(SEPT 30) You seldom hear from the boxer who comes in second. If they talk at all it's usually to ask for a rematch. The winner is the one who does the interviews, has the snappy lines and, occasionally, throws in a back-flip for style points. The managers are a different story. Fight managers, whether on the winning or losing side, are much like politicians, they campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Jimmy Mallo manages Mary Jo Sanders who steps into the ring for a return bout with Holly Holm at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI on October 17. And Mallo, erudite in the ways of the boxing ring, was in full poetic mood when I spoke with him, on the phone, from his Detroit base last week. Sanders and Holm fought on June 13 and the three judges, at the Isleta Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, NM, awarded Holm 23 of the 30 cumulative scored rounds. It was a closer fight. But, there was no doubt, whatsoever, that the three judges gave the decision to the right fighter.

Asked, Jimmy Mallo will not go "on the record" as conceding that his fighter lost the bout that night in Albuquerque but he will state that he didn't agree with the judge's scoring. Mallo is, however, prepared to deliver several verses of explanation regarding the outcome: "Mary Jo had one of the worst nights of her career in Albuquerque. All great fighters have ' off ' nights, Mary Jo had one in her 26th pro bout. Joe Louis had one in his 24th bout, the first one against Schmeling," notes Mallo, conjuring up the memory of another very good Detroit fighter. "Mary Jo had ' off ' nights before, but she always worked through them. That didn't happen in Albuquerque. As a manager, you hope that your fighter's ' off ' night doesn't happen during a really big bout. For Mary Jo, it did. "No," Mallo clarifies, "I'm not suggesting that Mary Jo is going to do what Joe Louis did in the second Schmeling bout, but, October 17 will be a different fight."

Mallo is right about that, even before the opening bell. The October 17 bout will be the first time Holly Holm has fought in a ring east of the Mississippi, and it is also Holm's first bout in an opponent's hometown. Holly Holm has fought outside New Mexico only twice in her 25 bout career, the vast majority of those bouts in her hometown of Albuquerque. Has Holly Holm been on the receiving end of a number of hometown decisions? Not that I've seen. Has Holm been on the receiving end of some hometown "margins of victory?" I'd make a case that, in addition to the Sanders bout, Holm's wins against Chevelle Hallback and Ann Marie Saccurato were exaggerated by the official scoring in Albuquerque. That can happen in hometowns.

Is a hometown venue a factor in boxing? Of course it is. The crowd is, not surprisingly, vocal in support of the hometown fighter. Add the fact that in boxing, as in only one other sport, basketball, the crowd is right on top of the officials. And when, not if, when, that crowd overreacts to every move of the hometown fighter, while, largely, refraining from any reaction to the opponent's moves, boxing judges, who are both trained professionals and, overwhelmingly, scrupulously fair, cannot help but be influenced by the up-close reaction of the hometown crowd. Will a Detroit venue make a difference in the Sanders/Holm bout? Let's state a couple of facts: it would be more of an advantage for Holly Holm to be fighting in New Mexico and Detroit will be a considerably more friendly environment for Mary Jo Sanders. However, the clear difference in the first bout was Holm's quickness and ring movement and Sanders' inability to close with her opponent often enough to land the powerful combinations that marked her first twenty-five wins in the professional ring. It's fairly certain that Holly Holm will be sure to pack that quickness for the trip to the Motor City. The question then becomes will the changes, that are sure to come as the Sanders team prepares for the return bout, will be enough to turn the course of the second bout.

Jimmy Mallo recognizes this all too well. "Certainly, fighting at home is an advantage for Mary Jo. There should be 16,000 fans at the Palace and that's a big plus for us. In addition, we learned a lot from the first fight. We learned what needed to be changed and this time around that's exactly what we've been working on. We have to get Mary Jo in position to score with her big punches. I'm not sure Holly has ever been hit with the type of power Mary Jo has. I have no doubt that this will be a completely different fight from the one in Albuquerque." There is seldom a note of doubt in the poetry of boxing managers and in fact Mallo is already looking beyond October 17. "Holly's team should be looking for a venue for Sanders/Holm III, I suggest Las Vegas or Atlantic City, some neutral site." Warming up, Mallo then drew on the most poetic of novels, invoking his inner Ahab, "In fact, I can see, in late 2009, Mary Jo stepping in with Laila Ali. That's been our goal since we began and based on some of the things I've heard concerning Laila and a couple of comments she's made about her future plans, I think that's a real possibility." You really have to appreciate anyone who can bring the soul of poetry and the hope of possibility to the fight game.

The Holm/Sanders bout wasn't the best fight on a very good PPV card in June. That honor went to Hallback/Garside. And, possibly, I missed the groundswell for a rematch. But we got the rematch and, in reality, that's good news for the sport. We got the rematch because good boxing people such as Jimmy Mallo and Lenny Fresquez put together quality boxing cards like the one in Albuquerque in June and this one coming up in Detroit in three weeks. We good the rematch because good fighters like Holly Holm and Mary Jo Sanders, two of the best in the sport, are willing to climb into the ring with each other twice in four months. And if you doubt that good people making good female bouts and good fighters willing to fight each other is a rarity in today's sport, you need to pay better attention. Because good bouts with good fighters is exactly what it's going to take for the sport of Women's boxing and it's athletes to succeed. Jimmy Mallo's poetry is an add on.

Bernie McCoy