ALI STOPS GEIGGAR IN 8TH ROUND
By Ron Brashear
Inside Boxing Writer/Columnist
ATLANTA, GA (IB – February 11, 2005) – In front of a charged up and enthusiastic
Atlanta crowd, along with being televised to millions across this country on
ESPN2, Laila “She Bee Stingin” Ali (20-0, 17 KOs) successfully defended her WIBA
Super Middleweight Title against Cassandra “Black Diamond” Geiggar (6-5, 6 KOs)
at Philips Arena in Atlanta Georgia.
Utilizing superb combination punching, Laila was able to cause significant
swelling over the left eye of Cassandra in the 3rd round, and went on to
decisively win every round, and at 1:13 of the 8th round, referee George Chip
called a halt to the action per he felt Casandra had taken enough punishment.
However, when I interviewed Casandra after the fight, that’s not how she felt.
“I am very frustrated that they stopped this fight, we were both getting tired
and I wasn’t hurt and wanted to continue.” While Laila was dominating this
fight, I must give Casandra her props for her toughness. Casandra went down at
1:09 into the 8th round and was determined and got up and wanted to go the
distance. There was a lot of bravery shown by Casandra Geiggar.
Nevertheless, this was another successful victory for Laila and it sets the
stage for a Laila Ali vs. Leatitia Robinson. Based on how Leatitia performed
tonight in the co-main event, this now becomes a very intriguing fight. It may
mark the 1st time in Leila’s illustrious career where she “isn’t” practically
guaranteed to win.
In what was supposed to be a very competitive co-main event between Leatitia
Robinson (13-0, 9 KOs) vs. Monica Nunez (9-3, 5 KOs), resulted in Leatitia “Baby
Girl” Robinson KOing Nunez with one single thunderous left hook? This happened
at: 36 seconds into the very 1st round! A Knockout!
In under card action: - Night of the KOs
Local favorite Xavier Tolliver (16-4, 11 KOs) scored a 1st round KO victory over
Daniel Haycraft (8-15, 2 KOs).
The Dirrell brothers put on quite a show as well with both brothers scoring
impressive early knockouts. Andre (2004 Olympic Bronze Medallist), (2-0, 2 KOs)
disposed of Walter Coles (1-3, 1KO) at 2:16 into round one. Then the younger
Dirrell, Anthony (2-0, 2 KOs), stopped Dwayne Warren (Making Pro Debut) at 1:30
of round 2.
Jesus Perez (25-9-3, 15 KOs) stopped undefeated Daniel Maldonado (16-1, 10 KOs)
at 1:30 of round one. The stoppage by referee Jim Korb drew some disagreement
from promoter Johnny “Yahyah” McClain of Absoloot entertainment. McClain stated,
“I am frustrated for the referee stopping the fight. The fighter was able to
continue and the last knock down was actually a push.” When I spoke to Jim Korb,
he defended his position by stating, “The fighter was taking a lot of shots.
Regardless whether it was a punch or a push, he definitely got hit and the
fighter was declining. So that was my choice.”
Overall, this was a very night of boxing with the females carrying the torch on
ESPN2. The Atlanta fans were great!
You have just gone InsideBoxing.com
Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com