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(AUG 1) Sumya "The Island Girl" Anani will not be a "guest analyst" on this
week's ESPN2 Tuesday Night Fights.
According to ESPN, Anani "Lives in KC so we'll put her on between rounds at
some point."
Teddy and "what-is-his-face" will be ringside calling the action. Anani will
join the ESPN ringside analyst crew for a few rounds but not even for an
entire fight (unless the fight ends suddenly).
A "guest analyst" is a personality that co-hosts the ESPN2 Friday Night
Fights in the ESPN studio in Bristol, CT. There is no "guest analyst" on the
ESPN2 TNF program because the studio segment is removed, hence the two-hour
segment with very little extras outside of the fight coverage.
I realize that Anani promotes herself to anyone who will listen and –
unfortunately - that is the way it is for talented fighters in women's
boxing who want to make money. At 33 years old and without a promoter, Anani
regularly challenges Christy Martin to a rematch or Lucia Rijker to
fight, but she doesn’t do anything in the ring to make her case.
The nickname “Island Girl” for Anani is very appropriate.
Anani wouldn’t be an “Island” if she fought more than once or twice a year.
Anani fought twice in 2004 but only once in 2005 and 2003.
Anani’s last fight – a defense of her IBA welterweight title on January 22,
2005 – was against Belinda Laracuente, her most credible opponent to
date.Laracuente – then 25-5-2 but only with 9 KOs – proved that her record
was
built on outboxing cardboard fighters as she lost a lopsided decision to
Anani.
Laracuente has lost four decisions since her fight with Anani, all by a
similar or even wider decision, but all against top competition. Since the
Anani fight, Laracuente has lost one-sided decisions to Melissa Fiorentino
(11-1-0)*, Kara Ro (12-0)*, Mary Jo Sanders (15-0)* and Jessica Rakoczy
(18-1)*. *All records reflect respective standings before the fights with
Laracuente.
Laracuente has fought the competition - in just the last six months - that
Anani needs to beat if she wishes to improve herself and to gain
recognition.
As luck would have it, Laracuente lost a razor thin decision to Martin in
March 2003 (scores 75-77 twice and a draw 76-76). The judges gave Laracuente
points for outboxing Martin that night, but Laracuente didn’t land a
noteworthy punch to give her the edge for the decision. I remember
Martin lunging after Laracuente who pedaled backwards and counterpunched
round after round. Laracuente exposed Martin as a fighter that is
susceptible to a superior boxer but that didn’t matter to the fans. The
fans – myself included – want to see Christy get bloodied and bloody her
opponent as she brawls, therefore careful matchmaking afterwards put Christy
back into limelight.
I didn’t see the Martin vs. Anani fight – I don’t believe it was televised –
but strangely, I do not hear anyone – except Anani – talk about her fight
with Martin.
Anani – in her fight before meeting Laracuente - defended her WIBA jr
welterweight title on December 3, 2004 against Stephanie Jaramillo who was
4-1-1 at the time. On the other side of the ring, Laracuente’s last four
opponents – since her fight with Anani – had a combined record of 56 wins
and 1 loss.
On paper, it would seem that Laracuente should be given the chance at a big
money fight based on merit, not Anani who has played it safe by not fighting
in the last six months.
Anani will always be known as the second person to beat Christy Martin. It
was a narrow majority decision - 95-95, 96-94 and 96-94 - back in December
1998. Regrettably Anani never fulfilled the promise that victory
forecasted.
Three months after her “win” over Martin, Anani won an eight rounds decision
over then 4-0 Denise Moratetes. Approximately two weeks later Anani won an
eight round decision over then 3-4-2 Dora Webber. Anani fought Dora Webber
three months later and won a ten round decision. Anani never pursued the
momentum that she had with the Martin victory by building her reputation
with wins over credible opponents.
Anani has fought the usual opponents that you find in the 135- and 140-pound
divisions, such as Britt Van Buskirk (three times, going the distance each
time) and Dora Webber (twice) plus Lisa Holewyne (twice), but outside of the
decision over Christy Martin six and half years ago, the nine-year record of
Anani is that of a journeyman, not the highly ranked contender that the
sanctioning bodies have elevated.
Admittedly, there is not a lot of “true” depth to the talent in women’s
boxing that can substantiate a top ranking (in most divisions), but that is
a discussion for another day.
To give credit where credit is due, Anani has in the past three years
stepped up her competition level to fighters with solid records (Laracuente,
Holewyne, Jane Couch) but before then she was fighting losers with losing
records for the most part.
I know Anani will say that “The money isn’t there!” or “No one wants to
fight me!” but the truth of the matter is that she hasn’t even keep active
fighting her usual tomato cans.
I will admit that Rijker has some of the same faults of inactivity and
quality of opponents to a larger degree than the stats reflected in Anani’s
career, but Rijker is the name that people want to see in the ring (just
like a Mike Tyson). The case for Anani to fight Martin is as simple as
Martin wishing to avenge the loss but Martin also wants to make some money
at the same, therefore Martin-Anani II will not happen.
Anani should pay attention to the path that Antonio Tarver followed in his
quest to fight Roy Jones, Jr. The rivalry between Tarver and Jones began
over twenty years back when each fighter was a young amateur in Florida over
twenty years ago. Five years ago, Tarver begin doggedly calling out Jones on
the internet, in the newspapers and even at the fights of Jones. During that
five-period, Tarver beat the top light heavies in the business, which
made both of his fights with Jones a pair of highly anticipated events.
Tarver got his chance – twice – against Jones and now he is looking to fight
his long-time rival on October 1st in another “highly anticipated” contest.
I respect all fighters, but Anani’s challenges to fighters such as Martin or
Rijker is as self-serving and transparent as me calling out Tyson. I could
see Rijker fighting Anani as an "opponent" in a non-televised undercard bout
but Anani doesn’t have the credentials to call out Rijker, although Anani
has been slightly more active against more worthy opposition than Rijker in
recent years. No one cares about Anani and obviously Anani doesn’t care
enough about herself, otherwise she would follow in the footsteps of
Laracuente and fight Fiorentiono, Ro, Sanders or Rakoczy.
The “Island Girl” should swim in deeper waters and work herself into a
“highly anticipated” match.
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