Mary Jo Sanders – Undefeated and Looking to Stay that Way The Glassjaw Chronicles by Thomas Gerbasi (April 1, 2008) Send this page to friend Give us your feedback In the great scheme of things, this was probably not what Mary Jo Sanders expected when she decided to break away from the drudgery of mundane daily workouts in the gym to pursue boxing – a fight with a woman outweighing her by a whopping 98 pounds. That’s what life is like in the wild, wild west of Toughwoman competitions though, and after one kickboxing bout and three Detroit titles from 1998 to 2000, Sanders entered the open-weight division of the Toughwoman world championships in 2000, and after three straight wins in one night, the 138-pounder was pitted against an opponent clocking in at 236 pounds. That’s a whole lotta woman. “These girls were just huge and it was really something,” remembered Sanders with a chuckle. “They just got bigger and bigger as I went on.” In her corner that night was her father, Detroit Lions great Charlie Sanders, and he was a nervous wreck. His daughter kept a cool head though. “You just gotta get through it,” she said. “It’s fight or flight, and you’re a fighter, not a flighter (laughs), so you’ve just got to get through it. There’s no turning back at that time. But it was really fun.” Only a real fighter would call that fun, and after winning the bout and the championship, Anders moved on to more conventional forms of pugilism, becoming perhaps the best female boxer in the world, pound for pound, in the process. So were there any bad habits to break from the Toughwoman days? “I think that I always trained to be a pro,” she said. “I never really got into some crazy style or amateur style; I always wanted to be good at this. I’m kinda like all or nothing. I didn’t want to take the easy way out – I always wanted to train hard and learn the sweet science and do it right.” That strategy has worked for the last five years, a span which has seen Sanders compile the ‘Rocky Marciano’ of female fight records – 25-0 (8 KOs). No one in the sport has been this untouchable for this long, especially when you consider that women are thrown into the deep end in terms of competition a lot earlier than their male counterparts. And when you look as Sanders’ record there are plenty of quality foes dotting it, including Valerie Mahfood, Gina Nicholas, Tricia Turton, Lisa Holewyne, Belinda Laracuente, Melissa DelValle, Chevelle Hallback, and Layla McCarter. “That is a blessing and it’s incredible,” said Sanders. “I think I’ve probably surprised people, but definitely not people that know me. I try not to think about it though because it gets to be a bit overwhelming.” So is the unbeaten record a blessing or a curse at this point, where everyone wants to be the one to pin that “1” on her? “I love it and it’s a motivator,” she said. “Some people get on top and they’re lackadaisical and I’m not like that. It’s not a curse at all; it’s an incentive.” And she’s got all the incentive she needs for her next fight, on June 13th, against the only other fighter with a legitimate claim to that top pound for pound spot – Holly Holm. It’s the first legit female superfight in history, and it’s gotten the type of positive press that the sport hasn’t been afforded in years. “This fight has been a little while in the making, we’re two really skilled, serious boxers, and I think people are really excited,” Sanders agrees. “I’m really geeked up about the card as a whole. You’ve got a lot of talented girls on the card and then the fight between Holly and I as the frosting on the cake. I think this is going to change people’s minds about female fighters, put the gender aside, and just recognize us as great, skilled fighters.” She also believes that this is the type of fight will continue what she believes is a renaissance in the sport. “I think it’s on the rise again, and definitely with this fight, a lot of people are interested and we’re gonna showcase some great skills,” said Sanders. “What’s been missing are people making and accepting the fights. A lot of people have been waiting to see this fight for a while, so we’re gonna give that to them. That’s what been missing.” On paper, it’s always good to see two of the best in the game, male or female, get matched up in a fight with significance beyond the end result of the fight. But with Sanders-Holm, you’re also getting a nice style matchup between the conventional stick and move stylist (Holm) and the more aggressive boxer-puncher (Sanders). What does Sanders see when she looks at Holm? “Of course she’s in shape and conditioned and all that,” said Sanders. “She moves around a lot, but I think a lot of people come straight at her and don’t cut off the ring. She’s also flatfooted and bouncy, and she basically just has three punches, especially when she gets cornered, she has that right-left-right, and that’s it.” With 14 wins in a row, including victories over Christy Martin, Mia St. John, Ann-Marie Saccurato, and the aforementioned Hallback and Laracuente, Holm must be doing something right, and when it comes to her basic attack, in an analogy Sanders’ father would appreciate, you knew the Green Bay Packers of the 60’s were going to run the sweep, but they executed so well that you still couldn’t stop them. Sanders doesn’t necessarily agree. “A lot of the girls played into her game and she weaved them into her web,” said Sanders, a title holder at junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight, and middleweight. “I think a lot of them got frustrated by the way she was running around the ring, so I just have to stick to my game, no matter what, and we have a trick for everything. I have a lot of tricks in my bag for all the styles these girls have. I’m very adaptable, and that’s what’s been working for me. Her style works for her, but when she gets somebody that cracks that wide open – literally and figuratively – I think she’s not gonna have a backup plan. I’ve been learning so much and there are so many things in my arsenal that I don’t have to play into anybody’s game. We want to make her fight my fight.” To be able to do that, Sanders has been working with longtime trainer Jimmy Mollo, as well as a number of female southpaws and male standouts Bronco McKart and Hector Camacho Jr., and she hopes that despite traveling into Holm’s New Mexico backyard, that the winner of the fight will be the one whose hand is raised at the end of ten rounds. “We have all neutral judges, we’ll agree on a ref, and I think there’s an urgency, but on different levels,” she said when asked if there’s a sense of urgency to finish things before the judges get to affect the outcome. “Yeah, it’s her hometown so you want to get in and get out, but I fought 11 of my fights out of town and I joke around that Holly’s like fruit – she doesn’t travel well. (Laughs) I don’t know whether she’s hoping that her opponent will get messed up by the altitude, that she’ll get favoritism in her hometown or by the crowd backing up, but when you’re a professional, nothing like that should matter; you should be prepared for all of those things. I know it’s gonna be a great fight, I know there are skeptics, I know that she’s training hard and I kinda just want her to know that as hard as she’s training, I’m training just as hard and I’m gonna beat her.” Plus, she doesn’t have to worry about giving away a hundred pounds or getting hit with something crazy by Holm like she did back in her Toughwoman days. And that’s a relief for Sanders, who despite fighting now under the Marquis of Queensbury rules, is quite a tough woman. “(In Toughwoman) You didn’t know if there are windmills coming or backhands or what,” she laughed. “I would rather fight a skilled fighter any day of the week.” Now available, Thomas Gerbasi’s latest boxing compilation: Fightin’ to Writin’ – More Ring Ramblings. For more information, click here http://www.amazon.com/Fightin-Writin-More-Ring-Ramblings/dp/0595486665/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF 8&s=books&qid=1202272469&sr=8-12 Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums E-Mail Thomas Gerbasi at tgerbasi@mindspring.com or visit www.myspace.com/gerbasi