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It's difficult to figure which defines the
career of Sumya Anani more: success or
irony.
She's a star in a sport where the primary goal is to
injure, yet outside the ring Anani is a holistic healer. She
has been the central figure in both the highest high and lowest low
women's boxing has known this decade. She was born in Minnesota,
raised in Kansas, and yet is known as the "Island
Girl".
Anani's rise to her watershed win over Christy Martin
late last year was tantalizing yet tragic, deliberate yet filled
with doubt, fulfilling yet frightful.
"I was a wreck. I just
wanted to do something to help her," she told the Kansas City Star
shortly after her now infamous 1996 battle against Katie
Dallam. Following four bloody, bloody almost
horrific rounds -- an obvious
mismatch. Anani landed no fewer than 119 punches to
her opponent's head in less than eight minutes of boxing -- Dallam
collapsed in her dressing room. Following brain surgery, Dallam to
this day continues to struggle. She can't drive, can't remember
things long enough to even finish a simple sentence, can't
read.
"We know this is a violent sport," Anani said. "We
don't want to go in the ring to hurt someone. It was an unfortunate
incident. I left the ring not knowing a thing. When I found out the
next night, I started crying." She held a candlelight vigil in the
hospital, and wrote long letters to the stricken boxer. "I
considered quitting boxing, but I don't believe these things just
happen by accident. I think there's a reason this happened. I think
someday we will connect again. I believe
that."
It was Anani's fourth professional
fight, part of a series of bouts against relatively anonymous
opponents. Few knew of her boxing prowess before Sept. 30, 1997,
when she KO'd former WIBF lightweight champion Stacy Prestage. After
two more non-descript wins, Anani cemented her rising star status
with a unanimous six-round decision over veteran Andrea DeShong.
Like many, her start in the sport was inspired by less than pure
intentions.
"I just did it because I was
short on cash," she said. "I never pictured doing this. Also there
was a girl who was giving me a hard time because she took something
the wrong way. So I thought about boxing to learn
some self-defense, and thought, why not."
Still, few believed
she was ready for Martin, the standard-bearer for the sport since
her cover-story win over Deidre Gogarty. Anani won the fight 96-94
on two of the scorecards to complete the sport's biggest upset.
Since then, she's gone on to post unanimous and convincing wins over
amateur standout Denise Moraetes and veteran Dora
Webber.
 Still, many will remember that it was her fight
against Dallam that brought her the notoriety to achieve bigger and
better things, a fact not lost on the 27 year-old.
Observed
Anani: "Ironic, isn't it?" Indeed.
© Brian
Ackley
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Page last updated: Monday, April 5, 2004 |
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