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(DEC 26) It began six years ago with much
hoopla and promise. Laila Ali, the daughter of perhaps the signature
heavyweight champion of the last century, led a class of "famous
daughters" into the sport of Women's boxing. Included in the group were
Jacqui Frazier and Freeda Foreman, but the star "daughter" was clearly
Ali. She had her father's loquaciousness along with an inkling of a
promise of some of his skill in the ring.
On December 17th, in Germany, Ali won her twenty second straight fight
with a fifth round TKO over Aasa Sandell, a fighter from Sweden with
five professional bouts. The fight marked the sixth straight bout in
which Ali has stopped an over-matched and/or under-experienced fighter
who, realistically, had little or no chance of winning the bout. In
fairness, the super-middleweight division, in which Ali competes, is not
replete with an overabundance of talented fighters, unlike, for example,
the lightweight and welterweight classes in the sport. Nonetheless, Ali,
over her entire twenty-two bout career, has opted to fight, for the most
part, lesser talented boxers or carefully chosen opponents rather than
those few fighters who might present a competitive match-up.
As with every debuting fighter, Laila Ali began her career in the ring
with what can best be described as "confidence builders", bouts designed
to provide both a familiarity with the professional ring and a string of
wins. After seven such bouts, Ali stepped up and won a six round
decision over a relatively experienced fighter, Kendra Lenhart, who gave
Ali her first taste of ring competition. Ali was actually stunned by a
right hand in the third round, but she recovered and went on to a
decisive decision over Lenhart who had a 6-7 record coming into the
bout. Two fights later, Ali won a decision over another "famous
daughter", Jacqui Frazier, in a bout that was adjudged much closer than
it was (Judge Frank Adams correctly scored it 79-73) and praised more
lavishly than the rather desultory eight rounds deserved.
It was then time for title belts and Ali won her first, the IBA crown,
with a two round TKO over Suzy Taylor, who came into the "championship"
bout with a four fight losing streak. Next up was the WIBA and IWBF
titles and Ali's first quality opponent in Valerie Mahfood. Ali won on a
TKO in the eighth round over the experienced and durable fighter.
However, the choice of Mahfood, the most experienced fighter Ali has
ever been in the ring with, could, on further examination, be described
as a propitious one. Mahfood is 5' 6" and, historically, has had
difficulty with taller fighters (she was knocked out by Lenhart, a 6'1"
fighter and a middle-of-the-pack boxer for most of her career). A case
can be made that Mahfood was a tailor made opponent for the 5'10" Ali.
Seven months later, Ali TKO' d Mahfood again, this time in the sixth
round. That would be, in my judgement, the last credible super
middleweight opponent Laila Ali has fought.
Now that she had her title belts and had beaten a quality fighter, it
was hoped, even anticipated, that Laila Ali would defend those crowns
against the most obvious contender in the division, Ann Wolfe, or,
against newly arrived-on-the-scene, Leatitia Robinson. However, rather
than "stepping up" to this type of formidable opposition, Ali, instead,
"stepped down", two weight classes, to take on Christy Martin in a
over-the-weight match. The fight ended, as most over-the-weight matches
end, with the bigger fighter beating the smaller fighter; this time, a
four round KO.
After a nearly twelve month layoff, Ali returned to the ring, not
against Wolfe or Robinson, who both now owned wins over Valerie Mahfood,
but against a series of opponents ranging in skill from a fighter who
had never fought outside of Guyana, Gwendolyn O'Neil; a fighter who had
been knocked out in the first round by Leatitia Robinson, Monica Nunez;
a part- time boxer whose primary fighting skills were in of mixed
martial arts rings, Erin Toughill. None of these bouts and others,
exhibiting a similar lack of challenge, could, realistically, be deemed
competitive bouts. Unsurprisingly, the reaction, within the boxing
community, was, one of increasing indifference to not only these bouts,
but also to Laila Ali. Amazingly, Ali has managed to parlay world class
name recognition and a considerable store of boxing talent into a
fighter who no longer commands the marquee stage that was once
considered her rightful place in the sport. She has done this by
avoiding any semblance of a competitive boxing match.
Now lets be clear. Laila Ali owes nothing to the sport of boxing and she
has no obligation to live up to her father's history in the ring. She
and her management are the only ones who will decide who she fights,
when she fights and how often she fights. However, it can be accurately
projected that unless Laila Ali, in the near future, fights either Ann
Wolfe or Leatitia Robinson, she is headed for a trivia-game-answer
future. Incredibly, there is talk of a Laila Ali/Vonda Ward match-up in
2006. Ali's bout with Aasa Sandell avoided criticism here largely
because of the distance and time difference between the U.S. and
Germany. If, indeed, Ali/Ward is on someone's matchmaking agenda, there
is no country distant enough to avoid the tumult and shouting that
farcical match-up would occasion.
Laila Ali came to the sport of Women's boxing six years ago with promise
and talent. The promise has gone largely unfulfilled, but the talent, I
suspect, is still be there. If it is, it's time to showcase that talent
against good fighters on the stage of the sport of Women's boxing. Laila
Ali and Ann Wolfe, Laila Ali and Leatitia Robinson. It's time.....it's
long past time. It's time to "step up or step off."
Bernie McCoyAddendum: "In
researching Suzy Taylor's record for this article, I neglected to
include the fact that on September 9, 2000, Taylor scored a five round
TKO over Karrie Frye. Thus Taylor, prior to the Laila Ali bout, had lost
two bouts, not four as written in the story. Bernie McCoy" Thanks,
sorry for the error. Bernie |
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