Boxing News : Altamura : Hard Life Has Prepared Wolfe For February Showdown Vs. Ali

Hard Life Has Prepared Wolfe For February Showdown Vs. Ali
By Mike Altamura (November 30, 2003)

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A warrior is fearless. Always comes to battle. Never runs from a fight. Never gives up. Has the willpower and mindset to overcome adversity.

WIBC and IFBA super-middleweight world boxing champion, and NABA titleholder Ann "Brown Sugar" Wolfe is a warrior. A self-proclaimed "natural predator." When you fight Wolfe, you better bring everything in your game, because the 32-year-old from Austin, Texas has a lot to fight for.

"When I get in a fight, it's not about boxing," the dreadlocked Wolfe, 16-1 (11), told MaxBoxing.com last Friday. "It's about more than that. I'm gonna fight you with every bit of heart, soul, spirit, blood and tears that I have in my body. I'm gonna fight you so my mother won't die a death and say that none of her children did anything. I'm gonna fight you because I have a sixth grade education and I still made it. I'm gonna fight you because my children are never gonna sleep outside again."

Wolfe has lived a tough life. She dropped out of school in the sixth grade to take care of her mother. When she was 18, her mother passed away from cancer. Both her father and brother were murdered. At age 24 she moved from Louisiana to Texas, where she lived on the streets for a year with her two daughters, now 12, and 10.

While on the streets, she had to resort to fistfights and stealing to provide for her daughters, and the future no doubt looked bleak.

Fast forward now to 2003, where Wolfe is one of the finest female boxers, pound-for-pound, on the planet, and is approaching a superfight - perhaps the most anticipated bout in women's boxing - a unification bout with WIBA, IWBF, and IBA super-middleweight world champion Laila Ali, 16-0 (13) on February 13, 2004 in Los Angeles, California at the Olympic Auditorium. The fight will be the televised main event on ESPN2's 'Friday Night Fights'.

For two years Wolfe's management team, RPM Boxing, had sought to negotiate the fight with Ali's promotional company, Absoloot Entertainment, to no avail, until they signed an 'umbrella contract' in August.

"The condition of what we call the 'umbrella contract' we have with Absoloot is really a three-fight program," said Wolfe's manager Brian Pardo. "The fight between Ann and Laila was conditioned on Ann beating Valerie Mahfood because Mahfood is the only person to have beaten Ann."

In the main support to the Ali/Martin pay-per-view mismatch on August 23, Wolfe avenged the defeat which came early in her career by handily outpointing former world champion Mahfood in ten action-packed rounds. The third fight in the program gives both camps the option to enforce a rematch clause if deemed necessary.

Pardo believes Ali and her management team are afraid of Wolfe, and the only reason why they signed to the fight is because it was the only viable option available.

"Ali is managed by her husband, Johnny McClain, and my personal feeling is that - and I think there'd be a lot of people that agree with me - that Ali is afraid to fight Ann," said Pardo. "McClain has done everything possible on behalf of his wife to avoid fighting Ann until it became painfully obvious that there was no other - that Ann was standing there and there was nobody else standing there, and if Ali continued to want to say she's the champion she was gonna have to fight Ann Wolfe."

Wolfe is pleased to finally have this fight signed - not because of the name of her opponent - but because of what the fight represents.

"I have wanted to always fight who is at the top of the boxing game, and right now it's Laila," she said.

RPM Boxing's PR representative, Dana Yarbrough, added, "I think for Ann it's not about 'I'm gonna beat Laila. I'm gonna be the one who beats Ali.' That's not what this is about. It's about being at the top. Being at the top of the game, and this is her game. That's the way I see it."

Despite the anticipation and publicity surrounding the fight, Wolfe will be preparing for Ali like she has for each of her previous opponents.

"I don't feel no different," explained the well-chiseled fighter. "I prepare for everybody else the same way I'm preparing for Laila. I mean, you know, it's a big fight, but when it comes to training, when it comes to the way I feel, I'm gonna go in the ring the way I've always went in. I take every fight I fight seriously, and I never underestimate my opponent."

Wolfe is always in peak physical condition. Something Pardo puts down to her desire to train.

"She's always ready to fight," he said. "She's a full-time boxer. She trains full-time; she doesn't just go to training camp six weeks before a fight and try to shake off all the parties and fun and things like that that lots of people do. She actually trains everyday of her life."

Pardo feels that Ali has won many of her previous fights through intimidation, including both of her stoppage victories over the aforementioned Mahfood, who he said was "non-aggressive" and "psychologically intimidated" - something that Ann Wolfe knows nothing about.

"You can't intimidate me," said Wolfe, who only spars with men. "I'm a natural predator, and when Laila's gonna look in my eyes she's gonna know there's no way she can intimidate or scare me - she's gonna have to fight me."

