Mrdjenovich decisions St. John!

by Doug Rowe

Edmonton boxer Jelena Mrdjenovich, the new Woman’s International Boxing Federation Lightweight Champion, catapulted herself into the elite of woman’s boxing with a dominant unanimous decision win over Mia St.John before 1600 screaming fans at the Edmonton Shaw Conference Centre on Friday night. The three judges scored the bout 99-92, 97-93, 97-93 all in favour of the Edmonton fighter.

Mrdjenovich, 17-1, 11 KO’s, came out aggressive in the first round, cutting off the ring and used a vicious body attack to take Mia St. John off her game. The pattern continued for the first three rounds. St.John, 43-7-2, 18 KO’s was rarely able to employ her signature movement game, due to Mrdjenovich’s body attack. Although the Edmonton fighter came up from superfeatherweight it was evident early on that she was the stronger fighter.

“I established the jab and worked the body,” said Mrdjenovich. “I think that is the key and the bread and butter of fighting. I think that really threw her off and it took her awhile to get back onto her game plan. Styles make fights, and so what can you do, when the style changes up, you have to change your style.”

Even though St.John, 38, had to make adjustments the crafty veteran was still competitive, as she used every trick in the book to frustrate her younger opponent, including switching to southpaw and using rapid fire right jabs. Mrdjenovich, 23, appeared to hurt, St. John with a big left hook in the sixth round, but the California fighter was able to hold on and weather the storm.

St.John, who has been in with the best, including Christy Martin, and Holly Holm, gave the young star her due after the fight.

“She is a great fighter, and I wish her all the best and have nothing but respect for her,” said the former champion. “I see her at that (elite) level. She is young and has so much time. She is so young. I think she is going to have one hell of a career. I think that Jelena is the type of girl that will be a success, no matter what she does. That is just a given.”

St. John, who was pleased with her own performance, used every tactical strategy she could muster to turn the fight in her favour.

“I was using everything I could,” said St.John. “You know she is a lot younger. Tomorrow I turn 39, I am just happy that I can keep up with the best. I am just grateful for that.”

Mrdjenovich who is also the WBC and IWBF Superfeatherweight champion must now decide whether to fight as a lightweight or go back down to superfeatherweight. Although Mrdjenovich was non-committal after the bout, it seems logical that she will drop back down, as she walks at 135.

The Edmonton fighter was extremely impressed with how well St.John took the body shots. In the eighth round St.John called Mrdjenovich in to pound on her body.

“I have to give it to her she can take one good body shot,” said the champion. “This is what a lot of girls lack in female boxing. She can sure take a punch, for someone who has had two kids as well.”

In the semi-main event Jeannine Garside had to rally the last two rounds to pull out a majority-decision draw and retain her WIBA Super Bantamweight title against Lisa Brown.

Last September Garside, 5-0-1, 2 KO’s dominated Brown, 12-2-3, 4 KO’s, to win the title. The rematch was a completely different story. Brown, who paid dearly in the first bout for reaching in, fought a much smarter fight and forced Garside to make huge adjustments. To start the bout it was Garside this time, who was reaching in, missing with wild shots and being countered. Brown won the first three rounds of the bout setting the pace with effective aggression, getting off first and landing harder and more frequently. Garside made her first adjustment in the fourth round sitting back and counterpunching the shorter Brown. In the fifth round both fighters came out firing. The round was even heading into the last 30 seconds, but Brown may have stolen the round with a good combination just before the bell. The sixth round saw Garside fighting a much more tactical battle as she was able to find her range landing big right hooks and overhand lefts. The seventh round was very close Garside pinned Brown on the ropes but Toronto fighter rallied driving the Windsor fighter backwards. The round could have gone to either fighter. Brown took the eighth round with effective aggression and overhand lefts. Garside came out in the ninth round, throwing for the ceiling like she knew she needed something big. The two women stood toe-to-toe for the last thirty seconds. Garside’s physical strength won the round for her. The last round was a thing of beauty, and has to be considered for round of the year, as both women stood in the trenches for the entire two minutes. Garside would land the big overhand left and Brown would counter with the right hook; as the two southpaws exchanged punch for punch. But by the end of the round Garside seemed to hurt Brown and was the one who was forcing her opponent backwards.

The three judges had it 95-95 twice, and 96-94 for Brown. Fightnews scored it 96-94 for Brown, but the seventh round could have gone to either fighter depending on what you like, so the draw was a fair decision.

Both women felt they won the fight.

