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Behind the Scenes
With TL Fox at the All-Women's Card in Laughlin - PART II
PART I
Photos and Story by Sue TL Fox
THE FIGHTS - PART II
The first fight on the card was between Shadina Pennybaker and
Daria “Ringname” Hill, of New Jersey. In what could have been the best
fight of the night (but as boxing fans found out) all of the matches
could have been classified as the best fight of the night, This fight
was an outright war for six rounds. Both boxers knocked down each
other, with Pennybaker taking two knockdowns, and Hill one knockdown.
Hill was the much taller opponent, and displayed a disciplined style of
boxing. Pennybaker more of the brawler. The combination made a
dynamite duo. When the referee announced that Pennybaker
won by a unanimous decision it was not without some of the crowd
booing at the decision. Both fighters not only displayed great
skill, but very good sportsmanship. The final judges scores were 57-55,
56-55, and 56-55.
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In the second fight of the night,
was a six rounder between Jeannine Garside, 130, of Windsor,
Canada and Rita Valentini, 125, of Hollywood, California.
Garside coming into the bout was 2-0-0, but with a 40 plus former amateur
boxing record. In the first round, Garside took her time to get a good feel
for fighting Valentini, and it was one of the better rounds for Valentini. After the first round, it did not take long for Garside to
dominate the bout. Garside won by a fifth round TKO, 1:25 seconds.
Garside is a stellar example, why women should try to learn their skills
in the amateurs before turning pro. She went to the body, throwing
effective combinations, and as the fight progressed she continued to put
more pressure on Valentini. Valentini went into the match and fought
very hard, with a lot of heart. The crowd immediately took to
Valentini, and kept yelling out, “Go Hollywood”. But as the fight
continued, there were less “Go Hollywoods” and more murmurs that the
Canadian boxer was doing body shots and throwing some heavy leather
against Valentini. |
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In the third bout,
they had a special feature with
Elena "Baby Doll" Reid, of Las
Vegas, fighting a four-round
exhibition against Carina Moreno.
Reid was dressed in her traditional “pink attire” and as she entered the
ring and took off her robe, the crowd roared “Baby Doll”. It is obvious
that Reid is developing a following in the sport. This was an exhibition
“warm up” for both Reid and Moreno's upcoming world title bouts. Reid is fighting
Regina Halmich
in a rematch on December 3, 2005, in Germany (WIBF belt), and Moreno
will be fighting Siriporn in Thailand (WBC belt). When the exhibition
began, the crowd was still reeling off of the excitement of the first
two fights, and they quickly wanted to see the same fierce action that
they had just experienced. So it appeared that they did not understand
that it was an exhibition match, and they continued to yell out, “Take
the headgear off!.” The ring announcer continued to say between each
round that the fight was an exhibition, and at the end of the four
rounds, no scoring was announced, and both boxers exited the ring. |
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In the fourth bout of the night,
Laura "Lady Ram" Ramsey,
164, of Florida, fought Sweden's
Asa Sandell, 165.
In the first round, Sandell
threw crisp jabs, and had an
obvious height advantage. In the second round, Sandell began to have a
nose bleed, and had an accidental slip this round. In the sixth round,
Ramsey knocked Sandell to the canvas, with her taking an eight count.
Ramsey won the fight by a six-round split decision. When
the “split decision” was announced, the crowd behind me actually
gasped, because there did not seem to be any doubt that Ramsey
won this fight.
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In the main event,
Wendy Rodriguez,
105, won an eight-round unanimous decision over
Yvonne Caples,
105. The two mixed it up for eight rounds, with Rodriguez out-pointing
Caples. There were no knockdowns in the bout. |
In between all of the bouts on the card,
Jackie Kallen, went center ring and interview the winner of the bouts. Arnie Rosenthal, and Ken Weiss, along with matchmaker Wanda Bruce put on
an excellent show, with great matchups.
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