(AUG 20) Jill Diamond, the chairwoman of the North American Boxing Federation, had had enough. It came through, loud and clear, on the phone, last week. Diamond is a daughter of Brooklyn and when those women are angry or exasperated, you don't need a Ph.D in psychology to pick up on it. Jill Diamond was somewhere in between exasperation and anger.

"I really saw no purpose in prolonging the talk, innuendoes and flat out untruths about the NABF's actions over the past several weeks (the vacating of the featherweight title and the imposition of a six month mandatory title defense rule for NABF champions). "I felt, bottom line, it was our decision to make those changes and, as a sanctioning body, we were convinced both were in the best interest of the sport, the athletes and the NABF. We continue to stand firmly behind each of those actions. Additionally, I felt the last thing the boxing community needed was more talk about what had been done and a lot more talk about what needed to be done to advance the sport of Women's boxing. I then read a piece about a NABF title holder, a fighter for whom I have the highest regard, "ditching" her NABF title belt. That type of disrespect for boxing titles, the few fighters who contest, in the ring, for those titles and all the other boxers who aspire for a chance to win those titles, was simply too much to take, at least for me, without some response."

"The single biggest problem currently plaguing the sport of Women's boxing, " Diamond continued, "is that the best fighters do not, except on the rarest of occasions, step into the ring against other fighters of comparable quality. Citing specific examples is unproductive and would be, mostly, redundant to anyone who pays even casual attention to the sport. However, it's a fact that the lack of competitive bouts has led directly to the current state of Women's boxing, which is far from healthy. Every fighter who ascends to a championship title is among the elite of the sport. Putting those champions in the ring with other elite fighters more often than is now the case, was the primary purpose behind the six month mandatory rule for every NABF champion. Two good fighters, competing for a title belt, is the essence not only of a championship bout, but also the type of match-up that the sport of Women's boxing needs more of, much more."

"The NABF remains resolute in their conviction that defending a championship belt twice in a twelve months should not be an onerous schedule for any fighter who truly deserves and respects the title of champion. The NABF simply will not continue along a business-as-usual path that has largely put the sport of Women's boxing in the "treading water" state it has been in for far too long. We've had the experience of permitting a title holder to go almost two years without a defense. It wasn't beneficial for the boxer, it wasn't beneficial for the fighters hoping for a chance at the title, it certainly wasn't beneficial for the sport or the NABF. As a result we took what we considered was the appropriate action and instituted policies to ensure that such a situation would never recur within the NABF."

"I'm mystified," Diamond concluded, "why so much time is wasted on evocative and disingenuous accusations among a group whose best interest resides in working toward a common goal of mutual success and respect among a sorority of women, some of whom are among the elite athletes in all of sport. Boxing is a tough business, it has a distressingly short shelf life for the sport's athletes and instead of an attitude of 'us against us,' the sport, and those in it, needs to adopt an attitude of 'us against them.' The 'them,' in this instance, being those who have, to this point, succeeded in stifling, for whatever their reasons, the progress of Women's boxing. We, all of us, boxers, managers, administrators, anyone connected, in any way, with the sport, simply have to stop aiding and abetting 'them' and, instead, begin working, together, towards making Women's boxing better for all of us. Let's leave the fighting for the ring and, while we're at it, let's make sure the fights in the ring are worth watching."

Jill Diamond took a break, the first conversational clinch, I noticed in what seemed like a fast paced ten round bout. She was finished for now and was ready to go on to something else, in this particular case, a visit by WBCares to a Bronx PAL. In the interest of full disclosure, let me make it clear that I'm a Jill Diamond fan, as I am a fan of every advocate actively committed to the betterment and success of the sport of Women's boxing. Let me also make clear that none of these advocates, whether managing a sanctioning body, running the premier Women's boxing web site or capturing the action of the sport almost flawlessly through the lens of a camera, possess omniscience. All these women have, do and will make mistakes, but the one common thread that characterizes them is that the vast majority of their actions are done in the belief, an unshakable belief, that what they're doing is in the best interest of the sport of Women's boxing. Jill Diamond is among that number.

Mistakes, we've had a few. Could the Jeri Sitzes imbroglio been handled better, by the NABF, by the various promoters, by the involved management personnel, even by the fighters? Absolutely! Everyone was operating within their own sphere of self-interest, which is, today, what passes for the American way. As complications arose and multiplied, the situation got uglier until, finally, instead of a very good bout between two good fighters, Jeri Sitzes and Melissa Hernandez, boxing fans were figuratively dragged through the cancellation of another good match-up and sat through a six round bout between Sitzes and a boxer who had not been in the ring in three and a half years, with predictable results. Who was at fault? Not the person who had the floor, at any given moment, extolling his or her side of the story. Who was at fault? Nobody! Everybody! There was not a white hat in the group. The NABF lost a champion and didn't crown a replacement. Jeri Sitzes had a title vacated and didn't add to her highlight reel with her win on ESPN. But, the real losers were the fans of the sport of Women's boxing since all they got was another "one good fighter" bout on television, when what was originally scheduled was a rare "two good fighters" bout.

And that's why the NABF's six month mandatory defense rule is, to me, a good one. At it's bottom line, the rule seeks to put the best fighters in the sport in the ring more often and, most importantly, put them in the ring with other good fighters in title bouts. Perfect? No! There are weight divisions that do not have enough quality boxers to sustain two competitive title fights a year. But other divisions, those with the deepest array of talent, featherweight through welterweight, are currently stocked with enough quality boxers to sustain and support enough "two good fighter" bouts for as long and as often as the top fighters step up and take on the best available opponent. And, if that happens, the sport of Women's boxing is eventually going to succeed for the simple reason that good fights, good competitive fights, are the primary key to success in the sport.

Jill Diamond knows that. She says it was the "primary" reason for the six month rule. I believe her and I believe she's on the right path. Diamond had heard enough talk about the shortcomings of her organization and she, figuratively, came off the ropes and made her case. She says she's done talking and she's ready to move ahead and give boxing fans enough good, competitive bouts, featuring NABF champions and quality boxers, to make a start on changing the face of the sport. She deserves credit for making the effort, but, most of all, she deserves support and cooperation.

Bernie McCoy

 

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