“I thought I was pacing myself,” said Garside. “I thought I was taking the rounds. I had her back to the ropes and I had her hurt three times in the fight. I am confused. What they want is to see me fight her again and that’s fine. There will not be any question the next time I fight her. I has nothing to do with revenge, it just has to do with who is the champ, and I am the champ!”

Brown thought she was the clear winner.

“It was robbery,” said Brown, 35. “I came out to fight, I did what I had to do . . . I come and give the fight of my life and they call it a draw. I can’t believe it.”

The Toronto fighter felt she made the right modifications to her game, from her first bout with Garside.

“The first time I fought her, I wasn’t in shape,” said the former champion. “I had so much going on I wasn’t mentally in shape, mentally and physically. This time I actually got my game together and I was hungry. So I came out to put on the best fight of my life.”

When they fought last September, Garside, 28, with only three professional bouts, looked like the more polished fighter. This time the roles were reversed. The taller Garside did not employ her jab effectively, had trouble with footwork and balance, was reaching in and loading up and missing. A third contest will definitely be interesting.

In the first bout of the evening Edmonton’s Cora Sipe, improved to 1-1, with a unanimous decision win over Wendy Roy, 0-1, of Vancouver. The fight was competitive up to the third round when Sipe’s power took over as she rocked Roy with a left hook followed by an overhand right. Sipe would rock Roy again with the same combination in the fourth round to post the 39-37, 40-36, 40-36 win.

Courtesy of FightNews.com



Ring of Their Own:" The Good Fight
By Bernie McCoy
June 18, 2006
©Photo by Sue TL Fox
at A Ring of Their Own  card

 

(JUNE 18) "It's time for the girls to stop being made a side show attraction for the men and have a platform of their own. There's a tremendous number of talented women boxers who can't get fights on a regular basis. We're going to change all that." It was January 2005 and this was Arnie "Tokyo" Rosenthal, longtime boxing promoter and broadcaster. Rosenthal was referencing the soon-to-be-launched women's boxing program, "A Ring of Their Own" that he had co-founded with Ken Weiss under the banner of Rock and Sock Productions. After nearly eighteen months, with "A Ring of Their Own" on the verge of the tenth program in the series, it's a fair time to assess the impact of the program on the sport of Women's boxing.

Has this ambitious program "change(d) all that"? The objective answer is "No", the sport continues to suffer from many of the ills that existed when Rock and Sock presented their first show on January 29, 2005: the top fighters in the sport continue, for the most part, to avoid climbing into the ring with each other; there continues to be a dearth of mainstream media coverage of the sport, particularly "live" TV coverage of female bouts; and many of the best fighters continue to be reluctant to leave the protective cocoons of their hometown venues to take fights. Thus, in the year and a half since "A Ring of Their Own" debuted, it has been, unfortunately, business as usual for the sport of Women's boxing. However, when it comes to assessing blame for the malaise that continues to plague the sport, one would do well to look elsewhere rather than at "A Ring Of Their Own". Arnie Rosenthal, Ken Weiss and company have fought the good fight in their attempt to improve the fortunes of the sport.

Over the initial nine "A Ring of Their Own" boxing cards, fans of Women's boxing have been treated to bouts that have featured, for the most part, competitive fights between well matched and skilled female boxers. Has every fight been a bell-to-bell, action-packed, crowd-on-their-feet bout? No! But the vast majority of those bouts, on the nine cards, have featured boxers who know how to box, who do not embarrass themselves or their sport in the ring. The resulting bouts have usually produced, in those watching, a single thought: "this is a good fight, not just a good female fight.  A good fight."

 

And if you don't think that's a step in the right direction, take a look at any recent week's schedule of female boxing bouts, or better, examine the "competitive" nature of the recent seven bouts of the self proclaimed "face" of Women's boxing. That, of course, would be the female fighter with the most famous last name in the sport of boxing, the fighter who, in a display of disingenuous irony, recently proclaimed to New York Daily News writer, Tim Smith, "one of the big problems with the sport of Women's boxing is that the good fighters don't fight each other." In comparison to the usual fare of female boxing bouts and the last several years of Laila Ali's ring activity, the nine boxing cards presented on "A Ring of Their Own" have been a veritable gold standard of good, watchable, competitive female bouts.

