What Gives? No TV for Women’s Boxing (Part Two)

Published

12 years ago

March 6, 2013

I’ve had about a week to think about it, and I still don’t get it. Women’s boxing is more appealing to me than all the other women’s sports that are getting televised, stuff like women’s basketball or golf. I mean, it’s boxing. You had me there, television…so why no women’s boxing? Did those sports go through the same thing? I mean, should golf (men or women) even be televised in the first place? Sigh.

I digress. In part one of this reflection, the wife told me women’s boxing doesn’t make it to television because the bigwig program directors simply don’t know what they’re doing. Flyweight champion Ava Knight echoed the very same sentiment. She told me no one will give her, or her talented cohort of contemporaries, a chance. Give us a chance, she says. A chance!

Still, I’m a fair-minded man. Two or three people saying the same thing doesn’t make it fact, so I decided to reach out to a few more people I know about the situation. First up was Kaliesha West, one of the top women champions in the sport today.

What do you think about it, Kaliesha? Why can’t women’s boxing get on TV?

“I’ve heard so many different reasons and they all sound the same. They all sound like someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. They’re just looking for an answer to shut-up whoever is asking the question. We need someone on top in boxing who knows what they’re talking about to coordinate female matches on every single major undercard there is…and to make sure it’s a female fighter who’s on top of her stuff, who knows what she’s doing. But they won’t do that. They’re just following the same thing that has been going on for years. And everyone is afraid to break it. No one has enough juevos to stand up, put it on and promote it.”

So far, Kaliesha seems to be on the same page as my wife and Ava. Still, I say, what happened? Remember the glory days of women’s boxing, Kaliesha? Laila Ali and Mia St. Jo—

“NO! What happened in those days was Mia St. John was on the cover of Playboy. Laila Ali is Laila Ali. All she had to do was say she wanted to be a tennis player and she’d been a famous tennis player, or a racquetball player and she’d been a famous racquetball player. Her name is what speaks. She had no amateur background, and she became a champion by fighting a lot ducks. Then you had Christy Martin, who was that diamond in the rough who had skill like the men. She’d go in there with girls who’d fight like it was a street fight or something, so yeah, she’d go in there and look spectacular, she looked great. She was a lot like female fighters who fight today, who fight great—today. But there has been no era of female boxing. There’s never been an era of female’s boxing!”

By now, I’m sort of afraid to ask anything more. West is practically screaming at me so I sheepishly ask what can change the sport for the better, mostly so I don’t have to talk for very long.

“It’s gonna take someone special. Someone who not only knows the science behind it, but someone who knows how to be a true champion in and out of the ring. It’s gonna take someone who not only represents women’s boxing, but also never lets it go unknown that the state of women’s boxing is crap.”

Maybe she’s calmed down a bit, or maybe my bravery is now buoyed by the realization that I’m phone with her and not within her physical reach, but I ask her about Ali again. Hasn’t she had that pedestal? Wouldn’t she speak up if it were really that bad?

“Laila Ali is about Laila Ali. I mean, if it doesn’t pertain to her, she isn’t interested. If I was in her shoes and I had a girl to come up to me who was world champion and tell her the struggle, I would feel for her and try to help. I would fight for her and the dozens other like. Just like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Just like that female tennis player, Billy Jean King. That special type of person is not on that platform right now.”

What West tells me isn’t all doom and gloom, just most of it. She says she’s excited for the new opportunities women are finding in the amateur game right now. She says it’s something that has never really been afforded women in the past, and she had tremendous things to say about our United States gold medalist Claressa Shields.

“I love Claressa Shields. She’s a real champion. She’s been knocking people out all over!”

Still, West knows what Claressa knows: it’s not just winning that matters. Despite being the first and possibly greatest female amateur boxer in the history of the United States, it isn’t Shields who received the most attention, it was bronze medalist Marlen Esparza.

I tell West my wife and I were surprised about what happened after the Olympics, or rather what didn’t happen. Claressa Shields was widely ignored. She wasn’t offered even half the slew of endorsements Marlen received before the Olympics started, and she wasn’t offered anything substantial enough by a boxing promoter to leave the amateur scene all together. What gives? Why didn’t the first appearance of women’s boxing in the Olympics really do anything for the sport?

“Honestly, I didn’t expect anything. You know why? Because I knew the one who was getting the love and getting attention was not going to open her mouth for the rest of us.”

What can be done, Kaliesha?

