ALI WAS A BIG HIT IN THE ATL – SHE KO’s O’NEIL IN 3 ROUNDS
By Ron Brashear
Inside Boxing Writer/Columnist
Photo: Tom Grason/InsideBoxing (Click picture for larger view)
Atlanta, GA (IB – September 24, 2004) – For all of the approximate 6000 fans
that came out to Philips Arena to see boxing’s brightest female star –
Laila
“She Bee Stingin” Ali put on a beat down, they were not disappointed. This is
exactly what transpired! Laila Ali improved her record to (19-0 16 KO's), by
dominating Gwendolyn “Stealth Bomber” O’Neil (9-4-1 6 KOs) and knocking her out
at 1:59 of the third round. By doing so, Laila added the IWBF Light Heavyweight
Title to her collection of titles that she currently has at the Super
Middleweight division.
The Laila Ali ring entrance set the pace for an exciting night that really
pumped the Atlanta crowd up to see the drama that was about to unfold. Rap star
Bonecrusher (300 pounder) performed his smash hit “Neva Scared” to the delight
of the fans that stood on their feet and cheered.
This was a perfect song for the night because Laila showed Gwendolyn O’Neil
exactly that, she was not scared of her irrespective of moving up in weight to
challenge for the Light Heavyweight title.
In the first round, Laila came out and covered up and let Gwendolyn deliver
punches to her head, practically all of them were blocked except for a couple,
which didn’t appear to do any damage. After the fight, Laila stated, “I knew she
would come out with a lot of nervous energy, so I just let her get it out. This
was my little version of the rope-a-dope.”
Once the bell rang for round two, it was on! Laila turned up the volume on
O’Neil and started to just take her apart. The straight right-hands to the head
of O’Neil were a thing of beauty. Ali dropped O’Neil twice in the second round
and then finished her off with a barrage of punches at 1:59 of the 3rd round.
What’s next for Laila Ali? There is a tentative date set for a re-match with
Jacqui Frazier (Daughter of Smokin Joe Frazier) on October 30th in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. In the event this bout doesn’t actually take
place, Laila has indicated she would like to fight Leatitia Robinson (12-0, 9
KOs), who was very impressive on the under card by defeating Valerie Mahfood.
“Leatitia Robinson is somebody that I have always said that I would like to
fight. She is undefeated and has good boxing movement and doesn’t just stand in
front of me. I want a challenge against someone that has good boxing skills. I
don’t want to go down in history as someone that never fought anybody. My
reputation is very important to me as fighter and as a person. I am not afraid
of losing and if I do ever get beat, it will have by a greater fighter.”
Under Card:
Leatitia Robinson dominated Valerie Mahfood and won a unanimous decision 99-89,
100-88, 98-90 and dropped Mahfood twice in final round. After the fight,
Leatitia stated, “Valerie had stated that I didn’t have any power. I wanted to
show her that I do have power and I told her never under estimate me!”
Based on what observed this night, I would love to see the match between Laila
Ali and Leatitia Robinson. It would be a real sensational bout between two
ladies that truly possess the boxing fundamentals and bring a great deal of
excitement in doing so.
Overall this was a great night for Absoloot Entertainment and moreover, a great
night for boxing and its fans!
P.S. If this fight gets televised, be sure to tune-in and check it out for
yourself.
You have just gone InsideBoxing.com
Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com