(FEB 2) Two female fighters who
burst on the boxing scene with a great deal of publicity and
expectations, seem, at first glance, to have lived up to those high
hopes. Mary McGee and Maureen Shea debuted within three months of
each other in 2005; McGee from the fight-rich town of Gary, IN and
Shea bearing the mantle of a fighter, with an Irish name, in New
York City.
Since their debuts, the two boxers have, cumulatively,
compiled a record of 29 wins, without a loss. In any other
individual sport, including the sport of Women's boxing, Shea
(13-0-1NC) and McGee (16-0-1NC) would be at or near the top of their
sport. However, mention the name of either fighter in arenas, gyms
or among boxing fans of the women's sport and, shortly, the
conversation heads in the direction: "when is she going to fight
somebody, good." And, at the very least, it's a fair question.
And it's also fair to parse the two unblemished records when the
"somebody, good" comment arises. In Mary McGee's sixteen and Maureen
Shea's thirteen wins, over the three years they have competed as
professional fighters, each boxer has won three bouts against
opponents with winning records.
To be fair, most fighters begin
their professional careers with "easy" match-ups and yet it's
difficult to arrive at any conclusion other than that, over a period
of three plus years and almost thirty professional bouts, Mary McGee
and Maureen Shea have been handled, "very carefully."
Is this a major cause of the decline of the sport of Women's boxing
over the past several years? Of course not. For that, there's a
litany of irresponsible boxing groups, officials and, yes, even some
leading fighters, who have contributed, substantially, to the
malaise that has surrounded the sport almost from the turn of the
last century.
But, it is a fact that two fighters, who have already
had lengthy careers in the sport of Women's boxing, have yet to
compete, consistently, on a level commensurate with their experience
and records.
Put it this way: Mary McGee and Maureen Shea, despite
twenty-nine professional wins between them, have not been in the
forefront of advancing the cause or the reputation of Women's
boxing. There are only a limited number of Holly Holmes, Ann Marie
Saccuratoes, Sophie Ann Mathises, Chevelle Hallbackes and Melissa
Hernandezes. Their bouts, the vast majority of which are against
quality opposition, sometimes against each other, regularly provide
a clear indication of just how good the sport of Women's boxing can
be.
Watch the recent Holm/Lemare or Menzer/Schouten bouts for text
book examples. But these fighters, and those bouts, are examples of
an elite minority of talented female boxers who have fought their
way to the top of their sport, by taking tough fights and winning
against tough opponents.
And, for the sport to have any chance of long term success, it falls
to the remaining professional female fighters, who, today, represent
the deepest talent pool in the history of Women's boxing, to advance
the sport by emulating that "tough fight, tough opponent" strategy.
Because, make no mistake, it is that vast majority of female boxers,
whose biggest struggle is gaining a modicum of acceptance, in the
overall sport of boxing, vis-a-vis their male professional
counterparts.
And that struggle is not aided when two of those
ostensibly talented female fighters spend too large a part of their
three year careers competing against overmatched opposition. This
widens, rather than narrows the gap between male and female boxing
and positions the entire sport of Women's boxing at a comparative
disadvantage.
Are Mary McGee and Maureen Shea talented fighters? It's practically
impossible to determine the answer from the quality of their
opposition. But in boxing, one thing has always been true: as in any
other entertainment or sports business, smart people seldom waste
their time with untalented performers. It doesn't pay and boxing has
always been about payoffs.
Both McGee and Shea have the support of
smart boxing people. McGee is backed by Octavius James, head of the
"One in A Million" organization in Indiana. Shea is guided by Luigi
Olcese, a highly respected New York fight guy. It's fair to assume
that James and Olcese can tell, within the space of time it takes to
watch a couple of workouts in a gym, whether a fighter has a future
in the sport.
And, thus far, for the length of both the McGee and Shea careers, these smart fight guys have stayed with the two
fighters. That's conjecture, of course, and the answer to the talent
question has to come in the ring, in tough fights against tough
opponents. And, thus far, it hasn't come for either McGee or Shea.
There have been hopeful signs, teases. In November 2006, Mary McGee,
7-0 at the time, stepped in with a highly regarded Chicago fighter,
Rita Figueroa, unbeaten in nine bouts. A clash of heads in the third
round stopped the fight with McGee slightly ahead on the judges'
cards. The bout ended a "No Contest."
Figueroa fought once more, a
year later, winning a MD over a 2-5 fighter and has not fought
since. In July 2007, in Reno, NV, Maureen Shea won a six round
decision over Olivia Gerula, in a bout that garnered high praise,
for Shea, from most ringsiders.
Gerula is a veteran fighter and has
been in the ring with some of the top fighters in the lightweight
division: Jelena Mrdjenovich, Jessica Rakoczy and Melissa Del Valle.
She is scheduled to fight Fujin Raika in Japan in March. In that
2007 bout in Reno, Shea came within one round on one judge's card of
a shutout, unanimous decision.
Since that fight, Shea has had two
bouts, a two round and a one round TKO win against overmatched
opposition. Since the Figueroa fight, McGee has had nine bouts,
seven against opposition with losing records. So much for hopeful
signs.
Fighters fight whomever is put in front of them. It's not up to the
fighters to go looking for tough fights, that's the job of the
people guiding those boxers' careers. That's Octavius James and
Luigi Oclese. Maybe James and Olcese don't believe McGee or Shea
have the talent to step up with the top fighters in the sport. I
doubt it.
These smart boxing guys would have bailed out long before
now if that was the case. The talent may be there, but it has yet to
be showcased for either fighter and the fact remains that the talent
level of Mary McGee and Maureen Shea will remain in question unless
and until their careers take a significantly different direction
from what has transpired over their first twenty-nine bouts.
McGee is coming off a two round workout with Jessica Mohs a week
ago. She, currently, has no future bouts scheduled. Shea has a six
round date in Madison Square Garden on February 21, underneath Cotto/Jennings.
As is standard with the Shea management, the opponent has yet to
named. One can hope that, given the "mecca" platform of the Garden,
this might be the anticipated "step up" bout for Shea. In her two
previous Garden appearances, Shea has wins over boxers with 4-6 and
1-5 records.
In baseball, as noted repeatedly throughout the somewhat overpraised
movie, "Bull Durham," the major leagues are often referred to as
"the show." Moving up from the minor leagues to the majors is, in
turn, known as "getting to the show." It's quite possible, maybe
even probable, that Mary McGee and Maureen Shea have the talent to
"get to the show" in Women's boxing. I hope so, because the sport
desperately needs talented fighters competing at a high, competitive
level.
But to date, neither fighter has competed, consistently, on
anything approaching that level. Both fighters compete at 130-140
pounds and it is a weight level stocked with a number of quality
female fighters. The match-ups are out there for these two fighters
or, more properly, the match-ups are out there for Octavius James
and Luigi Olcese. Or, possibly, looking for bold strokes and major
headlines, James and Olcese might consider matching their fighters
with each other.
Such a bout, at the very least, would answer a
number of questions about Mary McGee and Maureen Shea. It might also
be a very good fight. Two unbeaten fighters; two, as yet, largely
untested talents in the sport of Women's boxing: Mary McGee and
Maureen Shea: Two for the Show.
Bernie McCoy