Wolfe and Ali will be similar in height and reach, with the 5-foot-9 Wolfe standing just one inch shorter than the smooth-boxing Ali. While the 25-year-old Ali will have a slight speed advantage, Wolfe is notably stronger and her team, without revealing too much - believe that will be her advantage come fight time.

"Ann is a much much stronger fighter and has a much more powerful punch, and Ali's chin has never been tested," said Pardo. "Ann does have one helluva right and I think no matter who you are, if you're standing in front of her and she clocks you with it, you're gonna go down. So power is definitely going to be an element in this fight. But as far as what Ann is working on specifically to take advantage of Laila's weak spots, we don't want to go any further revealing what that may be."

RPM Boxing claims that Ali's management has suggested that they hold a press conference where they create a little controversy and conflict between the fighters, but they see no need to resort to tactics that aren't representative of Wolfe's character.

"We're not gonna go out and put on a false show in front of the public to make it look like Ann Wolfe hates Laila Ali," said Pardo. "These girls have no personal reason to be mad at each other. This is professional boxing. It's a sport.

"We're not gonna let that appearance of conflict basically permeate the fight and the fans, and give them the wrong impression - we've made it very clear we're not gonna do that."

Yarbrough also echoed Pardo's attitude.

"Laila made a comment a few months ago publicly that Ann needed to stop being so shy, and step up and tell her she's gonna whoop her ass," she said. "But Ann doesn't do that. Ann has never done that to her past opponents, why would she want to start doing that now? Ann is gonna do the same thing with every opponent that comes along. She's not gonna change anything for anybody."

Although a fearsome, vicious fighter inside the ring, Wolfe is a very humble, very giving person outside of the squared-circle. In August, she opened the Ann Wolfe Boxing Gym, a non-profit gym based in her hometown of Austin, Texas. Wolfe also thrives on being a fighter the boxing public can touch. In fact, following her first-round victory over Shirvelle Williams last year at the Civic Center in Laredo, Texas, she spent over 30 minutes meeting and greeting fans, and signing autographs.

"I'm the most caring, loveable person you ever want to meet believe it or not," noted Wolfe. "If I made a whole lot of money, which I don't give a damn because I know how to survive with five dollars, I would probably give it all away to people that I know need it."

Just over eight years ago though, when Wolfe first walked into Don "Pops" Billingsley's gym, the compassion, the love she shares for fellow human beings didn't seem possible. She was a "crazy, half-cocked" individual, fighting for survival on the streets. Billingsley, a "church-going man," didn't care about Wolfe's background or appearance. He trusted her and gave her a chance. Then, five years ago, following her pro debut, as a matter of chance, Waco, Texas multi-millionaire Pardo saw Wolfe spar and figured he would be interested in helping her dreams come true. Soon after, he obtained a manager's license, and then in 2001 a promoter's license, specifically because of Ann Wolfe.

"I felt that she deserved a chance to prove she could be the best that she wanted to be in the sport that she chose," explained Pardo. "It was obvious to me, and I've been a boxing fan for 40 years or more and believe me I've been to a lot of fights and watched a lot of fights, that there was incredible talent there.

"If there is anybody in this world that deserves a chance to accomplish their goals it's Ann Wolfe, and so I decided I was gonna do my best to make it possible for Ann to achieve her goals - together, it's been a remarkable relationship. I love Ann like a daughter. I mean that very sincerely. I would do anything in the world for her."

Wolfe is forever thankful to Billingsley, Pardo, Yarbrough, and those closest to her for offering a disturbed, "thuggish looking" person their trust.

"If Brian told me to fight for a quarter, I'll fight because he's always done exactly what he's said," Wolfe told MaxBoxing.com. "See, you don't meet people like Brian and Pops - most people meet one person like that in their lifetime. I met 10, 20.

"They allowed me to make my dreams come true, so whatever Pops says, whatever Brian says, whatever Dana says, I trust them. You have to trust who you're with - who's in your corner."

According to Pardo, with a victory over Ali, Wolfe will have achieved her goal of being acknowledged at the highest level of women's boxing. It will be like scaling Mount Everest - there's nothing higher than it. He's very confident that Wolfe will attain that goal come February 13.

"The reason why I'm excited about this fight is because when Ann fights Laila my prediction is that she's gonna knock Laila out," he enthused, "and I'm predicting that because I don't think Laila can stand Ann's power, and I don't think Laila has power that can hurt Ann."

While most boxing insiders view it as an even-money fight, Ali will start favorite amongst the general boxing public, and will almost certainly be the crowd favorite at the Olympic Auditorium too. One gets the impression that won't bother the strong-willed Wolfe at all.

"The fans may be yelling, 'Laila, Laila, Laila,' and ain't nobody yelling, 'Ann, Ann, Ann,' but see I'm a true warrior," said Wolfe. "I overcome that. It don't take that for me. It don't take for everybody to say I'm gonna win for me to fight because you can't mess with me mentally. You can't mentally defeat me. People always look at me and say how strong I am, but my mental is stronger than my physical."