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(MAY 12) The line originated in the
Bible, Ecclesiastics 9:11, but by the time I heard it, the quote had
been Brooklynized: :"The race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet." That's the version
many in the boxing community may apply to the upcoming Ina Menzer/Stacey
Reile bout for Menzer's WIBA and WBC featherweight championship
titles in Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany on May 31.
Consider: Menzer brings a 20-0 record, against some of the best
fighters on the European continent, to the bout, while Reile's eight
wins have come against fighters who, charitably, could be termed
slightly more prosaic.
Does Stacey Reile have a realistic chance against the unbeaten
champion in the unbeaten champion's home country? "I know I do,"
Stacey Reile stated, with particular emphasis, last week, over the
phone from her training base in Miami. Reile converses, over a phone
line, much like she fights in a ring, with an intensity and a
take-no-prisoners purpose. "I'm in the best shape I've ever been in
and I've been in good shape before, but nothing like this. I'm
running six miles a day and it's easy, my sparring sessions have
never been better. Throughout my career, I'm used to being
underestimated, it's happened from the beginning, but the fact is
I've beaten everyone I've fought. I've gone to Cicero, IL and Japan
twice (Reile says she was treated much better in Japan than she was
in that gritty Chicago suburb) and won all three bouts. I should
have gotten a clear cut decision in Illinois but that happens when
you go to hometowns." (Reile won a majority decision over Nora Reyes
in April 2006.)
Asked about the possibility of a "home cooking" decision in Germany,
Reile concedes, "Sure, that's a possibility, but all I can do is go
hard for ten rounds and, (anticipating a question) no, I won't have
trouble with ten rounds (Reile has never been beyond six rounds in
her eight bouts.) "Twenty minutes of boxing will be no problem given
the shape I'll be in when I step into that ring in Germany. I'm a
little surprised Menzer is taking a bout so soon after the Sandy
Tsagouris bout (in March) and the cut she sustained in that fight,
but, once again, there just might be a little bit of
underestimating."
Reile and Menzer have a common opponent, Maribel Santana. Reile won
a six round decision in January while in April 2006, Santana retired
after four rounds against Menzer in Germany. "I've watched a tape of
that bout (Santana/Menzer) and it seemed to me that Santana felt
like she had no chance to box with Menzer, so she stayed on her
stool." Listening to Stacey Reile and her takeaway from that bout,
one gets the unmistakable impression that there will be no "staying
on a stool" on May 31. "Menzer isn't used to American fighters and
the movement they bring," Reile states, "I hit hard with both hands
and I'll bring plenty of movement, it's probably not something she's
(Menzer) seen too often." It's a fact that that the vast majority of
Ina Menzer's opponents have been European fighters with a standup
European style and Stacey Reile's style is a far cry from anything
that could be labeled "standup." She categorizes herself as a
"boxer/puncher with plenty of movement, whatever it takes."
At the same time, it's a given that Ina Menzer will step into the
ring as a prohibitive favorite on May 31, if only based on the
top-line comparison of the two fighters' experience and quality of
opposition. However, Reile notes that there is a clause in the
contract that binds her, should she win, to three fights in Germany,
including a return bout with Menzer. Standard Promoter Protection?
Of course, but just possibly, there could be a lingering thought
that Menzer could have a "real" fight on her hands on the last day
in May. On the other hand, for Stacey Reile, there is an element of
"win/win" to the bout: a good showing, win or lose, against one of
the world's top female featherweight boxers, will enhance the
Florida fighter's bona fides as a major factor in the division.
But, as she heads towards the biggest bout of her career, Stacey
Reile has only winning in her sights. And as big as the bout in
Germany is, equally large is the statement Stacey Reile is making
and the example she is setting for the athletes, and the sport, of
Women's boxing. The landscape has been cascaded, recently, with
examples of female fighters, and/or their plenipotentiaries, talking
up fights they want, talking up fights they should have had, talking
up what they'll do if those fights happen. Talking up is easy,
stepping up is quite a different matter. In most neighborhoods I've
been in, stepping up is better known as "walking the talk," putting
action behind your words. And that's exactly what Stacey Reile is
doing as she heads to Germany at the end of the month, stepping up,
taking a very tough fight in a very tough environment and doing it
with a minimum of talk and a maximum of preparation. Betting on the
"swift and strong" may have some biblical resonance, but in the
present day world of Women's boxing, "being in the best shape ever"
and "hitting hard with both hands" isn't bad either.
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