(MAY 16, 2005) When memories exceed expectations, it’s fairly certain you’re on the wrong path. “Million Dollar Baby” was a nice movie. It wasn’t the best boxing movie ever made, although it was voted the best movie of 2004, a year not distinguished by great movies. “Million Dollar Baby” was certainly not the most realistic
Shortly before his death, someone asked Albert Einstein what weapons would be used in World War III. The old man thought for a moment and then said he didn’t know, but World War IV would be fought with sticks and stones. Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker won’t be bringing sticks and stones into the Staples
(MAR 4, 2005) What did “Million Dollar Baby” do for the sport of Women’s boxing? It set the stage for what could be the biggest and most lucrative fight in the sport. The movie, first and foremost, established Lucia Rijker as the new “face” of Women’s boxing. Before the movie “hit big” Rijker was primarily
(FEB 13, 2005) A seventeenth century French dramatist, Pierre Corneille, no boxing fan he, once said “When there is no peril in the fight, there is no glory in the triumph.” Those 300 year old words were proven conclusively once again over the weekend when two women boxers, Laila Ali and Layla McCarter both achieved
(SEPT 22, 2004) It was the redoubtable Harry Caray who first called that wonderful old ball park on the corner of Clark and Addison in Chicago “the friendly confines.” It was a near perfect place to watch a ball game on a summer day and was, according to urban legend, a friendly place for the
Two of the integral ingredients in the business of boxing are fighters and promoters; the fighters fight and the promoters promote. This is especially true for the sport of Women’s boxing which, today, has more talented fighters than at any time since the sport began in the 1970s. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for
There is only one fight that will truly energize the sport of Women’s boxing. The surprise, and maybe it’s not a surprise at all, is that the bout is the same one, the only one, that would have energized the sport of Women’s boxing five years ago. Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker need to step
(OCT 15, 2003) Sunshine Fettkether has made the most successful transition from kickboxing to the boxing ring of any athlete in the sport. Sunshine Fettkether has fought and defeated some of the top women boxers including Mitzi Jeter and Lisa Holewyne. On Saturday, last, in a casino near Lake Charles, LA, Sunshine Fettkether stepped up