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HUNTINGTON, W.
Wa. -- At this rate, there isn’t going to be much hardware left in the
middleweight division.
Chicago’s
Leatitia Robinson outworked and outskilled hometowner
Nikki Eplion to score an easy unanimous decision Saturday night to collect her second
world championship belt in as many months -- this one the WIBA version --
getting the nod on all three scorecards by 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
The pair entered the evening’s main attraction with a combined record of
24-0-2, with 16 knockouts, and most women’s ratings organizations have them
as the top two ranked boxers in the division. But an anticipated slugfest
never materialized as Eplion spent much of the bout holding and retreating
from Robinson’s classier attack.
"I’ve been waiting a whole year for this," said "Baby Girl" Robinson, who
clearly had no love lost against her 25 year-old opponent who predicted a
third round KO at the weigh in. Robinson won her first belt in December,
2002, with a sixth-round stoppage of Dakota Stone, and had her first
successful defense of that IWBF title just last month in decisioning Yvonne
Reis.
"We tried to fight Nikki Eplion last year and when our people talked to her
people they said she wasn’t ready, she needed a few more fights, " said
Robinson, 23. "So I was going to wait until whenever she was ready because I
knew I could beat her. And I knew that she could not beat me no matter how
much she said she could."
Robinson, on top of her unblemished mark as a pro, also had 38 fights in an
amateur career that started at age 14. Eplion is a graduate of the
Appalachian Toughwoman circuit, a difference in backgrounds that become
quickly evident early in the fight. It was clearly a huge step up in
competition for the South Point, Ohio, resident, who’s best career wins came
last August, an eight round decision over veteran Mary Ann Almager, and a
four-round decision against Yvonne Reis last June.
"She gave me exactly what I expected from her, nothing," Robinson said. "She
basically didn’t have any love for me when she told me she was going to
knock me out and this was going to be the worst beating of my life. I wanted
to show her you are not a boxer, you’re a toughman, and when you become a
boxer, that’s when you can get in the ring and discuss something with me."
Eplion, who was more no attack than the moniker No Slack embroidered on her
purple trunks, did not speak with any media after the fight, and
disappointed many fans who waited until well after midnight to try to offer
their encouragement. Manager Ken Artrip noted that Eplion is a single mother
of two children who also works two jobs, and that she could not get any time
off before the fight to fully and properly prepare. "She was worn out,"
before she ever got in the ring, he indicated.
"We had a little setback, but she’ll still go on," according to Eplion’s
trainer Charlie Hanshaw. "We knew what was coming. I told everybody this
would be a tough fight."
There were no knockdowns, and neither fighter appeared seriously hurt at any
point of the fight, which was delayed after a late decision changing from
twelve ounce to ten ounce gloves. The partisan crowd of some 800 at
Huntington’s Veteran’s Memorial Fieldhouse tried to spark their local hero
with frequent chants of "Nikki, Nikki,", but it didn’t effect Robinson in
the least.
"No, not at all," Robinson said. "We were able to box and beat her to the
punch every time, make her miss, make her get frustrated by going from side
to side, switching all the time. We wanted to do that and that’s what I
did."
Robinson has her sights set on Shrivelle William’s and Valerie Mahfood as
potential future opponents, she indicated.
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©Copyrighted Photos by
Brian
Ackley. All Right Reserved. |
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