"Countdown has begun for the biggest fight in female boxing history.
Laila Ali, proclaimed the best fighter on the planet, faces the hard-hitting Christy Martin, who held that distinction for many years until recently.
Both fighters will meet in nine days for the IBA super middleweight title, but more importantly the winner gains distinction as the best women's fighter in the world at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Aug. 23. The fight will be shown live on pay-per-view around the world.
Martin's agreement to fight a much heavier and taller Ali matches more than just the best fighters, it brings together two icons in the sport who may have never met without assistance from another woman icon of the sport.
When Martin stepped in a Detroit arena to face Mia Rosales-St. John last December, before several hundred fans, many boxing observers scoffed at the match. Some experts, including Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, predicted the Mexican-American boxer would not last 30 seconds. Instead, Rosales-St. John moved deftly around the ring much to the chagrin of Martin.
"I sparred only nine rounds before the Mia fight," said Martin (45-2-2, 31 KOs), not wishing to detract from Rosales-St. John's accomplishment of lasting the entire scheduled 10 rounds. "I don't mean that as disrespect to Mia, because I thought Mia fought one hell of a fight. But you know that's not the same Christy Martin."
With a twinkle in her eye, Martin contends she was setting the bait for Ali.
"It brought interest from Laila. Before that fight they would not talk to us," said Martin, 35, who intends to train harder than any fight before. "After that the phone starts ringing."
After hearing of Martin's contention Ali fumed.
"She is going to come up here and try to act liked she tricked me into this fight?" said Ali (15-0, 12 KOs). "I don't want to hear no drama - I don't want to hear no excuses, what I expect is for her to come into the ring."
Ali, 25, the beautiful daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali, scorched through the super middleweight division in the last two years with riveting victories over title-holders who served as minor road bumps for the 5-10 fighter with hand speed, power and looks that can kill.
Though many daughters of famous fighters have entered the ring, only Ali has emerged as comparable to her father in terms of boxing skills. But she hasn't gained her style from her father.
"You can't study my dad and try to be like him. He did so many things wrong," said Ali. "I happened to watch one of his old fights, it was against George Foreman on ESPN, and I was like, God, they were like so slow and so lazy. But the outcome was good, you know what I mean?"
"I've still got my camp trying to show me to do the (Ali) shuffle," said Ali grinning as she recalled the futile attempts. "They tell me ?if you do it Laila you'll blow up.' I'm not thinking about shuffling. I'm thinking about winning."
Ali has picked up three world title belts but has another goal on her mind when she steps into the Mississippi heat next week against Martin.
"It's going to elevate women's boxing," said Ali, who wants to bring her sport to the forefront.
The 168-pound champion has learned much about the sport through her husband and promoter Johnny McClain and through trainer Roger Mayweather. But her father, who is considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, gave her one important tip.
"My dad basically is more concerned about the public and how I'm perceived by the public and not to let my head get too big," Ali said.
"It's great, you have the two most famous women getting in the ring to fight each other," said Rosales-St. John. "Laila is a lot bigger and a lot heavier, but I don't think she can knock out Christy. I don't think anyone can knock out Christy Martin. She's too tough."
"It's going to be really difficult for Christy to get inside that jab of Laila's," said Rosales-St. John. "She's got the best jab."
"I expect a great fight by the two," said Rosales-St. John. "Christy Martin has so much experience. She's been in a lot of tough fights and that should help her against Laila. But Laila is young and so talented. I really think it's going to make boxing history."
There have been comparisons made of the Roy Jones Jr. fight against the heavier John Ruiz, but Ali says it's not an applicable comparison.
"It's not the same situation here. It would be different if I was a slow pressure fighter that didn't know anything and Christy Martin is this great fast fighter. But that's not the case," said Ali. "It's going to seem a little bit silly after the fight. I know she's going to go in there and try and take my head off. Actually, it ain't going to be too silly."
Martin, who has fought professionally since 1989, has more knockout victories than Ali has total fights. The key difference is the size where Ali has dominated her weight class and Martin is entering for the first time in her career.
"The last girls I fought, except for Mia, they were all champions. They're all tough because they all fight their best fight against me. It's their super bowl for everybody," said Martin who feels this kind of experience prepares her for the athletic Ali. "I don't know if I can stop her, she's a big girl. But she might stop herself because she might be so overaggressive and so angry with me that she's going to come in there and punch herself out. I'm going to be in great condition, my experience will kick in and I'll be able to take over in the late rounds."
Ali, who discovered female professional boxing when she saw Martin and Dierdre Gogarty fight in 1996, predicts the fight will be end by knockout.
"I say it won't go past five," said Ali.
As she sat under the shade, looking toward a hill filled with green vegetation, a smile emerged as she contemplated the upcoming fight.
"The best thing about this is we get to throw punches," Ali said. "We get to get in there and actually get it on."
.......................................................
