Rijker Out, Anani In; Will Lucia Be Next?
by Jack Dunne (April 23, 2004)
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With Lucia Rijker having withdrawn from her scheduled bout against Lisa Holewyne on the undercard of Saturday’s highly anticipated heavyweight contest between Vitali Klitschko and Corrie Sanders, boxing fans are being treated to an event rarely witnessed as the replacement opponent will be an upgrade.
Stepping in at the last minute will be Sumya Anani, whom unlike late substitutions in the men’s game, brings arguably more to the table than scheduled and also has a more compelling follow-up storyline. Rijker (16-0, 14 KOs), once universally regarded, as the most feared female fighter in the world, may no longer be. Has the intimidating visual of black on attire been replaced by ... Tie-dye?
Though it was Christy Martin who enjoyed the bulk of the attention geared towards women’s boxing in the late 1990’s, it was a converted martial arts competitor from the Netherlands dubbed as "The Dutch Destroyer" whom literally struck fear into the hearts of the rank and file of the practitioners of women’s boxing at the time. Despite Martin’s reigning popularity, something that later proved influential in the masking over of a contest against Rijker, pundits were not fooled by the obvious. Rijker was the most feared fighter alive in woman’s boxing.
Martin had known defensive liabilities and Rijker was an offensive weapon who was cutting through opposition like a hot knife through butter. So dangerous was the proposed battle for Martin that 1.5 million dollars of purse money - a figure unheard of in woman’s boxing, before, then, and to this day - could not resolve the inherent issues of what aftermath the contest would surely produce.
Rijker was someone whom had never been beaten by a female at hand-to-hand combat. Her only rumored weakness was a reported inability to fight while going backwards, a scenario considered absurd given the opposition of the time, and if true, never witnessed. Also unknown, however, was that a new dawn in women’s boxing was lingering just beyond the horizon.
Anani, who wears Tie-dye attire into the ring merely because she enjoys the presentation of color, doesn’t exactly fall in with the rank and file of many others in the business. Sumya is a woman possessing the sort of questioning mind that manages to find an abundance of time and energy for passions ranging from motherhood to charity, the environment, religious teachings and great literary works. In addition, Anani currently works full-time as a licensed massage therapist. The hands capable of producing so much hurt are far more often assigned the task of healing ... Ironic and interesting, like the woman herself.
One may have never have known such a potential existed in Sumya at first but one person who clearly did was a former Golden Gloves winner named Barry Becker. Becker took Anani under his wing in 1996 and continues to train Sumya to this day.
In 1994 Sumya had accepted an employment opportunity in Jamaica, and during a visit by Becker, Sumya engaged herself in a wrestling match against an athletically fit male beach performer referred to as 'Fire Man' or "One of these big, strong Jamaican guys who performs in those fire shows on the beach."
When Anani returned to America, Becker all but greeted his future protégé with a pair of boxing gloves, informing Sumya that he had arranged for a fight to take place in three weeks ... Apparently all went well.
Ten fights later Anani shocked the woman's boxing world by decisively beating Christy Martin, something Becker assured Sumya she would do with ease and as it turns out, Becker had to be willing to bet a massive portion of the promised purse against Jim Martin (Christy Martin's husband) in order to get the fight in the first place.
The gamble paid off. Anani’s skill was as Becker claimed.
While the outcome was scored a split decision, the reality was that a badly beaten Martin left the ring wearing sunglasses and a towel over her head in order to mask the severity of the beating. Considering who Christy was at the time and the promotional force behind her, one might have expected that it would take an alley mugging involving a baseball bat to unseat Martin on a non-televised undercard ... This is essentially what took place.
Martin later refused a rematch against Anani.
Though the "Island Girl" turned a very seasoned, prime 36-1-2 (27 KOs) Christy Martin inside out in only her 12th professional contest, it turned out that Anani was merely a gem in the rough. The 'Island Girl's' progress under Becker since the Martin fight is obvious to anyone who has compared older tapes with current footage. The following results speak volumes. Anani has since built a professional record of 21-1-1 (10) while reigning as both the IBA and WIBA welterweight and junior welterweight champion for a period of approximately three years.
Anani has earned another distinction as well, and make no mistake about it, today Sumya Anani is the "Most Feared" fighter in the sport; a distinction previously belonging to Rijker.
In a bizarre twist of fate mirroring Rijker’s ill-fated attempts to bait Martin into the ring, Anani has been the one actively pursuing a contest against Rijker for over a year now and with similar results. Anani is a lot more interested in facing Rijker than Lucia is in facing Sumya. It has gotten to the point where Anani has recently and publicly accused Rijker of both suffering from "A case of Yellow Fever" and running for the "Office of Most Frightened Woman in America".
From the pundit's perspective, a contest between the now 32-year-old Anani and 36-year-old Rijker today is a far more compelling contest than a contest between Rijker and Martin ever could have been due to the simple fact that styles make fights and Martin's style was tailor-made for Rijker.
On the other hand, Sumya is a mixed bag who attacks effectively from both sides, throwing right-handed leads at will. Can Anani throw a right hand lead at Rijker and get away with it? Has anyone ever dared to throw a right hand lead at Rijker? Can Anani adjust on the fly against someone of Rijker’s capability if her proven attack strategy doesn’t work against Lucia? Who will lead? Who will follow? Who will gain an upper hand and how?
Who actually is the better of the two?
And what was Anani doing before stepping in as a last minute replacement for Rijker? Anani was dogging Rijker for, among other things, facing opposition - namely Holewyne and Jane Couch - whom she had already convincingly beaten (Couch and Holewyne were stopped in four and five rounds respectively). Hence Anani’s match against Holewyne this weekend will be one of the rematch variety, with Holewyne, an accomplished fighter from Houston, Texas, bringing a record of 21-11 (5) into the ring.
In taking the role of her now-arch rival on five days notice with a chance to make a statement, it is a safe bet that Anani's mind is going to be a very busy place until the bell tolls on Saturday.
One thing for certain will be on Anani’s mind ... Defeating Lucia Rijker!
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