(SEPT 20) On Saturday night at
the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California, Kaliesha “Wild
Wild” West, 118, stopped Angel Gladney, 117, by TKO
[59 sec] in the seventh round of a
scheduled 10 round title bout. The two were fighting for the
vacant WBO Bantamweight title.
Although the first round started
of a bit slow the women picked up the pace by the second round.
Both fighters were a bit cautious at times yet they were both
successful at landing punches that scored. Sometime during the
third round Gladney suffered a cut just over the corner of her
left eye. The cut required 4 sutures. It appeared [to me] that
the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads, however the
referee determined the cut was sustained from a punch.
It wasn’t until the fourth round
that you began to see the kind of action that would determine
this fight. With a roll of the ankle Gladney went down. Although
it was ruled a slip, it was very clear that the ankle injury was
a problem for Gladney. With the decreased movement West was able
to hone in and target Gladney. Although both of them had landed
well with their hooks, it was West’s speed, timing and movement
that allowed her to catch Gladney with a sharp left hook that
sent Gladney to the floor 59 seconds into the 7th round. Gladney
was up within a few seconds but was waved off by the referee.
West was crafty and sharp, no doubt about it. And Gladney had
the kind of power that would have put most any other opponent
down. West took those punches well, but I am sure in the coming
days she will have a pretty good dose of soreness. All in all
both of these women fought well and the crowd, although
relatively small, seemed to really enjoy this fight.
During the post fight press
conference Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions expressed
their interest in continue to use women on their cards. Citing
the approaching Olympics in 2012, and the overseas interest in
women’s boxing as their motivating factor. Bravo Golden Boy, for
being one of the promoting super powers that recognizes the
United States Promoters are in fact, behind the times.
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