This should be a good cat fight
Laila Ali, proclaimed the best fighter on the planet, faces the hard-hitting Christy Martin, who held that distinction for many years until recently.
Both fighters will meet in nine days for the IBA super middleweight title, but more importantly the winner gains distinction as the best women's fighter in the world at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on Aug. 23. The fight will be shown live on pay-per-view around the world.
Martin's agreement to fight a much heavier and taller Ali matches more than just the best fighters, it brings together two icons in the sport who may have never met without assistance from another woman icon of the sport.
When Martin stepped in a Detroit arena to face Mia Rosales-St. John last December, before several hundred fans, many boxing observers scoffed at the match. Some experts, including Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, predicted the Mexican-American boxer would not last 30 seconds. Instead, Rosales-St. John moved deftly around the ring much to the chagrin of Martin.
"I sparred only nine rounds before the Mia fight," said Martin (45-2-2, 31 KOs), not wishing to detract from Rosales-St. John's accomplishment of lasting the entire scheduled 10 rounds. "I don't mean that as disrespect to Mia, because I thought Mia fought one hell of a fight. But you know that's not the same Christy Martin."
With a twinkle in her eye, Martin contends she was setting the bait for Ali.
"It brought interest from Laila. Before that fight they would not talk to us," said Martin, 35, who intends to train harder than any fight before. "After that the phone starts ringing."
After hearing of Martin's contention Ali fumed.
"She is going to come up here and try to act liked she tricked me into this fight?" said Ali (15-0, 12 KOs). "I don't want to hear no drama - I don't want to hear no excuses, what I expect is for her to come into the ring."
Ali, 25, the beautiful daughter of boxing great Muhammad Ali, scorched through the super middleweight division in the last two years with riveting victories over title-holders who served as minor road bumps for the 5-10 fighter with hand speed, power and looks that can kill.
Though many daughters of famous fighters have entered the ring, only Ali has emerged as comparable to her father in terms of boxing skills. But she hasn't gained her style from her father.
"You can't study my dad and try to be like him. He did so many things wrong," said Ali. "I happened to watch one of his old fights, it was against George Foreman on ESPN, and I was like, God, they were like so slow and so lazy. But the outcome was good, you know what I mean?"
"I've still got my camp trying to show me to do the (Ali) shuffle," said Ali grinning as she recalled the futile attempts. "They tell me ?if you do it Laila you'll blow up.' I'm not thinking about shuffling. I'm thinking about winning."
Ali has picked up three world title belts but has another goal on her mind when she steps into the Mississippi heat next week against Martin.
"It's going to elevate women's boxing," said Ali, who wants to bring her sport to the forefront.
The 168-pound champion has learned much about the sport through her husband and promoter Johnny McClain and through trainer Roger Mayweather. But her father, who is considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, gave her one important tip.
"My dad basically is more concerned about the public and how I'm perceived by the public and not to let my head get too big," Ali said.
"It's great, you have the two most famous women getting in the ring to fight each other," said Rosales-St. John. "Laila is a lot bigger and a lot heavier, but I don't think she can knock out Christy. I don't think anyone can knock out Christy Martin. She's too tough."
"It's going to be really difficult for Christy to get inside that jab of Laila's," said Rosales-St. John. "She's got the best jab."
"I expect a great fight by the two," said Rosales-St. John. "Christy Martin has so much experience. She's been in a lot of tough fights and that should help her against Laila. But Laila is young and so talented. I really think it's going to make boxing history."
There have been comparisons made of the Roy Jones Jr. fight against the heavier John Ruiz, but Ali says it's not an applicable comparison.
"It's not the same situation here. It would be different if I was a slow pressure fighter that didn't know anything and Christy Martin is this great fast fighter. But that's not the case," said Ali. "It's going to seem a little bit silly after the fight. I know she's going to go in there and try and take my head off. Actually, it ain't going to be too silly."
Martin, who has fought professionally since 1989, has more knockout victories than Ali has total fights. The key difference is the size where Ali has dominated her weight class and Martin is entering for the first time in her career.
"The last girls I fought, except for Mia, they were all champions. They're all tough because they all fight their best fight against me. It's their super bowl for everybody," said Martin who feels this kind of experience prepares her for the athletic Ali. "I don't know if I can stop her, she's a big girl. But she might stop herself because she might be so overaggressive and so angry with me that she's going to come in there and punch herself out. I'm going to be in great condition, my experience will kick in and I'll be able to take over in the late rounds."
Ali, who discovered female professional boxing when she saw Martin and Dierdre Gogarty fight in 1996, predicts the fight will be end by knockout.
"I say it won't go past five," said Ali.
As she sat under the shade, looking toward a hill filled with green vegetation, a smile emerged as she contemplated the upcoming fight.
"The best thing about this is we get to throw punches," Ali said. "We get to get in there and actually get it on."
.......................................................
This should be a good cat fight