And yet, the television exposure of "A Ring of Their Own" has fallen far short of the original aim of the promoters. No television network, over-the-air or cable, has picked up the show on a regular basis. Earlier this year, the telecasts devolved to weekly one hour telecasts, a reduction from the original TV incarnation, a two hour syndicated telecast of each boxing show. Even with the condensed TV version, "A Ring of Their Own" telecasts remain limited form a coverage standpoint. For example, the shows have long lacked a local outlet in the New York TV market, the country's largest. However, it should be noted that a lack of TV coverage is not the sole province of "A Ring of Their Own". The entire sport of Women's boxing has suffered thru a period of benign neglect in terms of coverage from mainstream TV and it is to Rock and Sock Productions' credit that they have continued to produce a telecast of their bouts. They have done this with scant help from the boxing establishment or mainstream media outlets and yet there has been a consistent and compelling quality to most of the fights presented on the nine cards. Rock and Sock Productions has, indeed, fought the good fight.

And on this coming Friday night, June 23, they will continue that good fight with two strong female boxing match-ups. Returning to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, "A Ring of Their Own" has scheduled bouts featuring three top ranked Canadian fighters along with one of the best known names in the sport. That "name" comes in the person of Mia St. John, making her boxing debut for Rock and Sock Productions. St. John will face off against Jelena Mrdjenovich, the highly regarded lightweight from Edmonton. In the other bout, Lisa "Bad News" Brown will attempt to regain her super bantamweight title from Jeannine Garside, who took the title from Brown last November in a featured bout on "A Ring of Their Own" card.

I spoke with all four fighters, recently, by phone, from their various locales and they are all looking forward to June 23 in Edmonton. Lisa Brown, now living in Ontario, speaks with the lilt of her native Trinidad, "I took the first fight for granted. That was a mistake. I've watched the film, over and again and, believe me I know exactly what to do this time. I've been eating, sleeping and thinking about the return bout almost from the day after the first fight. I got yelled at by (husband/trainer) Errol and even by my sponsor, Nu-Life Nutrition. So yeah, this next time will be different. I don't like to be yelled at."

Jeannine Garside, who took time out from gardening at her home in Windsor, Ontario, to talk on the phone, not surprisingly, had a bit of a different "take" on the upcoming bout: "I received a lot of advice about the first fight with Lisa, including it was too soon to take a fight like that. When I won, it was considered an upset by a lot of people, except one, me. I had a lot of confidence going into the bout. You have to have that in this sport. I feel exactly the same way about the second bout, confident." The first bout was surprising, as much for the margin by which Garside won (99-90, 98-90, 98-91) as for the fact that Garside, with only three pro fights, was able to handle Brown, a veteran of 16 bouts. The return match-up will probably be closer, since Brown, a veteran fighter, has shown the ability to learn from tough fights. She came back from a draw with Kelli Cofer in July 2003 to win a decision two years later. A Garside/Brown bout is a potential main event on any boxing card in the country.

The actual "main go" on the June 23 program features Jelena Mrdjenovich, 23 years old, sixteen fights, against Mia St. John, 38 years old, 51 fights. St. John, in the late stages of a ten year boxing career, has recently stepped in with some of the top fighters in the lightweight division, and, having done TV commentary on previous Mrdjenovich bouts, knows her opponent to be "young and aggressive". St. John notes that she is very happy with the scheduled ten round distance: "I'm, historically, a slow starter and I like to move around as I get into the rhythm of the bout. I think my experience will pay off the longer the fight goes, so I very much prefer ten rounds." St. John readily concedes that the end of her boxing career is in sight, "Not too much longer, maybe one or two more fights. I know for a fact I won't be fighting when I'm 40."

Jelena Mrdjenovich knows that St. John is, by far, the most experienced boxer she has faced. "She moves well and I'll try to pick my spots as the fight progresses and, at some point, move in and try to land some big punches. I'll be at 135, the heaviest I've ever been in the ring and that may take a bit of getting used to. It will be an interesting fight, I'm really looking forward to it. After that, I hope to be able to answer some of the challenges that have come my way from fighters in Canada and the U. S. All are interesting opportunities, but right now, Mia St. John is the most interesting.

Asked about "A Ring of Their Own" and the effect the program has had on the sport of Women's boxing, Garside, Mrdjenovich and Brown agreed that Rock and Sock Productions have done as much, and probably more, as any promoter to the further the sport by providing a platform where female fighters are the main attraction. St. John, perhaps exhibiting the pragmatism of a fighter who has been around much longer than the other three fighters, tempered her praise just a bit. "They (Rock and Sock) are promoters, pure and simple. I'm glad they're supporting the sport, but, bottom line, like all of us, they're in this business to make money and the niche they've chosen is Women's boxing." St. John's comments are clear-eyed and possess a refreshing candor, reflecting the thinking of a veteran boxer who has, over ten active years, in and out of the ring, seen every facet, good and bad, that exists in the sport. The truth of the matter regarding the impact of "A Ring of Their Own" on the sport is probably somewhere in between the two views.