“There is nothing anyone can do unless they’re that lucky favorite. Marlen is the lucky favorite. She’s got entertainment and Hollywood behind her. It’s so sad the way it is for Claressa. She’s not getting endorsements the way she should be. But she’s young enough to turn into another Anne Wolfe…but even ten times better! She knows a little of what it is like for the professionals now. She won a gold medal and it was empty at the top. We won world titles in other countries and it was empty at the top. Thank God she’s young enough…”

Damn, Kaliesha. Damn.

Truth be told, Kaliesha is one of the most entertaining fighters I’ve ever talked to in the sport. She brings everything to the table. She’s smart, genial and she knows how to stir things up. She’s Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Emilia Earhart. She’s fascinating to the point of proving all on her very own that the naysayers are wrong about women’s boxing. I stumbled across a feature done on her in the UK for a sports magazine program called Trans World Sport. Basically, it took the producers about 13 minutes to put every single U.S. television outlet to shame. The dynamic between the fighter and her father/trainer, Juan West, is Shane and Jack Mosley times ten. The feature shows a fighter more interesting than a prime Oscar De La Hoya ever was, yet she continues to languish in relative obscurity because the programming decision-makers are refusing to look for anything other than the next male boxing star.

I finish up my foray into questioning the powers that be with a discussion with Kaliesha’s father. Juan West was a boxing champion in the Navy and fought six fights as a professional before deciding to become a trainer. He’s helped bring along several notable amateur and professional fighters, including heavyweight Chris Arreola. Maybe he’ll paint a more positive outlook on the situation women are facing.

“The world of boxing is full of hustlers and frauds. I’ve had fighters who began training ten years after Kaliesha and they were televised first. They didn’t have the style, the charisma or the skillset she has. They were just male.”

Nope. Juan paints as bleak a picture as ever. He wants to get Kaliesha on television but opportunities to do so are few and far between. It’s almost impossible, he tells me.

“It’s a monopoly for men. Women just have to fall into a slot. They have to be on standby and be lucky and end up on television by coincidence. As far as on purpose? It’s been impossible. Kaliesha has been televised about six or seven times now, always in other countries. Never in the United States. It’s a shame.”

But why is this happening?

“Lately, the promoters have just been pretty much chauvinistic thinking the women in the world aren’t worthy of being on television. I know that if anyone would have watched Claressa Shields in there winning her gold medal, they’d have seen a fighter just as good as Mike Tyson in there at destroying women bigger than her. That right there should’ve been the grand opening but it didn’t open any doors for women. People aren’t’ going to view what they don’t know anything about, so they’re going to have take those fighters like Kaliesha, Claressa Shields and Ava Knight, the ones that are extraordinary, and follow their careers.”

Juan tells me he and Kaliesha are happy to talk to me. He says the two can be as open and honest about the situation as anyone because they have absolutely nothing to lose. Let that sink in for a second. She’s one of the more recognizable women in the sport, the bantamweight champion, and she’s got nothing to lose.

Nothing.

At the end of things, I believe I am convinced. Something has to give for the women to be successful, and that something has to be us. We need to support them, and where television networks or promoters or advertisers are refusing to do so, we should demand it. It’s something that has to be done. Women deserve just as fair a shake as men do in the sport. And let’s face it, the standard of fairness in our beloved boxing is already set so low, it can’t be too difficult to achieve.

My dear friends, I can’t tell you how often my eyes have been subjected to a bout between two men who didn’t deserve to be fighting on television. There simply has to be room, then, for a few women who do.

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Kelsey McCarson

Canelo-Berlanga Postscript

Published

2 hours ago

September 16, 2024

The Sweet Science

By TSS Special Correspondent Raymundo Dioses — There was a palpable buzz in the air befitting a mega fight in Las Vegas on a Mexican holiday weekend. Canelo Alvarez retained his unified super middleweight titles against Edgar Berlanga via unanimous decision at the T-Mobile Arena in front of a sold-out crowd who were treated to a one-sided, yet never boring contest.

Although Canelo, (62-2-2, 39 KOs) remains devoid of a knockout win dating back to November 2021 against Caleb Plant, there was plenty to like about his performance and enough offense being thrown his way by Berlanga to produce an entertaining fight.

It was about as jovial a crowd as any for a fight night and despite the wide scores (118-109, 118-109, 117-110) as well as Berlanga getting a “caught with his lead hand down’ moment” which enabled Canelo to score an early knockdown, the young Puerto Rican made a positive impression in his first title fight, his first main event pay-per-view, and his first Sin City atmosphere which can make or break a fighter.

