Mia St. John To Face Liz Drew For Title

On June 12th, 2005 The Million Dollar Lady of boxing Mia "The Knockout" St. John (40-5-2 17KOs) will fight for the IFBA Lightweight Championship at The Okhay Casino-Resort in San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico. This is the same prestigious title Hillary Swank's character fought for in Million Dollar Baby. Meeting Ms. St. John for the title is Liz Drew (9-7 2KOs) from Troy, Missouri who has fought some of the best women in sport to get her shot.

"This is a great time for this fight to take place," states Ms. St. John. "The success of Million Dollar Baby has sparked fresh interest in female boxing and I’ll be training hard to come into this title fight in the best shape of my life."

St. John is arguably the best-conditioned fighter in the female ranks. She fought eleven times in 2004 and shows no signs of slowing down. To share some of the secrets that keep her in top shape, she’ll be releasing a workout DVD in June titled "Million Dollar Workout." This too is timely, as women across the country stream into health clubs to participate in boxing-style workouts.

Says St. John, "It’s no secret that boxing is one of the greatest workouts for toning muscles and reducing fat. I figured with all the interest in boxing workouts, who better to train these women than me. I live it every day!"

Liz Drew, 33 years old, has fought some of the best women in the sport today, including Mary Ortega, Kristy Follmer and Melissa Fiorentino among others. An avid horse enthusiast, Liz owns her own horse ranch, along with her husband Marc, and provides professional horse training when she is not preparing for a fight.

"A lot has been made of Mia as an accomplished fighter and business person" stated Ms. Drew. "But on June 12^th, I know what I need to accomplish to become the new IFBA Lightweight Champion and I plan on showing Mia what taking care of business means when I step into the ring"

The St. John vs. Drew IFBA Lightweight World Title bout is part of an IFBA doubleheader, which will also feature current IFBA Super Bantam Weight Champion Jackie Chavez (8-0) of Los Lunas, New Mexico.

Promoting the event at The Ohkay Casino at the San Juan Pueblo near Espanola, New Mexico, is Ross Sanchez, of Fire Inside Productions.

"It is with great pride that Fire Inside Productions, along with the Ohkay Casino, will present this Women’s World Championship Doubleheader in New Mexico" stated Mr. Sanchez "Mia St. John is the most prolific female boxer of our time and her fight with Liz Drew should prove to be a crowd pleaser from the opening bell". "We really wanted our own Jackie Chavez on this card as well defending her title, and thanks to Jackie’s management, we were able to make this event one of the biggest women’s cards in New Mexico’s history" Mr. Sanchez continued.

Page 2 St. John vs. Drew IFBA Lightweight Championship

Tickets for the event will go on sale May 14. For more information contact the Ohkay Casino at

1-877-829-2865.

The International Female Boxing Association is headquartered in Rolling Hills Estates, California. Since its formation in February of 1997, the IFBA has sanctioned over 100 women’s world title fights throughout the world. As a pioneer in the sport of women’s boxing, the IFBA has sanctioned more world title fights for television in the US, Canada and Asia than any other sanctioning body in the sport. Through a joint development agreement with TKO Sports Group, the IFBA and TKO where the first group in the sport to manufacture a glove specifically designed for female boxing. In 2004 the IFBA was the first sanctioning body in history (men or women) to sanction a professional boxing match in China. Through its relationship with the Korean Boxing Commission, the IFBA has become the main sanctioning body for women’s championship boxing in South and North Korea, as well as, the US and Canada.

For more information log on to: www.ifba.com

ABOUT MIA ST. JOHN

Mia St. John boasts a 40-5-2 record with 17 KO’s and spent four years of her eight year career fighting on the undercards of Oscar De La Hoya on the biggest Pay Per View cards of the century. She was the first boxer to grace the cover of Playboy magazine in November of 1999 with an 11 page celebrity pictorial and has recently been featured by The O'Reilly Factor, Entertainment Tonight's "The Insider", Telemundo and The New York Times. No stranger to television you may also remember her from appearances on Jay Leno, Conan O'brien, and Good Morning America and for her fight commentary on ESPN and other hosting assignments.