(APRIL 7) In a move that will surely shock the "psychic" boxing pundits of yesteryear, WBAN is officially rolling back the reel back to 2005—a time when the
cancellation of one highly-profiled fight was treated with more melodrama than a
daytime soap opera.
Re-visiting an article that I wrote in response to the long-awaited Lucia Rijker
vs. Christy Martin bout that was scrapped due to injury, the media didn't just
report the news; they grabbed their pitchforks and dug in on the news of the
cancellation!
I look back at the "emotionally-charged" eulogies written for the sport two
decades ago, comparing that era’s skepticism to the global powerhouse the sport
has become in April of 2026!
I wrote at the time, “You would have thought someone announced the sky was
falling.” recalling the 2005 media circus. We had writers using the power of the
pen to take jabs at the entire sport because of one cancelled date.
Maybe I had a crystal ball handy when I wrote the following in August of 2005
[excerpts]:
| |
"You would think that someone just announced that the sky is falling, when you go
to various online news sources who have written emotionally-charged articles
about the Lucia Rijker vs. Christy Martin bout that was cancelled due to Rijker
getting an “injury”. One writer on an online boxing site, wrote an article
on the premise of “Does anyone Care” that the fight was
canceled. This sport has proven that it has
continued to grow, and will continue to grow within the amateur and pro ranks.
So chill out media---it is not the end of the world that the Rijker-Martin fight
was cancelled, or that Rijker and Martin should have fought years ago. The sport
will weather through this so-called storm. The sky is not falling." |
|
While 2005 critics questioned if "anyone even cared," the milestones of 2026
provide a resounding answer which is clearly not a reaction that we did not hear
20 plus years ago---telling the media to “chill out.”
Time has proven that not only the sport didn't just weather the 'storm'—with the
skeptics of 2005 who thought the Rijker-Martin cancellation was the end of the
world---we now see In 2026, we aren't just surviving; we're thriving on a global
stage.”
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Moving Forward from 2005: WBAN is happy to report that since 2005,
WBAN went on to established the history-first Independent
WBAN
P4P World Championship titles for
female boxers that were not ever offered to women boxers in 2008; In 2014,
the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame
was created and Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker were both inducted
in the inaugural year of 2014 inducted in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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