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Saturday, September 17, 2005

Holm Wins by Decision; Foe Miffed

By Mike Hall
Associate Sports Editor
    ISLETA PUEBLO— Trainer Mike Winkeljohn predicts Holly Holm will be the first woman in boxing to fight for a million dollars.
    Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is for sure: Holm had to feel like a million Friday night at the Isleta Casino & Resort after scoring a near-shutout unanimous decision over Christy Martin, the fighter from West Virginia who put women's boxing on the map.
    Judges Rocky Burke of Las Cruces and Chuck Giampa of Las Vegas, Nev., scored the fight 100-92— a shutout in the 144-pound non-title bout. Judge Fred Flutey of Tampa, Fla., scored it 98-92.
    Martin, 37, went in as a heavy favorite, based on her 46-3-2, 32-KO record. The record books will now indicate she has four losses. Holm, 23, improved to 11-1-2 (4 KOs).
    "She said before the fight she would take over the 505. I don't think so," Holm said, adding that she was never hurt in the bout and never tired. "After the fifth round I thought, 'We're halfway through and I'm not tired.' ''
    Holm said her only regret was that she didn't knock Martin out.
    "But hey, she has a mouse under her eye," Holm said.
    Martin had a blackened right eye as she left her stool for the seventh round, but she maintained Holm never hurt her. Holm's trainer, Winkeljohn, said otherwise: "Holly staggered her a few times."
    It was an early-arriving, capacity crowd that filled the 2,700 seats and a few standing- room areas at the Isleta Showroom by the end of third preliminary bout.
    But it definitely was a crowd that showed up for the main event. The throng was strangely quiet during the five preliminaries.
    Even the announcement that Albuquerque's five-time world champion that Johnny Tapia had lost by a second-round knockout in Chicago only drew a mild gasp, and a few cheers.
    But by the time Holm and Martin entered the ring at 10:03 p.m., the noise was deafening and clearly in Holm's favor.
    Maybe that's why Martin said after the bout, "Everybody told me not to go to Albuquerque. I was warned."
    But she did manage to get the contract written that only one judge would be from New Mexico, one from her adopted home state of Florida and one from a neutral site.
    From the start Holm beat Martin to the punch and used her foot movement to keep out of trouble. Martin, by the final three or four rounds, resorted to throwing wild roundhouse rights that fell harmlessly behind Holms' head or shoulders.
    "Mr. Winkeljohn told me if I come out strong, she'd get frustrated and lunge with her punches," Holm said. "He told me to go down the middle."
    Martin said she thought she was winning the rounds when Holm was bouncing around the ring, then added, "That's the first chicken I ever fought. I'm a fighter, not a track star."
    Actually, Holm used her backward movement to lure in the more aggressive Martin, then would stop and fire a series of punches. Holm said her training included a lot of work that would allow her to use her legs to get out of trouble.
    Martin had said all week she was angry with comments made by Winkeljohn and that she wanted to not just knock out Holm, but punish her. Instead, after hearing the decision she stomped out of the ring without shaking hands.
    Holm was a little surprised by that move, and other things Martin said during the week.
    "That she'd win a 100 times out of a 100 times, that I'm too young," Holm said. "I don't ever want to be the one talking like that. She's Christy Martin and I give her respect, but I don't respect her as much as I used to."
    Holm then added that she owed thanks to Martin for giving her the chance.
    Promoter Lenny Fresquez said his next move would be to try to get Mia St. John to fight Holm in Albuquerque. That bout was signed earlier this year, but St. John pulled out.