(SEPT 17)   Last night at the Twin River Event Center, in Lincoln, Rhode Island, I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend the fights at that event.  I say this because I witnessed yet another great women's boxing match up.

Marcia Agripino (1-0-1) of Groton, Connecticut, and Federica Bianco (2-1) of New York fought each other this night in a non-stop action bout. 

Many things about this fight that were so impressive, but what struck me the most is that both of these ladies had been out of the ring for quite sometime.   Agripino had not fought since 2013, and Bianco hadn't fought since May of 2016.

You would not have known this by the way these two fought last night. Both came forward with the energy and intensity,  that it takes to win a tough fight like this one.  The fourth round was all-action with both ladies were toe-to-toe the duration of the round trading hard punches  with neither one letting up for a second---truly something great to watch, in fact brought tears to my eyes to see all of that heart and determination in there.

I'll admit it is hard for me to be unbiased. Ihave known Marcia personally and we have been sparring partners for a long time.

I know how far she has come to be ready to return to the ring. How great of a person she is inside and outside of boxing, always doing good and helping other people. Its hard to watch someone you know get in there---especially when you know what every aspect of what they are going through feels like, the sounds of the crowd when you land a shot or get hit with one, those bright lights, and the agony when its your opponents hand that gets raised and not your own.

All that being said both of these ladies got in there and left it all in the ring last night.

And if you asked anyone who was there watching the fights---they would tell you that they stole the show.

The final scores were 39-37,39-37, 40-36 a unanimous decision for Federica Bianco.

But there were no losers in this fight, Marcia Agripino got in there and fought her heart out these ladies are what makes boxing great.

Thank you both for putting on an Impressive show and for being a great representation for the sport of women's boxing. It takes a lot to get into that ring and you both did it well last night.