“My experience, my talent, my hard work (was the difference). Everything together, because if you have a talent and you don’t have discipline you have nothing. If you have discipline and you don’t have talent you have nothing. So you need to combine both and hard work,” Canelo would say in the post-fight in-ring interview with Jim Gray. Canelo would go on to relay that message to Berlanga and tell his most recent adversary that he sees him as a future champion.

There was talk around town and the sports world that the Spherical ‘Noche UFC’ event a few miles down the road would take some of the flair away from the PBC on Prime Video event which featured a $90 price with the B-side fighter Berlanga gloving up against an 18/1 favorite in Canelo.

Yet when all was said and done, 20,312 boxing fans were provided a good show with a decent undercard that saw Erislandy Lara retaining his WBA middleweight title against Danny Garcia via stoppage, plus an entertaining Caleb Plant-Trevor McCumby match won by Plant via TKO, and a first- time title challenger in Berlanga who didn’t show up to lay down against a top pound-for-pound fighter despite having literally all the odds stacked against him.

The post-fight press conference was held following T-Mobile Arena staff impressively breaking down the ring and transforming the canvas into a stage for fighters and their camps to react to the night’s proceedings. Up to the dais first were Plant and Lara, two veterans of the sport. Plant has made himself into a fan favorite with impressive performances throughout the years including solid showings in his only defeats in bouts with Canelo and David Benavidez. Lara spoke through an interpreter and thanked everyone involved in the win that solidifies him as the sport’s oldest title-holder at 41 years of age.

Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) preceded Canelo to the mic and had Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and his team alongside him. The press showed great respect to Berlanga who said that he felt 50/50 towards the event and its outcome, knowing that while his first career loss was registered, he knows that the performance that he delivered was of the type that often propels the B-side fighter into more big fights and lucrative paydays (see Caleb Plant).

Reminiscent of a champion-last ring walk, Canelo arrived with his team and after the obligatory “thank you” to all involved, spoke briefly on a next possible opponent and was asked about the UFC fight that that took place the same night.

A media member brought up ‘Noche UFC’ sponsor Turki Alalshikh’s comments about a matchup between Canelo and fellow top pound-for-pound fighter Terence Crawford.

After once again filling up the T-Mobile Arena while headlining a pay-per-view event and securing a payday perhaps upwards of $50 million, Canelo’s response to Alalshikh was perhaps his best punch of the night:

“No comment.”

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Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

David A. Avila

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Canelo Proves Too Canny and Tough for Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas

Never underestimate a Puerto Rico versus Mexico fight.

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez needed all 12 rounds to defeat Puerto Rico’s super strong Edgar Berlanga and retain the unified super middleweight championship on Saturday.

Berlanga never quit.

“He’s very strong,” Canelo said.

Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) showed that championship fighting is like high-speed chess and Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) did not have enough moves to out-wit the Mexican redhead at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Especially on Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Despite an early knockdown by a Canelo left hook, Berlanga was able to survive the Mexican fighter’s onslaught and withstand punishment that could have felled a rhinoceros.

“I got a little bit of Mexican in me,” Berlanga joked.

During an exchange in the third round Alvarez snapped a quick left hook that timed the Puerto Rican perfectly. Down he went for only the second time in his career. But he got up quickly and rallied a bit in the round.

It was the theme of the fight.

Every time Alvarez scored heavy with combinations to the head and body, Berlanga responded back as much as possible. He never wilted though he had plenty of opportunities.

It was a methodical attack by the Mexican champion that kept Berlanga guessing in every round. The Puerto Rican tried firing back and using his height and reach but Alvarez was always a step ahead.

Berlanga managed to score, but he never could mount a long rally. In the fifth round Berlanga used rough tactics including a head butt that angered Alvarez. It was the first time the Boricua was able to connect heavily.

But Alvarez proved too canny for Berlanga. The Mexican redhead who has won world titles as a super welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight, showed off his experience. The Puerto Rican could only absorb the blows and retaliate. But his strength was impressive.

“He will be a champion,” said Alvarez.

After 12 back-and-forth rounds, both hugged like old friends. It was exactly the type of fight Alvarez wanted for the thousands of Mexican and Puerto Rican fans at the arena and worldwide.

Alvarez was deemed the winner by unanimous decision 117-110, 118-109 twice and retains the world titles.

“I did good,” said Alvarez. “I’m the best fighter in the world.”

Berlanga was gracious in defeat.

“I could have done a lot more, but I was fighting a legend,” Berlanga said.

