Female Boxing Card From Mohegan Sun

By Christopher “The Swami” Connor

 

IFBA Jr. Featherweight champion Melina Cooper continued to impress everyone
as she scored a 4th round TKO victory over Donna Biggers at 1:44 to improve
to 19-0 (11KO's). The Las Vegas native used excellent hand speed, power
punching and good head movement to keep the veteran Biggers at bay. After
two rounds, Biggers right eye was swollen shut after taking heavy power
shots from Cooper.

"My trainers wanted me to brawl more since it was only six rounds." Cooper
stated. "But I wanted to use more boxing skills so my face wouldn't be
marked up."

After another round and a half, both of Biggers eyes were swollen shut as
she was taking right and left hooks from the Filipina power puncher. After
another four punch combo backed Biggers into the ropes, Flaherty waved the
fight off as Cooper celebrated her 11th knockout victory.

"I would love to take on the WBC champion Anita Christensen next or Ina
Menzer. I will take on anyone whom signs a contract."

Elena Reid and Ava Knight both went all out for six rounds, but at the end
were rewarded with a disappointing draw. Judge Don Trella scored the bout
58-56 for Knight, Clark Samartine scored the bout 58-56 for Reid while
Glenn Feldman had the bout a draw at 57-57.

While the bout seemed a mismatch on paper, it was an exciting fight as the
three time S.F. Gold Gloves champ Knight often was the attacker over the
reigning IFBA Flyweight champion Reid. "Baby Doll" (19-5-5) did her best
work in rounds three and six as she used her jab and her experience to
frustrate the Chino native, keeping the more aggressive Knight (3-0-2) at
bay.

"I knew coming into this fight that Ava was the real deal. I have had
trouble getting opponents so we took Ava on and she came to fight." Reid
exclaimed.

While many at ringside were looking forward to a rematch, Knight was still
taking in the experience.

"This was the largest crowd I ever fought in front of and I was nervous at
first of this bout." Knight stated. "But I did well and there are still
some things I need to do to improve of for my next fight."

IFBA Welterweight champion Jill Emery continued her steady but solid work
as she out boxed the tough Angel Hernandez to retain her title by Unanimous
decision (96-94, 99-91, 97-93).

Emery used her height advantage (5'6 to 5'3) and southpaw stance to keep
the brawling Hernandez at bay for the majority of the bout. Emery (9-2)
started out strong for the first two rounds before Hernandez started to
close the gap. The tough Texan (6-5-1) used the middle rounds to get
insider Emery's jab and turn the fight into a phone booth brawl.

However the later rounds were all Emery as she used her jab to score as
well as her left hook to the body to slow Hernandez round and win the last
three rounds on two of the judges score cards. With the win, Emery is now
in position to perhaps get a shot at the winner of Mary Jo Sanders vs.
Holly Holm this Saturday.

In perhaps the biggest upset of the night, little known Ela "Bam Bam" Nunez
overcame a 4th round knockdown to upset IFBA Featherweight champion Jeri
Sitzes to capture the belt. The native of Jamestown, New York started the
bout strong as she used her her aggressive body attack to keep the champion
at bay. Sitzes (14-8-1) tried to match the frenzied pace but often Nunez
(7-3) was the more effective puncher. After three rounds, the fight seemed
to be a rout as Nunez was scoring more than Sitzes, going to the body while
setting up with right hooks to the temple.

However things got interesting in the 4th round when Sitzes dropped Nunez
with a overhand right to the jaw. Nunez took an eight count before getting
back to her feet as Sitzes got a second wind and seemed to be on the verge
of keeping her title. However "Bam Bam" had different plans as she
regrouped in between rounds and continued her buzzsaw attack to the body.
Sitzes always seemd a punch slow as the referees agreed in unision to score
the bout 58-55 to give Nunez the nod and earn her the IFBA Featherweight
title.


Alicia Ashley has never considered her self as a full time boxer. Lisa Brown
is considered one of the best female fighters in the Jr. Featherweight
division. And yet it was a fight that had fans and tv audiences interested
as the two women went all out in different styles in a bruising fight. In
the end, Lisa Browdn won a controversial yet close Split decison (97-93,
94-96, 97-93) to win the vacant IFBA title.

"Slick" Ashley (14-8-1) has always been a spoiler as she holds victories
over world champions Alesia Graf, Elena Reid, Kelsey Jeffries and Marcela
Acuna. Against Brown she used an in and out styel, often drawing Brown in
to counter punches and sometimes even leaping in to deliver a left hook or
overhand right.

Meanwhile "Bad News" seemed befuddled at times as she wanted to attack but
at times was caught off guard by the tactics of Ashley. However the judges
seemed to favor the more traditional and aggressive Brown (15-3-3) in the
main event of the Best Dam Sports Show Period event