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MCCLAIN GIVES AN INSIDE
AND "HIS SIDE" OF THE ALI-TAYLOR FIGHT
By Sue TL Fox
May 17, 2004 |
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(MAY 17) Today, WBAN ran a story on the Laila Ali – Suzy Taylor cancellation
for the June 7th fight where Taylor would have defended her IBA World
Super-Middleweight title. WBAN interviewed Taylor, and Johnny McClain,
promoter and husband of Ali has responded to that interview----McClain said
the following to WBAN:
Well, Sue it is really sad to see that this has come down to such low forms
of integrity. See this is the problem with women's boxing. First of all,
Laila did not have to choose Suzy (Taylor) to fight. It is not like Laila is
the champion and Suzy is the #1 contender, Suzy is not Laila's mandatory.
So if there were no intentions on Laila fighting her, we would have never
dusted her off and put her in the spotlight at all. There is big enough news
to announce Laila making her come back after a year layoff due to her
surgery. We don't need her, nor the belt. Suzy and her manager should be
glad to have gotten the call in the first place. Now they want to act as if
they are the one that people want to see. Please…..
Now to get down the matter at hand. This is something that happens in the
fight game. Fights are postponed all the time, Lennox and Mike, were put off
how many times? All to make the fight bigger and better. Everyone involved
has benefited from the delays.
This fight [Ali, Taylor] was scheduled for six rounds initially, and then it
went to a 10-round title fight. With and increase in pay for Suzy. Then the
TV fell out, due to some BS about the Tyson-Lewis fight. So me as the
promoter has to do what is best for boxing and Laila's career. There is no
way that this fight should go on without TV. I made every attempt to keep
the show alive, but there was just no way to get TV at such short notice.
Okay this is not the end of the world; I will simply do as all other
promoters do in a case like this. They postpone the fight. Now the fight has
been rescheduled for the 2nd of August, in Las Vegas and on Pay-Per-View.
Now what is so wrong with that?
Now instead of wasting a good fight like that, the whole world will get to
see the fight and everyone will make more money. The fight will be great for
women's boxing, and Suzy Taylor now has the extra time she needed to try to
get in some shape and lose some more weight, so that she can actually be
eligible to win the belt. Because she is way overweight and could be
stripped on the scale at the weigh-in. But that's neither here nor there.
The fact remains that this was strictly a business move that any other
promoter would have made.
To top it off Suzy would be making more than twice what she was making, with
no exposure. But when you have management that don't know #^**()_$ this is
the problem and the black eyes that women's boxing has to endure. Suzy
herself called me and said that she wanted a release so that she could fight
on the June 8th card and that Laila would fight on the 7th. Now her
management won't return my calls. What kind of game is he playing. I'm
trying to move on and get this thing really going, but yet I'm handcuffed by
this grown man playing these childish games.
To Taylor’s Team: If you guys are worried about Laila not wanting to fight
you, you are wrong. Laila wanted the fight to go on as planned as well, she
didn't get herself in tip top shape, and pay all these sparring partners, as
well as fly them in and put them up and feed them for a six-round fight. She
wants to whup Suzy's ass - just as bad as Suzy wants to whup her ass. It is
me as the promoter that has enough sense to see the bigger picture. Laila is
back with a vengeance, and she wants all of the women out there and Suzy
Taylor is not one to duck. So if Greg Hanley is reading this, since he won't
return my calls. Why don't you call me like a man and lets make this thing
happen instead of trying to get some money out of me for your so called
$40,000 worth of training expenses, BECAUSE IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
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