This Saturday, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward will bask in the glow of his hometown fans when he defends his title against Sakio Bika in Oakland?s Oracle Arena.
Just one week prior, another boxing champion did her part to pack the stands at the same venue.
Midway through the second quarter in an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the New York Knicks, a lithe lady clad in all black sauntered to the north baseline and was immediately embraced with a deafening roar from the 19,808 in attendance (VIDEO: http://bit.ly/g0o3Yc).
This pandemonium followed the introduction of WBO super bantamweight titlist Ana Julaton, one of the faces of a new breed of female fighters in who have stepped to the forefront of the sport.
?There?s a lot of girls out there that?s being active in [women?s boxing],? Julaton said in a television interview earlier this week. ?I?m seeing a lot more younger girls at the age of eight and nine and ten, and so forth coming up to me saying, ?Yeah, I practice boxing.? Do you have any tips?? Then I?ll talk to their parents and their parents are ecstatic about it. I?ll ask them, ?How do you feel with having your young girl getting into the ring and boxing?? And they go, ?It?s great. It?s a sport.? So, overall, I think the attitudes are starting to change and a lot more people are starting to get involved with it.?
For far too long, female fighters haven?t received the necessary opportunities to succeed by the powers that be but the reception Julaton enjoyed last Friday seemed indicative of a new era.
Among the crowd, over 4,000 Pinoy fans cheered on the guest of honor for Filipino Heritage Night and a sizable horde of them hounded ?The Hurricane? in the upper concourse for autographs or pictures throughout the game.
?Whenever she comes to my arena, I need to make sure she?s protected,? shared Skeet Ellis, who knows his share of pro athletes as both the Security Manager of the Oracle Arena and Oakland Coliseum, which houses the NFL?s Raiders. ?About five years ago, no one really knew Ana but now that she?s been on the scene here, I have to put two or three extra guys around her. If my guys weren?t standing here, people would be overcrowding her right now.?
Julaton?s good looks, amateur achievements as a former National Golden Gloves bronze medalist and, of course, her championship credentials as a pro, have made her a fan favorite in her native San Francisco Bay Area. Pair those points with a recent mention in ESPN The Magazine and to the naked eye, her addition to this Saturday?s card would be a perfect fit.
Not so fast.
Julaton, who once headlined an amateur show in San Francisco that drew over 3,000 and fought Donna Biggers in a main event for a card in San Jose, last September that attracted 3,500 spectators, will not be fighting this weekend.
?I think that when we had heard about Andre Dirrell pulling out of the fight, and that Andre Ward was going to fight in Oracle, it would?ve been great,? says the champ?s adviser, Angelo Reyes. ?We?ve got such a huge Filipino and Bay Area fan base going here. Andre Ward?s a good draw and Ana?s a good draw. This was a perfect scenario.?
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
If anyone has historically backed Bay Area fighters in recent memory, it?s Ward?s promoter, Goossen-Tutor. Despite docking its headquarters in the San Fernando Valley, the promotional outfit has constantly rewarded fans up north over the years, from its ?Fight Night at the Tank? shows in San Jose (that once featured a young Robert Guerrero) to its current Oakland ?Super Six? showcases with the 168-pound champ known as ?S.O.G.?
?I?m not adverse to it,? Dan Goossen revealed, referring to women?s boxing. ?We?ve promoted some women like Mia St. John but it really has to have some significance for us to do it.?
The truth is you can?t really single Goossen-Tutor out; they?re not the only major promoter that has been lukewarm on the topic.
For years, Top Rank eschewed the prospect of having women fight on their cards until Bob Arum saw something lucrative in signing St. John, who mainly fought four-rounders under their banner but is probably more famous for her spread in Playboy magazine.
In addition, in a classic case of too much-too soon, after Arum suddenly proposed the ?Million Dollar Lady? show in 2005 that pitted Lucia Rijker against Christy Martin in Las Vegas, rumors of lagging ticket sales and an Achilles injury to Rijker torpedoed the bill. (Mind you, neither fighter?s star was built the standard way, such as being featured as a special attraction on televised undercards or as co-features on the cards of more established mainstream fighters. But I digress.)
Top Rank has shied away from seriously promoting women?s boxing ever since.
Besides, of all the promoters from coast-to-coast that have put together cards on HBO, Showtime, or ESPN2 this year, can you name one women?s title fight you saw on those channels?
This isn?t to say that the onus strictly falls on the promoters, either. The aforementioned networks are just as responsible as of late. They dictate programming and, as such, can make strong suggestions on what?or who?they want to see on their broadcasts.
