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(MAY 27) ALBUQUERQUE - Women’s
professional boxing champion Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm
and her boyfriend, MMA star Joey Villasenor, met in an Albuquerque
gym, where today they train and spar with each other as they both
prepare for upcoming career-defining fights.
Seven-time world champion Holm (21-1-2, 6 KOs), recognized as the
No. 1 welterweight in the world, will headline the June 13th
“Finally” pay-per-view event against the world’s No. 1 middleweight,
Detroit icon Mary Jo Sanders (25-0, 8 KOs), squaring-off in the
10-round main event for the vacant IFBA junior middleweight crown
and universal pound-for-pound supremacy.
Villasenor (25-6-0, 11 KOs and 10 submissions) takes on Phil Baroni
this Saturday night (May 31) in the EliteXC show on national
television from Newark, New Jersey.
Holm and Villasenor have the same trainer, Mike Winklejohn, believes
Holly and Joey are made for each other. “It’s tough on Holly,” Mike
explained why relationships have often been difficult for her to
develop and maintain. “She’s physical, athletic and everybody
recognizes here in Albuquerque. It’s not going to work for a
boyfriend who doesn’t have a lot of self confidence. Joey is a
successful fighter in his own right, a star athlete, and that’s why
it works for them. They fight (workout) all the time even though
there’s a big weight difference (Holly is a natural 147-pound
welterweight and Joey weights 185 pounds). Holly spars with
everybody including Keith Jardine. The way our team (Jackson-Winkleton
MMA Team) is set-up is everybody helping each other. That’s why
we’ve excelled. The big guys spar with smaller guys for power versus
speed, speed versus power.
“Holly could do MMA, but why? She could pick-up the game, but she’s
a pretty girl and there’s no reason, especially for her to get hit
with elbows. There’s less trauma to the head (MMA vs. boxing), but
there are a lot of elbows thrown on the ground. The biggest
differences between boxing and MMA is distance and different
techniques. Boxing is at a longer range. If you throw a punch from a
boxer’s range in MMA, you leave yourself open for takedowns. Boxers
go right to left, leaving themselves open to get kicked in the head.
MMA is forward and backward, up and down, which you don’t see in
boxing. Joey’s very explosive. He had a great knockout in his last
fight (Ryan Jenson by a punch). His techniques are better and he’s
cleverer than Baroni. Holly out thinks her opponents and that’s why
she’s so successful. It’s like a chess game for her. She has the
smarts to out-think her opponents two or three moves ahead.”
Holm-Sanders is one of four world title fights for five different
belts on the “Finally” PPV card, featuring the greatest collection
of women boxers on one show, including five No. 1 independently
rated fighters (view at www.wban.com). The Fresquez Productions,
Inc.-promoted “Finally” is being produced and distributed by
Integrated Sports for live viewing in the United States and Canada
(10 PM/ET) on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN DEMAND,
TVN, Shaw Communications, DirecTV, Bell Expressvue and StarChoice
for a suggested retail price of only $24.95.
In the 10-round co-feature for the vacant IFBA lightweight
championship, WIBA & IBA junior lightweight champion Chevelle “Fists
of Steel” Hallback (26-5-2, 11 KOs), fighting out of Tampa (FL),
squares off against WIBA featherweight title-holder Jeannine “G9”
Garside (7-0-1, 3 KOs), of Ontario (Canada), in a potential female
version of a Gatti-Ward showdown.
IBA junior flyweight champion Wendy “Little Thunder” Rodriguez
(18-4, 3 KOs), of Los Angeles, will be seeking revenge against
Hollie “Hot Stuff” Dunaway in their 10-round clash for the vacant
IBA strawweight and IFBA mini-flyweight championships. Rodriguez,
lost an eight-round decision March 15, 2007 to Dunaway (21-6, 10
KOs), the reigning WIBF-GBU/WIBC minimumweight title-holder and NABF
flyweight champion, fighting out of Las Vegas by way of (Van Buren)
Arkansas.
WBC 2007 Fighter of the Year, WBC mininumweight champ Carina “La
Reina” Moreno (11-1, 5 KOs), of Watsonville (CA), meets WIBA
flyweight title-holder Eileen “The Hawaiian Mongoose” Olszewski
(5-0-1), fighting out of New York City by way of Honolulu, in a
10-round fight for the IFBA junior flyweight crown. All fights and
fighters are subject to change.
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