, what she now views as a springboard for her career. "It was a question of (sulking over the loss) or going back to the gym and starting to work all the harder. I chose to go back to the gym and work harder and, in a way, I actually look on that bout as being strangely beneficial." And when you listen to the passionate way she talks about the Alcorn bout and her subsequent re-energizing, you just write it down as fact.

After the Alcorn bout and a year hiatus from competition, Rakoczy has reeled off seven straight wins. Asked if the Couch bout was the biggest fight of her career, she quickly answers, "oh, yeah, definitely." Rakoczy/Couch is on a card with Sam Soliman and Fernando Zuniga as the "main go", a bout scheduled to be televised "live" on the "Best Damn Sport Show" on Fox Sports. The women's bout will, hopefully, be telecast, on a "db" basis on the network's Sunday Night Fights shortly thereafter.

Couch/Rakoczy has all the markings of a "best fight of the night" bout. Jane Couch knows only one gear, forward. She is a press-ahead, straight forward fighter whose game plan is to keep constant pressure on her opponent. She's kept pressure on some of the best fighters in the sport and while Couch does not benefit from an abundance of publicity on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, once in the ring, she's not hard to find..

Jessica Rakoczy, in a contrast that makes this bout so compelling, may be one of the quickest fighters in the lightweight division. Last April, Rakoczy, displayed that speed with a eight round decision over Mia St. John, no slouch at moving around the ring. In a February return, Rakoczy stopped St. John in two rounds. Also on her record is a win over Layla McCarter, who Rakoczy out-boxed over six rounds in February ' 02 and out-boxing McCarter is a bit like taking Michael Jordan in a one-on-one schoolyard match-up.

Couch, no stranger to transcontinental "road trips" for bouts, was asked if traveling seven time zones was an impediment. "They'll probably bring me in about two days before (the bout) and to be honest the later the better, for me. Fighting before a home crowd is tough (but) you just have to work twice as hard." Couch brought that same attitude to Connecticut against Clampitt and came away with both the NABAW and IWBF titles. She'll "bring it" to Lemoore on July 21. In Rakoczy she'll be facing a fighter who also knows all about bringing a hard-work ethic into the ring with her..

So, on July 21 in Lemoore, two very determined fighters, two fighters will an overload of skill, two fighters with the type of contrasting skills that make for memorable fights, will square off for ten rounds of boxing that often defines the best of Women's boxing. Nine days later, in Las Vegas, Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker and the specter of "Million Dollar Baby" will be on PPV display. These are two very good bouts, one comparatively under the radar of national attention and the other striving to live up to very high expectations. Hopefully, both bouts will live up to the potential that these four quality fighters in the sport offer.

You'll hear a lot more about Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin and with good reason; it's a good fight. But, in Lemoore, CA on July 21, there's another very good fight with two skilled boxers. July is the month for fireworks and these two bouts will provide plenty. Put them down as #1 and #1A. Bernie McCoy

 
     
 
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