(DEC 20)  Tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Emily Klinefelter of Iowa City, was supposed to make her pro debut.  Unfortunately, at yesterday's weigh-in, her opponent came in overweight, first weighing in at 141 and then 137 lbs.  The weight limit was contracted to fight at 126 lbs.

Sadly, Emily Klinefelter's fight is off because her opponent showed up ridiculously overweight.

The fight was contracted at 126. Emily weighed in at 123. Alex Kumbala, aka Cynthia Kumara showed up and weighed in at 141, and then 137 a couple seconds later!!!! She and her coaches had to know that she was not going to make weight. Still, they knowingly accepted the fight; cost us our time and expense, cost Top Rank expenses to bring them in, put them up in a hotel, and to pay for their medicals and licenses. Clearly, Kumara did not even make a good faith effort to make weight during the couple days she was here. She fought in March at 130, so we figured that 126 was a happy compromise (Emily is normally 118-122), and they accepted that when they agreed to the fight.   The fight is off. This is a statement from Emily:

“At the weigh-in I thought she looked a little bigger than me--she's shorter but a lot thicker, but I figured she couldn't be more than 130. I even planned on letting her weigh in first so I could drink some water and gain weight if I had to. But no amount of water was going to allow me to catch up to her today. When she first got on the scale the reader read off 141 lbs.! Her camp complained and they weighed her again and came up with the number 137 lbs. The maximum weight difference they allow is 5 lbs., so she was way off. Honestly, I would fight her anyway, I don't even care, but the commission cannot legally sanction it.

After she weighed in I was just standing there in shock...then the weight reader said, "Well you might as well get on the scale so we can cancel the fight." I weighed in at 123 lbs., not even really trying to make weight. 120-122 lbs. is obviously my optimal fighting weight. Everyone thought what my opponent did was really horrible. … I'm pretty sure that they immediately kicked her and her camp out of the hotel. She obviously knew she wasn't going to make weight--how could she not? … It’s just really disappointing, because if they knew she couldn't make weight they should have declined and we could have gotten a different opponent. Instead they wasted our time and Top Rank's money by coming out here, going through all the medicals, and then failing to make weight. Ridiculous---it’s shameful. At least everyone knows that I did my job and came in under weight.

On the bright side, everything has been going really well. I got a lot of attention from the media. I did several interviews and got my photo taken by several different photographers. Hopefully at the very least this started a buzz about me. Being scheduled to fight on a Top Rank card is a big deal.

I'm having a great time. The pro game is so much more glamorous than the amateurs, and Las Vegas is quite a spectacle of a town! The Hard Rock Hotel is very beautiful.”

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