Other Fights

After nine rounds of whistles and boos by a disgruntled crowd due to inactivity, Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) fired a lead left cross to drop Danny “Swift” Garcia (37-4). Lara was making the third defense of the WBA middleweight world title he won with a one-punch knockout of Thomas La Manna.

The battle between counter-punchers did not please the fans, but slowly Lara kept Garcia at bay with his sharp right jabs. The Cuban southpaw caught Garcia moving with his hands down with a single strafing left. Down he went for the first time in his career and the fight was ended at the end of the ninth round.

It was the first loss by knockout for Garcia, the former super lightweight and welterweight world titlist.

Plant

Once again Caleb Plant (23-2, 15 KOs) made the fight personal and found Trevor McCumby (28-1, 21 KOs) a worthy challenge for the interim super middleweight title for most of the fight.

It was thoroughly entertaining.

McCumby battered Plant early and put him to the canvas twice, although only the second was ruled a knockdown. A strong left hook to the shoulder caught Plant perfectly and down he went.

That seemed to wake up Plant.

The former super middleweight world titlist who lives in Las Vegas took the fight inside and pinned McCumby to the ropes. Plant went to work from that point on and did not allow his foe another big opportunity.

In the ninth round Plant pinned McCumby against the ropes once again and unloaded a dozen blows that ravaged the Arizona fighter. Referee Allen Huggins stopped the fight at 2:59 of the ninth round.

“Word on the street is I cant fight inside,” said Plant sarcastically.

Rolly Wins

Former lightweight champion Rolly Romero (16-2) proved too experienced for the rugged Manuel Jaimes (16-2-1) who resembles slightly Antonio Margarito. The only problem is he doesn’t punch enough like the Tijuana tornado.

Romero hit and held through much of the fight until the referee warned him repeatedly. Still, Romero was busier and far more accurate than Jaimes. All three judges scored in favor of Romero 99-91.

Photo credit: German Villasenor

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Stephen Fulton Nips Carlos Castro in a Prelude to Canelo vs Berlanga

Published

2 days ago

September 14, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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In his first fight back after being dominated and stopped by pound-for-pound king Naoya Inoue in a fight for super bantamweight supremacy in July of last year, Stephen Fulton nipped upset-minded Carlos Castro, improving to 22-1 (8) in his first start as a featherweight. The verdict was split, with Fulton prevailing by 96-93 and 95-94 with the dissenter favoring Castro 95-94. The decision seemed fair although not in eyes of the predominantly Mexican crowd which booed the decision.

This was an entertaining 10-round fight between two evenly-matched 30-year-old campaigners. Long-time Phoenix resident Castro (30-3) put Fulton on the deck in round five with a counter right hand and Fulton rode his bicycle to shed the cobwebs as the round played out. But the Philadelphian, with new trainer Bozy Ennis in his corner, recuperated well and had a strong sixth round.

In round eight, Castro buckled Fulton’s knees with another straight right, but was unable to press his advantage. The bout served as the “main” prelim to the four-fight PPV card.

—

In a welterweight contest slated for “10,” Mexico City’s Ricardo Salas, a 6/1 underdog, scored a second-round stoppage of Roiman Villa. The end in this slam-bang and all-too-brief skirmish came at the 2:06 mark of round three when Salas, fighting off the ropes, nailed Villa with a perfectly-placed, short right hand. Villa went down for the count.

Salas, whose de facto manager is the ubiquitous Sean Gibbons, improved to 20-2-2 with his 15^th win inside the distance. From Colombia by way of Venezuela, Villa (26-3) was making his first start since being stopped by Boots Ennis in July of last year.

—

In the opener on the PBC YouTube channel, super featherweight Jonathan “Geo” Lopez, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania-born southpaw, won a wide 8-round decision over rugged San Antonio campaigner Richard Medina. Lopez pitched a shutout, winning 80-71 on all three cards, but this was hardly a stroll in the park for him.

Lopez, who improved to 17-0 (12), simply had too much class for Medina. A 20/1 favorite, the Eddy Reynoso-trained boxer hurt Medina at the end of round seven and put him on the canvas in the final round with a straight left hand, but Medina (15-3) kept on plugging away and maintained his distinction of never being stopped.

Also

In an off-TV fight, super middleweight Bek Nurmaganbet, a 26-year-old Kazakh, won his eighth straight inside the distance, improving to 12-0 (10) with a second-round stoppage of SoCal’s Joshua Conley (17-7-1).

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