Certainly, Rock and Sock Productions is in the boxing business to make money and they have chosen a previously uncovered and largely neglected sport within which to operate. They are, as St. John said, "boxing promoters, pure and simple" and that label has encompassed, over the years, both admirable and not so admirable attributes. Over the past eighteen months and nine boxing programs, Rock and Sock has had success and they have experienced pitfalls along a rocky road of marketing the sport of Women's boxing. They've done it, largely, alone, and as with any fledgling enterprise, in any business, they've made their share of mistakes and experienced their share of successes. To my eye, the successes have outnumbered the mistakes and, like the vast majority of female fighters who have stepped into the ring for Rock and Sock Productions, "A Ring of Their Own" has fought the good fight. They continue on June 23, doing exactly what they've done best, presenting compelling female boxing bouts. And if hard work, quality fighters and competitive bouts are a path to success, "A Ring of Their Own" and the sport of Women's boxing may soon be looking a better days. Bernie McCoy

Reprinted courtesy of www.WBAN.com

Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal

While there are some promoters who occasionally feature all women's cards, “Rock & Sock Productions” is the only production company that does it exclusively, and as an ongoing series.  According to Ken Weiss, Arnie Rosenthal’s business partner and forever friend “Our ID is "A Ring of Their Own - The ONLY All Women's Boxing Series."

Rock & Sock Productions & A Ring Of Their Own are probably the largest promoters of women’s boxing in the States and the only company that consistently features all women cards and gets them televised.

 

We took the muzzle off of Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal - promoter, manager, broadcaster, announcer, and musician – and he gave us some straight talk. No one is spared. Oh yeah… sometimes Arnie attributes his remarks to his cat Kramer (when asked for comment, Kramer ignored us).

Kramer “Claws of Fire” Rosenthal

When we remarked about the scratches on Kramer’s nose Arnie responded:

“Kramer's nose was never perfect. His short boxing career left him a little scarred. But he worked it into a successful broadcasting career.” (Hmmmm… Arnie, are you sure you’re talking about the cat?)

Jill: What first brought you to boxing?

Arnie: I came from a fanatic boxing household and was born 10 minutes after Jersy Joe Walcott knocked out Ezzard Charles to win the heavyweight championship and was promptly named Arnie after Walcott's real name. I boxed amateur and still train. I ran a TV sports Network (SCORE) from 1985-1991 and we carried a lot of boxing. Therefore I knew all the promoters. I also began commentating boxing then on our network. I began managing fighters as a hobby in 1989. Shortly after FNN was sold to CNBC one of my fighters (James Warring)
won the world title and the next thing I knew I had 10 fighters and continued commentating boxing on a regular basis.

Jill: What’s the reasoning behind A Ring Of Their Own?

Arnie: Over the years I managed about 50 fighters and had 6 world champions including Bobby Czyz. Meanwhile I had started a company with my partner Kenny Weiss called Rock and Sock Productions to promote music, boxing, PPV events, etc. We had been promoting a lot of men’s boxing in Nevada and all the time the Casinos wanted at least one women's fight on the card. We began to notice how the women's fights were the best received and most exciting of the night. One time, very nervously we put two women's bouts on a card and once again they were the best of the night. We also noticed that the quality of the fighters was improving and that no one was organizing the women or televising them on a regular basis. So around September of 2004 we came up with the idea for AROTO and did our first show in January of 2005 in Las Vegas and it took off from there.  In May of 2005, Stuart Breslow joined our partnership and the core “A Ring Of Their Own” team was complete.  We are now televised weekly in 40 million homes in the US and have distribution internationally as well.

Jill: How has Women's Boxing changed since you began?

Arnie: It's changed on many different levels. First the public perception is no longer that it’s a side show attraction to the men’s bouts. Women’s fights can and do stand on there own and are often the main event on cards that feature men in the preliminary bouts. "Million Dollar Baby" helped quite a bit. I like to think that AROTO helped as well, as we're the only all women's series.

Second, the major governing bodies now rank women and have world titles for women as well. This includes the WBC, WBA, and the NABF.

Finally the quality of the fighters had improved dramatically. It’s no longer women coming out of ‘boxercise’ classes but instead well schooled fighters coming out of the same gyms as the men with the same trainers. We had one show with Floyd Mayweather Sr., Hector Roca and Lennnox Blackmore all working women's corners.
 
Jill: What else do you produce?

