Losing is not an option for either fighter in tonight’s rematch

LAGUNA PUEBLO – For Albuquerque’s Holly Holm, losing is not an option.

Just as clearly, perdre n’est pas une option for France’s Anne Sophie Mathis.

Yet, barring the distasteful possibility of a draw, one of the two must lose tonight’s Holm-Mathis professional boxing rematch at Route 66 Casino Hotel.

	Tonight Pro Boxing, Route 66 Casino Hotel: Holly Holm vs. Anne Sophie Mathis, several other fights. Doors Open: 6 p.m. First Bell: 7. Tickets: $25-$250, startickets.com or casino box office

Logic would seem to dictate that Holm, knocked out in the seventh round of their first fight in December at the same venue, is the odds-on pick to lose once more.

Mathis, from Dombasle-sur-Meurthe in the French region of Lorraine, is 26-1 with an eye-popping total of 22 knockouts.

Tonight’s bout is scheduled for 10 rounds, but few of Mathis’ fights go the distance. Her nickname is “Ace,” but her ring accomplishments merit something far more colorful and descriptive – “The Dombasle Destroyer,” perhaps.

Yet, “The Preacher’s Daughter” says she has absorbed the lessons to be learned from Holm-Mathis I and plans to write a different script this time.

“Mentally, training for this fight has been a lot different,” Holm (30-2-3, 9 knockouts) said at this week’s pre-fight news conference. “The way I put it is, I have my own battles, my own demons. … But I’m over that.

“When the fight was over, there was doubt that I had to play through. But the more I trained, the more confident I got.”

Holm has said she fought Mathis’ fight, not hers, when the two 147-pounders met Dec. 2 – especially after being hurt in the fifth round.

Instead of retreating to clear her head, Holm fought back, with disastrous results.

Her trainer, Albuquerque’s Mike Winkeljohn, said he believes the necessary adjustments have been made.

“Little changes, just little things that make a big difference in a fight,” Winkeljohn said. “We’re trying to make those little changes and make them work for us this time.”

Mathis, while always respectful of her opponent, has been the picture of confidence since arriving in Albuquerque on June 4. She’s in better condition this time, she says, and has had better sparring.

“No prediction,” she said through an interpreter, “but I came here to win.

“If I win before the (scheduled) end of the fight, like last time, it would be nice. But I came here to win. That’s what I trained for.”

There is no hostility between the two fighters; far from it.

“Anne Sophie’s the best you can be in there with, and I’m very privileged to have this rematch with her,” Holm said.

“She’s one of the most sportsmanlike and very professional fighters I’ve been in the ring with, and I really commend her for that.”

After those remarks were relayed to her in French, Mathis made a point of thanking Holm.

Mutual respect and admiration will gave way to furious combat, however, once the first bell rings.

Somehow, Holm must find a way to land scoring punches against the taller Mathis while avoiding – or at least minimizing – Mathis’ return fire.

The image from December of Mathis’ powerful and decisive right hand – the one that ended the first fight – is burned into the brain of many a Holm fan.

But Holm was already dazed and spent by then. Winkeljohn said he’s more concerned with the punches that put his fighter in that predicament, particularly the Frenchwoman’s vicious, jolting uppercuts.

“The end of those punches, the end of those uppercuts, that’s where you don’t want to be with her,” Winkeljohn said.

Holm has appeared relaxed and confident this week, but Mathis – stopped in the fifth round of her only pro defeat some 16 1/2 years ago – believes the Albuquerque southpaw has not completely gotten past the memories of Dec. 2.

“If you’re knocked out,” she said, “you always remember it, especially (if it happens) at home.”

Holm said, that while she’s motivated by the first fight, she bears no emotional scars.

“I’m in a different spot right now than I’ve ever been in fighting,” she says. “It’s a different kind of nerves, and I do feel that pressure that I have to win. Otherwise, what are we here for? Why did I take this fight?

“I want to win.”

THE UNDERCARD: A six-round bantamweight bout between Albuquerqueans Raymond “Hollywood” Montes (4-2, 3 KOs) and Jaime Gutierrez (4-5, no KOs) is the featured bout of a five-fight undercard.

Gutierrez is coming off an upset victory over Albuquerque’s Leonardo Sanchez. Montes is returning to the ring after a 17-month layoff.

TV COVERAGE: There is no live TV or live streaming of tonight’s main event, promoter Lenny Fresquez said, but it will be taped for future distribution.

A crew from France’s F3 Lorraine TV network is here to cover the fight from Mathis’ perspective. Maybe the French economy is stronger than we thought.

CHANCE ENCOUNTER: Three versions of the women’s world welterweight title, the IBA, the WBF and the WBAN, are on the line tonight. Mathis took the IBA belt from Holm in December.

IBA President and former major league pitcher Dean Chance, the 1964 Cy Young Award winner, is in town for the fight.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal