PROVIDENCE-- For a brief moment, Mia St. John appeared to turn back the clock; to return to the prominence that made her one of boxing’s most recognizable faces in the late 90’s. But St. John’s brush with the past lasted just two minutes in fact, a scant 120 seconds of the eighth round in her ten round IWBF Lightweight title fight with two time World Champion Jamie Clampitt.

The remainder of the evening’s festivities belonged solely to Clampitt (17-4-1) who overwhelmed the 39 year old Oxnard, California native by a 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91 decision at the “Hearts of Fire” main event at the Rhode Island Convention Center. St. John, who last held the IFBA Lightweight crown after defeating journeyman Liz Drew back in June of 2006, earned a solitary round; the aforementioned eighth on a lone scorecard. St. John fell to 43-8-2 with the loss.  “It feels unbelievable,” Clampitt said of her win. “Mia is a great champ, she’s a great fighter and just to get in with her and beat her, how I beat her tonight-I feel on top of the world, definitely.”

Friday night, Clampitt returned to the scene where she dropped a ten round unanimous decision to fellow Rhode Islander Missy Fiorentino last June, a bout in which she broke her right hand. Both fighters weighed in at 135 lbs.
With new trainer Kurt Reader in tow, Clampitt, 30, emerged from a stale, lackluster effort from both participants in the early going by getting the best of an exchange of overhand rights in the third round.

In the following round, Clampitt scored again with a crisp combo and again in the fifth round the Canadian native moved St. John back with a hard body shot. In the same round, St. John emerged unscathed from her first of two slips on the night, the latter coming in the waning seconds of the sixth go-around.

In the seventh, Clampitt was bloodied as a result of a small gash in the upper portion of her forehead. Moments later, both fighters displayed crimson-stained faces to go with their pink gloves, which eventually also bore the mark of Clampitt’s cut. “I think she got a little dirty with her head,” said Clampitt of the head contact that was the catalyst for the cut. “She came in with her head and I felt the blood right away, but it really didn’t affect me. The blood got into my eyes later in the seventh round but it didn’t bother me.

My corner cleaned it up right away and it wasn’t an issue at all.”  St. John stung her counterpart late in the eighth, when Clampitt was moving counterclockwise, away from a clutch, with a nasty left to the jaw. But the damage that St. John leveled upon her opponent on the night was limited in scope, compressed into a scant moment of time.

As such Clampitt, controlled the pace of the fight, right up until the final bell. “Right now I feel on top, “ Clampitt said of her triumph. “I worked so hard for this fight and it absolutely paid off tonight.”

St. John offered few details of the bout itself in post fight interviews, but was rather eloquent when asked about her place in the sport and the influence that she has had on younger boxers on the way up. “I do think about that (being a role model). My first concern is to go to school. Education is something that they can never take away from you. In boxing you can always get hurt, it’s a very dangerous sport and I just want these (young) girls to be so careful and protect themselves and stay in school, “ St. John said.  “It was nice because she struck to the game plan,” said Reader of his new pupil. “Mia is tough, anyone else would have gone down and fought another day. She’s (Clampitt) been rejuvenated. We just clicked, we work very well together.”

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