Arnie: Our company produces and promotes concerts all over the world. We have a show called "When We Were Fab,” a theatrical concert that pays tribute to The Beatles and the 1960’s.  It tours venues throughout the world.

Jill:  Do you think women boxers will ever be taken as seriously as the men?

Arnie: Yes, if it works for tennis and golf and skating etc, why not boxing? Its all about the marketing and TV exposure.  It won't happen overnight though. But it will happen. The women aren't going away so it has to grow.

Jill: Any awards, citations, to share?

Kramer: I got a citation for speeding in 2002.

Arnie:  We were the WIBA promoters of the year in 2005

Jill: Why have you chosen to work with women athletes?

Kramer:  First because they smell better then the men.

Arnie: Seriously because the opportunity was there to take something that was in flux and organize it; sort of the diamond in the rough theory. Also at this point the women are more fun to work with because they are more passionate about the sport then the men. They aren't in it for the money. They are in it because they want to compete, more of an amateur athlete mentality. They aren't supporting their families from the earnings. There are no ‘opponents’ in women's boxing. Everyone comes to win because the money isn't big enough to just show up. That's why fighters with losing records quite often pull upsets, i.e. the recent loss of Sumaya Anani to Terri Blair.

Jill: Have you ever discouraged someone from fighting?

Arnie: Yes, both men and women - sometimes for medical reasons where I feel that the fighter just shouldn't be hit anymore and should retire, and sometimes if the match up is just plain wrong.

As for pro debuts, I've never discouraged a woman from fighting if she is properly trained but I've discouraged men because the men's side is much more ruthless and a new fighter can get used and abused much too easily and be just an opponent without knowing it.

Jill: Any feelings about the Olympic Committee?

Arnie:  The Olympic Committee really missed the boat in not allowing women's boxing in Beijing. If for no other reason, on the heels of Million Dollar Baby they should have done it. Plus the amateur women's boxing programs throughout the world have grown dramatically. And woman's boxing has headlined in China, not to mention how large it is in Germany, Canada and France and thru South America.

Jill: A great moment?

Arnie: A great moment for me and AROTO was the first show. 10 women, 5 bouts, sold out arena, televised, great press, and a great post fight party. It told me we were on the right track and this could be achieved. It was a great night for us and women's boxing.

Jill: A frustrating moment.

Kramer: A frustrating moment was Leatitia Robinson pulling out of our PPV show last November without cause only to turn up fighting 5 days later in Chicago. It left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Jill: Do you ever feel anxious for your fighters?

Arnie:  All the time. Anyone who has ever walked into a ring to compete knows what it feels like and can't be cavalier about it. That being said I've never put anyone, male or female in a bout that I didn't think they could win. The record of AROTO speaks for itself as for the fairness of our match ups. The less mismatches you make, the less anxious you ever have to feel. But we're not always perfect.

Jill: Any interesting stories to share?

Kramer: Nothing I'd put in writing.

Arnie: Nothing I’d put in writing.

Jill: Tell me about your music.

Arnie: I started playing piano at age 7. But my life really changed the day that The Beatles arrived. All I ever wanted to do after that was to be a musician. At 13 I made a transition to the drums and played my first gig at 14. By the time I reached college I had segued to guitar and played in bands right through to my mid-twenties. I was signed as a song writer with MCA when I was 19 but nothing major ever happened. I continued playing thru my early 40's while living in LA and always thought of my other work as temporary while I plotted my musical comeback. That comeback is in its early stages now. I'm playing out again and writing and recording.

The style of music varies with which instrument I'm playing and what era I was playing in. On guitar I'm most comfortable playing folk rock or country rock and blues. I play lead or rhythm. Piano varies from Jackson Browne type stuff to Procol Harum and some light Jazz. Drums can be anything.

Jill: You're king of the ring -- how would it go down? What’s the perfect card?

Arnie: The perfect fight for AROTO would be one night of the biggest names in women's boxing fighting each other in compelling match ups. That would mean Laila Ali vs.Anne Wolfe, Jeannine Garside vs. Jelena Mrdjenovich, Elena Reid v. Regina Halmich, and a fourth fight TBA on free network TV in prime time. That would be the greatest night in women's boxing history and firmly cement the future of women's boxing. Women's boxing on network TV, that's the ticket.

The WBC Female Championship Committee thanks Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal for his inspiring support of women’s boxing. We would also like to thank Kramer the cat for taking the heat.
  
(As a sidebar – there are rumors that no one has ever seen Arnie and Kramer together – I wonder..?)

 

Satisfaction and Asa Sandell

by Robert Mladinich