Aside from a few overt stateside supporters on the promotional end like Roy Engelbrecht, who oversaw Julaton?s San Jose title fight against Biggers, or the IFBA, who promoted a groundbreaking Fox Sports Net-televised all-female card in Connecticut two years ago, many still feel that women?s boxing isn?t ready for prime time.
I?ll throw my hat in the ring and argue the opposite.
THAT WAS THEN; THIS IS NOW
?We?re putting good shows on but we?re not getting the recognition for it,? said bantamweight contender Ava Knight. ?Maybe they don?t think we?re ready for it but every card I?ve been on, I?ve had the fight of the night. I?ll fight anyone, anytime and anywhere.?
Over the past couple years, mainly in response to the rise in popularity of the UFC, Arum has altered certain aspects of the presentation of his cards. In giving the fans ?something new and fresh,? he has added things like a live DJ and less dead-time in between bouts.
Well, I think most people who give their cable operators the nod to charge them $59.95 for an event would be more concerned with the product inside the ring more than the one outside of it.
While most will admit that the sport was originally a virtually uncharted frontier where mismatches occurred more often than not, it?s no longer the case today. A developing amateur program has increased the quality of fighters that join the pro ranks. Moreover, the 2012 London Olympics will be the first time women?s boxing will be included. In other words, these girls can fight, and when both of them are hungry for recognition, one has a recipe for some amazing scraps.
?It?s going to be an Olympic sport in 2012 and I never had that opportunity,? lamented Julaton. ?But it?s going to be great to see women get that chance to show what they can do in the ring.?
Of course, money makes the sport go round and many promoters have intimated that pitting the best women against each other would be too costly. However, I find that argument tough to swallow, especially when most women?s title fights that take place in America barely make five figures. With the platform of exposure that the major promoters and television networks offer, that type of bargaining leverage should allow them to put together the best TV-friendly matchups available with a minimal dent on the card?s overall budget.
That is, if you wanted to give a devil?s advocate argument, of course.
If anything, the signs for growth are there. In a manner comparable to the rise of women?s professional tennis, Regina Halmich brought a crowd-pleasing blend of looks and skill to the table in her Germany-based 13-year career. Her last fight in November 2007 was viewed by over 10,000,000 people for an amazing 38.3 ratings share and Universum paid her to the tune of about a million dollars, a purse that would eclipse most men?s world title bouts in America.
Gina Carano, a mixed martial artist with ?the look,? resolutely answered any questions regarding a woman?s viability to sell tickets in an American combat sport, when she was featured on Showtime and CBS multiple times from 2007-09, including a Strikeforce middleweight title fight against Cristiane ?Cyborg? Santos that drew 13,976 fans to Oracle and 576,000 viewers on Showtime, according to the California State Athletic Commission.
?I definitely think that Carano showed you the potential and possibilities if you can put aside the fact that a lot of people like at HBO think that women?s boxing isn?t a correct sport,? opined Reyes. ?It?s a sport like any other sport. If you support boxing, then you should support female boxing.?
As recently as December, Golden Boy bucked a trend when they added Kaliesha West?s WBO bantamweight title shot against Angel Gladney to the undercard of Shane Mosley?s eventual draw with Sergio Mora at Staples Center.
?If you?ve never seen Kaliesha fight, you want to get there early,? warned promoter Oscar De La Hoya at the prefight press conference. ?She?s an exciting fighter. She?s a skilled fighter. She fights with a lot of passion and a lot of heart?This is an important and historical day for women?s boxing and we?re happy to be part of it.?
After West?s seventh-round knockout victory, which displayed her smooth skills as well as her power and speed, the appreciative crowd was left wanting more. In fact, Knight, one of West?s former opponents, was in attendance that night and discussed the state of the sport.
?I was there and it just dawned on me,? said Knight, who actually defeated West for the IFBA North American bantamweight title two years ago. ?She put on a good show and it?s great that it was on the card because the main event was kind of a letdown. Kaliesha has the right people behind her, where she had promoters who were actually trying to build her.?
And then, there is the case of Julaton, whose stock, like many Filipino fighters, has risen following the ascension of Manny Pacquiao?s popularity in the Philippines.
Pacquiao?s trainer, Freddie Roach, thought highly enough of Ana to take her on at the Wild Card Gym but also to heap some praise on her as well. ?I think Ana can make women?s boxing bigger. Canada?s a great place for the women to fight right now and she has a big following in the Philippines.?
A boxer-puncher with a propensity to finish what she?s started on the inside, Julaton has demonstrated there?s a lot more substance behind her Colgate smile. While she is the current holder of the WBO 122-pound belt, many observers feel that her refusal to throw in the towel despite sustaining deep lacerations over both her eyes in her unsuccessful unification bout against WBA champ Lisa Brown eight months ago in Toronto exemplified the evolution of the sport.
