Sue Fox Named  in the "Top Ten" Most -Significant Female Boxers of All Time - Ring Magazine - Feb. 2012

HISTORY OF
WOMEN'S BOXING

Maybe that's the reason the movie has become a ubiquitous, and quite often meaningless, inclusion in almost every main-stream media story written about the sport. It seems, if there's a story about Women's boxing or the athletes, in print or on TV, a mention of the movie will be somewhere in the lead.

And that's a shame, because the sport of Women's boxing is close to being on the cusp of long sought success. There are more talented female boxers today than at any time since the inception of the sport. Many of these boxers have come up through the burgeoning amateur ranks and possess boxing skill that only five years ago was as rare as a major movie about a female boxer.

Women's boxing simply doesn't need countless references to a movie, particularly when those references have no more than a nebulous connection, at best. In point of fact, the sport of Women's boxing has reached a point where it can stand on it's own, given the sheer volume of talent that is emerging.

On July 30, Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin will climb into a ring in Las Vegas in a fight eagerly awaited for nearly ten years. I know, I know, Lucia Rijker was the villain in "Million Dollar Baby" and she also provided her considerable boxing talent as a technical adviser behind the scenes. But, "Million Dollar Baby" was make-believe; what makes the July 30 bout special is not it's connection to the movie, it's the fact that two very good fighters, two very good female fighters, will finally come together in a bout that, ideally, could have launched the sport into the national spotlight had it taken place several years ago.

Agreed, maybe the box-office success of "Million Dollar Baby" was an ingredient in making Rijker/Martin happen, but what makes it a compelling night at the fights is not Hollywood's version of the sport. What makes July 30 compelling is Christy Martin, the first of the great female boxers, and Lucia Rijker, one of the hardest hitters in the sport, coming out of opposite corners. There is not one thing that is make-believe about that.

In this year's New York Golden Gloves, a fighter by the name of Ronica Jeffrey won the 125 lb. title with a win over Maureen Shea in what was a terrific exhibition of boxing skills on the part of both fighters. The next day's headlines, however, didn't celebrate Jeffrey's win over another very good boxer, but, instead the story was the fact that Maureen Shea lost.

 Shea, of course, was the fighter who helped train Hillary Swank for her role in "Million Dollar Baby" and, did I mention, Swank happened to be at ringside to root for her former sparring partner. While that was of exciting and breathless interest to the "Access Hollywood" crowd, what was lost in the glare of the star studded "Million Dollar Baby" connection was the fact that in the ring were two very good amateur fighters putting on one of the better bouts of the evening.

Jeffrey and Shea are quintessential examples of the type of well-schooled female fighters that are being developed in the amateur ranks and will soon fill female professional boxing at all weight levels. I'm glad Hillary Swank was able to make it to the fights that night but, I'm really sorry that Ronica Jeffrey is a name nobody remembers, because of a movie star sitting ringside.

While both the upcoming Martin/Rijker fight has, and the Jeffrey/Shea bout had, some tangible connection to "Million Dollar Baby", somebody has to explain to me where is the "Million Dollar Baby" tie-in to the IFBA championship bout on June 12. On that date, Mia St. John meets Liz Drew for the lightweight title. St John, it seems, has been somehow transformed from "Queen of the Four Rounders" to "The Knockout" to, now, (boxing's) "Million Dollar Lady".

The "Lady" is stepping into a New Mexico ring with a 9-7 fighter and the winner will be awarded the IFBA belt. Oh, that's right, it was the real-life IFBA belt that Hillary Swank's character, "Maggie Fitzgerald" was "fighting" for in the movie. How did I miss that one? I think that's known, in Hollywood, as "editorial liberty".

Don't get me wrong. I hope the St. John/Drew bout is a good fight, but here's a "heads up" to the "Entertainment Tonight" crew: Don't count on catching a glimpse of Hillary Swank at ringside rooting for the "Million Dollar Lady". I do know that the Jeffrey/Shea Golden Gloves fight was a good bout and if you don't think Martin and Rijker will be a memorable night, well, maybe boxing is not the sport for you.

The point is that Ronica Jeffrey and Maureen Shea didn't need Hillary Swank at ringside to validate their boxing skills. Certainly Lucia Rijker and Christy Martin don't need any help from Hollywood when they finally climb in against each other. And Mia St. John and Liz Drew are capable of putting on a good show, without the benefit of some concocted connection to a movie.

Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker are still at the top of the sport and Ronica Jeffrey and Maureen Shea are examples of what the future of the sport can be and that's without the benefit of some Hollywood "treatment" of their skills.

So let's appreciate the talent that the Christy Martins and the Lucia Rijkers and the Maureen Sheas and the Ronica Jeffreys and the Mia St. Johns and the Liz Drews bring to the ring and realize that "Million Dollar Baby" was a movie, a nice movie, but it's the fighters, the real fighters, that will deliver the expectations of the sport, not some memory of a movie. Bernie McCoy

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