By Lyle Fitzsimmons
While most of the boxing world’s testosterone-fueled side will be focused on Keith Thurman in Tampa, there will still be some big doings elsewhere in the Sunshine State.
The second International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame induction event will be held Saturday in the Crystal Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, where six boxers from the modern era (1990-2010), one pioneer from the 1950s and a trail-blazing referee will be celebrated.
Specifically, the 2015 honorees include Laura Serrano, Dierdre Gogarty, Jeannine Garside, Laila Ali, Terri Moss, Ann Wolfe, Sparkle Lee and Phyliss Kugler.
Sue Fox, founder of the Women Boxing Archive Network, said “I’m thrilled to have our 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in conjunction with the National Women's Golden Gloves in Fort Lauderdale again this year. The opportunity to locate the ceremony where there will be so many associated with the sport at one event will prove a very fitting way to honor our 2015 IWBHF inductees.”
And in honor of the big event, here’s the result of a painful ride on the way-back machine.
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I thought I’d had it all figured out.
As I made the 105-mile drive to a gym in Tampa, I assumed my in-ring sparring session with championship hopeful Chevelle Hallback would be something like the living room slap-boxing matches I used to have with my sister Tricia.
At 5-foot-6 and 140 or so pounds, Ms. Hallback is roughly the same size as my old crotchety sibling, so as I hurtled down I-75 on a glorious, cloud-free morning, I surmised the punishment she’d dish out couldn’t be a whole lot worse than what big sis doled out decades ago.
I’m still deciding exactly when I realized my mistake.
My first inkling that a 13-year professional fighter might be a more threatening than a Niagara Falls teenager came a few paces inside the gym door, when I glanced across the cavernous former warehouse and saw Hallback in a warm-up stretch with trainer Sherman Henson.
Clad in red sneakers, blue jogging pants and a grey T-shirt, she surely looked the part from a distance. And when I got close enough to see the writing on the front of the shirt – Beatdown.com – coupled with the annoyed scowl she wore upon my interruption, I’d never missed my sister quite so much.
From there, it only got worse.
Feeling like a death row inmate required to watch jailers spark the chair before taking a seat, I stood with notebook in hand for several minutes as my imminent foe whisked hurtful-looking combinations initially toward a mirror, and then onto Henson’s padded hands in the ring.
It didn’t help when Henson, himself a veteran of multiple world championship corners, stepped away from the action to chat for a few minutes, leaving me with a nothing if not ominous nugget:
“There’s no one out there that really wants to get in with her. And I can’t really blame them.
“I wouldn’t want to either.”
If either fighter or trainer were looking to throw a scare into their pasty visitor, it was working.
But because I’d carted ace camera chick Robin Redfearn with me and ultimately would have had to explain a 200-plus mile trip for a 5-minute interview and no pictures, I resisted the urge to feign sudden illness or answer a phantom emergency phone call from home.
Instead, I resumed observation from my ringside post until Henson’s next menacing utterance:
“So, you ready to do this, or what?”
Having not come up with an excuse during the downtime provided, I had no choice but to nod.
And after successfully plucking gloves and mouthpiece from the decades-old gym bag I’d schlepped along for the ride, any escape time available was officially up.
I acknowledged my fate with a nervous climb to the ring, then stepped through the ropes and nodded at Robin as final hope vanished for an equipment malfunction that would perhaps stall matters until I found an older, feebler writing subject.
Henson joined me in the corner to secure headgear, and, sensing no need for further delay, motioned his fully warmed and still irritated-looking charge toward me with a curt “Let’s go.”
I stepped forward with a decided lack of aggression, not immediately aware of etiquette for lopsided exhibitions. Not surprisingly, it took all of a second before my approach was proven shoddy.
THWACK!
She stepped around my left side and began our union with a shot to the nose over my lazy guard.
In an instant, all delusions of grandeur from my car ride were replaced with a single galvanizing thought – “Dear God, please don’t let her whip me in front of all these people!”
The next several minutes unfolded in similar fashion.
Peering from behind high-held gloves, Hallback picked and chose her shots, accurately sensing whenever I had A) left myself too far open after an unsuccessful attack; or B) remained passive long enough to invite her to take the initiative.
No blows landed solidly enough to do damage, though a well-aimed right to the ear raised a welt my wife spotted at home two hours later.
More punishing to the psyche, however, was the “Oooh…” it prompted from the dozen or so gym-goers stopping to watch.
That sound alone inspired my own attempt at “offense,” fruitless as it seemed beyond the few times Hallback later conceded I’d “got (her) good.”
A short left hook to the head that finished a back-and-forth exchange was my shining moment, prompting a two-step retreat and slightly tempering her pursuit the rest of the way. Still, when the buzzer sounded to end things, Robin didn’t need to charge the ring and lift me to her shoulders.
I knew I’d lost the decision.
And to quote Apollo Creed, “There ain’t gonna be no rematch.”
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY
WBO junior flyweight title – Cebu City, Philippines
Donnie Nietes (champion/No. 2 IWBR) vs. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (No. 1 contender/No. 6 IWBR)
Nietes (35-1-4, 21 KO): Seventh title defense; Held WBO title at 105 pounds (2007-10, four defenses)
Rodriguez (17-2-1, 11 KO): Third title fight (2-0); Held IBF and WBO titles at 105 pounds
Fitzbitz says: The incumbent is 12 years old and has significant mileage on the odometer, but he’s shown no real signs of decline and should have enough to retain at home. Nietes by decision
Vacant WBO lightweight title – Manchester, United Kingdom
Terry Flanagan (No. 1 contender/No. 23 IWBR) vs. Jose Zepeda (No. 2 contender/Unranked IWBR)
Flanagan (27-0, 10 KO): First title fight; Twelfth fight against foe with winning record (11-0, 3 KO)
Zepeda (23-0, 20 KO): First title fight; Seven straight fights in welterweight division (7-0, 6 KO)
Fitzbitz says: Flanagan has the better record, the better ranking and the home-ring advantage, but Zepeda feels like the hotter prospect and could have a strong lightweight debut. Zepeda by decision
Last week's picks: 1-0 (WIN: Guevara)
2015 picks record: 45-10 (81.8 percent)
Overall picks record: 684-233 (74.5 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body's full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA "world championships" are only included if no "super champion" exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.