(MAY 9) I got an email from a promoter the other day. It was in response to a question I had asked about the rarest of occurrences in the sport of Women's boxing, a Haley's Comet, if you will. The question concerned the possibility of two of the top ranked fighters in the sport stepping into the ring with each other. This is the type of fight that would provide some badly needed serum to a sport that, for much too long, has essentially existed in a torpor of national disinterest. And, not surprisingly, that national disinterest increases in direct proportion to the absence of compelling, competitive bouts that have long gone missing from the sport. I'm referring to the type of fight that most of the current top ranked female fighters seem avoid like a virus, opting instead for safe, glorified sparring sessions that, today, make up the vast majority of female boxing bouts.

It's not important who the promoter is, he's well respected in the sport and with reason. It's not important who the fighters are, they are also well respected in the sport and, likewise, with reason. What is important, critically important, is the fact that all too many of top fighters, in the sport of Women's boxing, have made the practice of avoiding each other in the ring "business as usual" throughout the entire sport. The fight I had asked about was no exception.

That pattern is only very rarely interrupted. But when it is that bout is justly applauded, not only for the compelling nature of the match-up, but, also, for it's sheer rarity. The Jamie Clampitt/Missy Fiorentino bout, scheduled for May 18 at the Convention Center in Providence, RI, is an example of a terrific fight, between two good, top ranked fighters. Ask yourself how many bouts between top ranked fighters the sport has showcased recently. Here's the answer: you can count them on one finger!

I've written elsewhere about Clampitt/Fiorentino. It's the fact that such bouts, as the one coming up in Providence, are an absolute rarity that should concern everyone who is associated with or is a fan of Women's boxing and women boxers. Like the most virulent of viruses, the number of good, competitive bouts that are failing to get made aren't difficult to call to mind and, in each instance, there are common symptoms. The promoter's email to me had one of those symptoms on prominent display. After going to some length to explain why the particular bout I had asked about was not going to happen, in the near future, he inserted a phrase you hear constantly when a rationalization is sought for a good bout not happening: "We hope to be able to make (the) fight, when the time is right."

Take just a moment and think about how often you have heard that phrase, "when the time is right" used in reference to a fight that the entire boxing community was clamoring for. I'm going to estimate 500 times, but then I'm only talking about references to "Martin/Rijker." Add the times that phrase has been used in the same sentence as "Ali/Wolfe" and you're approaching a good sized volume. Now, let's examine that phrase in a bit more depth. Here's what "when the time is right" really means: "Are you crazy? Why on earth would we want to take a bout like that, when we can just as easily bring in a fighter to (fill in the appropriate hometown) that we know is a sure win."

And you know what, the promoter's right. Who's going to complain? Certainly not the local fans who are more than happy to watch a hometown fighter add another notch to the requisite championship belt with an easy win over a mismatched opponent. Certainly not those clueless sanctioning bodies who are more than willing to lend their largely irrelevant imprimatur to a bout in which the winner is known long before the opening bell. Certainly not the mainstream media that does not take the time or effort to educate themselves on the sport of Women's boxing much beyond the fact that the sport is composed of two fighters who box with shirt tops.

But you know who does complain? Television, that's who! And, unfortunately, that medium, so critical to the development of any sport, doesn't complain with any loud cry of outrage against lackluster bouts that blacken the horizon of the sport of Women's boxing. No, instead television, devastatingly, complains by ignoring the sport and withholding regular coverage. Ask yourself, once again, when is the last time, you saw a female boxing bout on a national telecast and you weren't sure who was going to win? Whenever it was, one thing is sure, that bout didn't involve two top ranked fighters in the sport. No, that type of fight is still waiting for "when the time is right."

The obvious fact is that time is right now. And here's another fact: if the top fighters in the sport don't start climbing into the ring with each other, there's not going to be a "right time" simply because time is going to run out on the sport of Women's boxing. Bernie McCoy