?I don?t take anything back from that fight,? Julaton said. ?If anything, it added a lot of credibility of me being a fighter, especially with me being in the media so much. A lot of people questioned my heart and things like that and I was able to represent myself really well.?
While in this day and age of professional prizefighting, losing one?s ?O? can cause fans to jump off the bandwagon in droves; perhaps as a testament to Julaton?s popularity, she continued to dominate the TV ratings in the Philippines in her next fight against Maria Elena Villalobos, earning a 15.3 share. Altogether, almost 5,000,000 people worldwide tuned in to watch Ana fight and her subsequent split decision win resulted in a tickertape parade in Manila.
Last time I checked, the capital city usually reserves those welcomes for Roach?s other fighter, the distinguished congressman from Sarangani Province.
Orion Sports Management?s Allan Tremblay, who had enough foresight to sign her to a promotional contract, is renowned for his work with former heavyweight prospect Joe Mesi and former IBF super bantamweight champ Steve Molitor, who were both able to secure television dates with HBO and Showtime, respectively, under the OSM banner.
?One of the greatest things that Allan showed us was that the excuses other promoters use about women?s boxing having no market is wrong because it does great in Mexico, Argentina, Europe, China, Korea, Japan, and now, because of Ana Julaton, the Philippines,? declared Reyes. ?HBO says they?re all about viewership. Do they not care about the female demographic of viewership? I think Ana is the gate opener to that in America; so what are they afraid of??
WHY? WHY NOT?
To me, a chicken-and-egg theory comes to mind when addressing the debate of whether televising women?s boxing is a worthy endeavor.
I don?t think it?s a valid argument that there will never be a pot of gold at the end of the road in building a female fighter through premium or basic cable, especially since it?s never been done before in the current climate. In addition, the overall product of competitive bouts has improved. In other words, you don?t know how hot the pool is until you actually stick your foot in.
For example, Laila Ali enjoyed some mainstream success (and even a couple of Showtime bouts) because of her lineage, as well as her undefeated exploits in the ring. Yet, as much as she avoided Ann Wolfe and Lucia Rijker, HBO dodged Laila even when she fought on their undercards. Combine this with her inactivity just when her career was starting to take off and, as a result, we?ll never know how far ?She Bee Stingin? ? could have taken the train.
“It?s frustrating because I?ve been on every other network and here I am, in my prime, on an HBO card and they don?t want to show the fight because HBO refuses to show women fighting, for no other reason except that it?s women,” Ali told ESPN?s Kieran Mulvaney four years ago before her fight with Shelley Burton on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Calvin Brock.
Reyes was adamant that if the networks took a chance on his fighter, that they wouldn?t regret it. ?Do I feel Ana can do what Gina Carano did? Absolutely. She?s done well with her backing in Canada and the Philippines. If Showtime can take a chance on Gina Carano, who only had about seven fights, why not with Ana? I think the scenario could happen where if you built Ana with the right backing in America, she could be just as big, if not bigger because she can really fight.?
Of course, let?s be fair. First of all, while mixed martial arts and boxing are both combat sports, only a casual fan would make any substantial parallels between the two; the link is strictly based on drawing power. Also, the brutal nature of boxing can rearrange one?s facial features, something one would not expect the loser of the Wimbledon women?s final to endure. With that said, maybe the recession has also made promoters and television executives unwilling to take a risk on building a female star.
Or maybe there are other factors at work.
Still, Julaton and her fellow female fighters continue to march forward. On Wednesday night, Comcast Sports Net Bay Area, the local television giant, invited her to the studio for a one-on-one interview. Among the topics discussed were the particulars surrounding Julaton?s next fight.
?A lot of people are asking me when I?m going to have a fight here again,? she said. ?Hopefully everything will work out by February.?
An aura of optimism was furthered by Dan Goossen, who at least left the door open.
?With Ana, I don?t know what the situation was leading into this fight, whether or not we were made aware whether Ana wanted to fight on it. But certainly on our next fight out in Oakland, I would like to put on a woman?s fight, especially a hometown fight.?
If a couple major promoters and networks got involved in women?s boxing, it could be enough to start the momentum sufficient to keep the sport progressing in the right direction.
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POSTSCRIPT
In the middle of writing this article, it came to MaxBoxing?s attention that Christy Martin, one of the greatest women to lace up a pair of gloves, had been hospitalized after a stabbing and shooting at the hands of her husband, James Martin, whose whereabouts remain unknown. MaxBoxing sends its condolences to Christy and we hope that the whole situation gets resolved as quickly as possible. Get well soon, champ.
