(APR 23)  I remember a Friday night at the fights in the place that will always be known to me as Madison Square Garden, the arena on Eighth Avenue and Forty-ninth Street. I was sitting "up close," my dad having gotten tickets from a a big shot in the union and we were mainly surrounded by "suits and ties," which is as good an indicator as any just how long ago this was.

Sitting next to me, though, was a guy who wore every signpost, short of having "boxing lifer" tattooed on his forehead, that this wasn't his first night at the fights. It was just before the "main-go" and there were a bunch of "celebrities" elbowing their way into the ring to be introduced by the announcer, Johnny Addie. The boxing guy, watching this spectacle, shook his head and murmured, "Look at that, all them people in the ring and there's only two that matter." I've heard this sentiment repeated often since that night, said in many different ways by many different people, but it all comes down to one simple fact: boxing, the most brutal and simple of sports, is all about the two fighters and the best boxing is all about the best fighters fighting each other.
 

I thought about this when I saw the announcement of the Jaime Clampitt/Missy Fiorentino ten round fight scheduled for May 18 in Providence, RI.  This qualifies as a bout that is among the best that the sport of Women's boxing has to offer.

One only has to realize that, going into the bout, it's not certain which fighter is going to win. Two good fighters fighting each other. It's the type of bout the fans of the sport have seen all too little of in recent years. Of course, it's easy to give lip service to such a theory, but the fact remains that seldom do we see two good female fighters agreeing to step into the ring with each other. And on further reflection, it really is that simple, good fights are essentially a matter of the top female fighters, passing up yet another "walkover" notch on their record and agreeing, instead, to fight another top boxer. When that happens, the result is a bout that fans can mark on their calendars and the sport can point to as an example of: "this is how good Women's boxing can be."

That the Clampitt/Fiorentino fight was made is a credit, first and foremost, to the fighters, both of whom have had, up to this point, outstanding records against some formidable opposition. "Props" also go out to the promoter, Classic Entertainment & Sports (CES), for bringing these two Rhode Island fighters (Clampitt out of Narragansett, Fiorentino from Cranston) together in the type of "neighborhood rivalry" match-up that has always made for exciting boxing nights. And lest we forget, each fighter's management team has shown a quality that has been all too absent in today's sport: the willingness to match their fighter with another boxer of comparable ability.

It's not hard to make a bout this good, it's simple, really. Two good fighters, a promoter who knows what makes for an exciting match-up and the willingness of management to take a tough fight. It's likewise just as obvious (and here would be a good time for women boxers and their "teams" to take a few notes) as to what was missing along the path that will bring Missy Fiorentino and Jaime Clampitt into the ring on May 18. First and foremost, there was a total absence of the type of inane public "callouts" that seem to have plagued the sport recently.

Neither fighter indulged in any of the "look at me" trash talk. Instead, of overheated, and meaningless, rhetoric, both Clampitt and Fiorentino simply agreed that this was to be their next fight, and, in essence, only needed to know "when and where is the bout." That, in case all those currently associated with the sport of Women's boxing have forgotten, is a quality known as professionalism. The winner will be the IWBF lightweight champion, but that element was a minor component in the press release announcing the bout and with good reason. The more important result of the ten rounds on May 18 is that the victor will have stepped up against a quality opponent and come away a winner, in more than one sense of that word.

Both Missy Fiorentino and Jaime Clampitt have already come away winners against some of the best fighters in their weight division. Fiorentino's last win was a ten round decision, in November, over the tough Dutch fighter, Esther Schouten.

That bout was preceded by wins over Belinda Laracuente and Lisa Lewis. Fiorentino's lone loss was to Emiko Raika in Kyoto, Japan in September, ' 04. Clampitt has a win and a draw with Eliza Olson and a close loss to Englishwoman, Jane Couch in June ' 04. Both fighters have largely confined their recent ring activity to the New England area (Fioentino's sojourn to Japan being a rare exception) and, as a result, have attracted large and enthusiastic followings in that region, practically guaranteeing a sellout in Providence.

Clampitt/Fiorentino has all the indications of a very good ten round fight. It may, however, be a bit premature, as the press release did, to extol this bout as "one of the great female fights of all time." That type of praise, and it may yet come to pass, is best reserved for after the final bell, rather than before the first round.

In the meantime, the promoter, CES, may want to the consider an option of lighting a candle to "Our Lady of Great Bouts" and saying a little prayer for ten rounds, on May 18, comparable to Missy Fiorentino's win over Esther Schouten or Jaime Clampitt's "fight of the year" bout with Jane Couch. Certainly, all the ingredients are in place for a very good night for the sport of Women's boxing: two good fighters, a natural, "neighborhood" rivalry and loads of enthusiastic fans.

And the best part is this bout came about simply because these two good fighters agreed to come out of opposite corners. It really should be a big night for the sport of Women's boxing and it should be an even bigger lesson for all the other top fighters in the sport. Good fights aren't hard to make, they're simple, just stop looking for the next "walkover" and say yes to that tough fight.