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 Laila’s World: Pound for Pound the Best Female Fighter
By David A. Avila (April 20, 2003)
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Today’s best female fighter in the world is Laila Ali. Hands down, there should no argument, she has dominated her division by eliminating almost all of the competitors that had earlier dissed her like yesterday’s cheese sandwich.
She’s not the fighter who arrived at the Universal Amphitheater in 2000 against a wild swinging grandmother and looked rather ordinary. Now she’s a bullet-proof super middleweight who displays speed, power and technical skills.
“It makes me feel good that people feel I’m the best female fighter out there. I feel that way about myself. It’s nice to know other people agree. But there’s a lot more for them to come and see,” said Ali (14-0).
Like her male counterpart Oscar De La Hoya, you can’t be fooled by her eye-catching looks and think she’s all hype. Once you step into the ring against either fighter you are going to be facing a fighter with incredible hand speed, power and the technical know-how to utilize those assets with deadly precision.
“I have improved a lot, but it took time,” said Ali, who grimaces when reminded of her fight against a wild swinging grandmother back in 2000. “Nobody is going to look good against a person swinging wild. Second, I just had my shoulder surgery on my arms and didn’t want to make it public. Now that it’s healed, I’ve been able to improve a lot. It held me back a lot on my training. My arms are my weapons.”
With impressive victories over Kendra Lenhart, Jackie Frazier-Lyde and Valerie Mahfood, the razor sharp punching Ali, who is trained by Roger Mayweather, has eliminated most of her divisional competition and is looking for an opportunity to showcase her tools outside of her division if necessary.
CHRISTY OR LUCIA
Rumors had been flying that Christy Martin or Lucia Rijker had been asking for a match against the 168-pound world champion.
“What happened was she (Martin) said she wanted to fight me,” said Ali. “ For one, she is not in my weight class. They think she can come up from 130 to 160. If she wants to she can gain weight. It won’t be that hard. She walks around at 155.”
Martin allegedly changed her mind when Ali said she would not lose weight for a $1 million.
“We can make it happen but they don’t understand the business” Ali said.
Rijker is another story.
“I’d fight her. She probably is crazy enough to think she could beat me,” Ali said. “Christy knows she can’t beat me, she’s just a good business woman. Lucia probably would think she could beat me.”
Like her father, Muhammad Ali, she believes in her ability 100 percent and is fearless. Picking out an opponent is one thing, but having to find a fighter that could bring a healthy payday is another. Ali wants both a good payday and a challenging opponent.
“It’s hard for me because the bigger girls in my weight class aren’t as skilled. Not only that, but they’re no challenge for me,” she said. “Of course I can’t just fight people that are going to be easy. These girls that I fought were supposed to be world champions and it’s like I’m playing with them.”
The coming out party for Ali in terms of recognition was her fight against Mahfood for two super middleweight titles.
It took place at the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in an outdoor event that was threatened by rain. But the only rain the fight fans saw that night were the rain of jabs Ali dropped on the aggressive Mahfood round after round.
Though soundly thrashed, Mahfood, a Texas jailer outside the ring, bravely tried her best to compete with the speedier Ali. But to no avail. A punishing combination by Ali impressed some of the female fighters in attendance such as Elena Reid, who also can punch.
“She was awesome,” said Reid.
That fight was televised on ESPN2 and gave American audiences a chance to see the pretty prizefighter in real action against a world class fighter instead of a television commercial. She passed the audition with ease.Now she wants to fight Anne Wolfe, the only other fighter with a super middleweight belt -Ali has three titles-and a handful of others before she closes her career.
“I see a lot of girls with talent but not anybody that really impresses me all the way around,” she said. “I focus on being the best and to keep dominating.”
WOMEN BOXING'S BEST - POUND FOR POUND
So who are the best fighters Pound for Pound in the women’s boxing?
Because of a dearth of female fighters, the list is smaller than the men’s.
Here is the Top Six:
1. Laila Ali (14-0), a super middleweight, is the best fighter Pound for Pound in female prizefighting. During the last year she dominated against several world title-holders and is gunning for more. There are only a few who could give her a challenge. Right now the only person that can beat Ali is Ali.
2. Lucia Rijker (15-0), a junior welterweight, used to be considered the very best by knowledgeable fight fans, but her lack of fights in the last four years has left many wondering if she has anything left. She was supposed to fight on the Palace fight card but has been replaced. Ali replaces Rijker as the best in the world.
3. Sumya Anani (22-1-1), a junior welterweight, has a win over Christy
Martin and that is something to brag about. Though several other women have given Martin tough fights, only Anani has scored a victory. She recently beat a tough fighter in Fredia Gibbs.
4. Laura Serrano (15-1-2) No longer undefeated, Serrano, after facing some of the best fighters in the world, lost an unpopular decision to Isra Girgrah recently. In her very first pro fight she fought Christy Martin to a draw, that alone gives the Mexican fighter a legitimate claim as one of the best Pound for Pound female fighters.
5. Christy Martin (45-2-2), though not as dominate as before, has more fights than any other female fighter and the experience that goes with it.
She may have looked flat against Mia Rosales-St. John, but the Southern
California fighter surprised everybody that night.
6. Melissa Del Valle (27-0-1), a junior featherweight, bounces around different weight divisions but still manages to bounce opponents out of the ring. Now in her 30s, Del Valle still has time to prove how good she is. Her last big win was a recent decisive victory over Ada Velez. That couldn’t have been easy for any fighter.
The remaining group of fighters are on the periphery and much too close in talent to judge accurately. Perhaps in the coming year another half dozen or so will emerge to show what they can do.
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