Mrdjenovich TKO 2 Biggers

[Dee Williams]

Better than Biggers

Two-round TKO by Mrdjenovich

By SCOTT ZERR, EDMONTON SUN

Sat, March 25, 2006


www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2006/03/25/1505042-sun.html

Donna Biggers had a red-eye flight back home to North Carolina last night. Jelena Mrdjenovich made sure she wouldn't be late for her plane.

Mrdjenovich (15-1, 10 knockouts) had no problem making her first defence of the WBC super featherweight title a quick effort as she pounded Biggers down and out in just two rounds.

The 23-year-old Edmonton product had Biggers (18-3-1) rattled early in the first round and then nearly sent the North Carolina native through the ropes with a crushing right as the bell sounded.

Battered and badly damaged, Biggers survived another thrashing in the second, but the fight was halted at the round's conclusion.

The usually slow-starting Mrdjenovich barely broke a sweat on her way to a one-sided TKO beat-down.

"As soon as I hit her hard a couple of times, I knew she was in trouble," said Mrdjenovich. "I hurt her and I jumped right on her."

BARRAGE OF HOOKS

Mrdjenovich found her range early and pummelled Biggers with a barrage of left hooks and straight rights. The assault led to the ferocious right at the end Round 1 that Biggers never recovered from.

"It was just like target practice," said Milan Lubovac, Mrdjenovich's trainer."

Biggers managed to stay up in the second despite taking more punishment. By the end of the fight, she was cut, bleeding from the nose and had her left eye nearly closed.

"I'd give myself only a seven," said Mrdjenovich when asked to rate her performance. "I've got more to show. This was one of my better fights, but not my best."

Mrdjenovich, who also holds the WIBF belt, is scheduled to defend one of her titles on May 20 in Yellowknife.

[fightfan]

Can we get a press report from the US? Donna made the trip to Jelena's backyard, gave way a size advantage, plus more ring rounds. Did anyone tell the Edmonton reporter that this would be quite a test for Donna even if she could have overcome any of the three factors listed? Maybe if Jelena leaves the confines of home base, she will find a red eye.

[Allan Garside]

Home base had nothing to do with outcome of this fight. There are plenty of fighters willing to fight her in her home town. I know one in particular who is hoping for a chance.
Allan

[Dee Williams]

fightfan said:

Can we get a press report from the US?

When was the last time you saw the US press cover a loss by any unranked American female boxer fighting a capable Canadian in Canada? Get real, the US press hardly covers women's boxing in other countries at all unless it's Laila Ali.

Mrdjenovich is building her following in her home town by taking some easily winnable fights with boxers whose records look good to people who do not follow the sport carefully, which includes a lot of fans.

And there's a reason why Donna Biggers was not ranked by WBAN despite her won-loss record ... Mrdjenovich's team understood that reason and they took advantage of it, which is in fact their job when they are trying to raise the profile of their home town girl in her own country.

It's been hard for good Canadian female boxers to build a career and a fan following at home. Margaret Sidoroff wasn't getting much media coverage in Canada while she was one of the best in the world. Jelena Mrdjenovich's team are finding Americans with inflated records for her to feast on to build up her image as a world-class KO killer ... (obviously McCarter was no part of that, they were looking for some real experience for her there and I saluted them for taking the rematch after Jelena lost the first fight). But Alcanter and Biggers are a totally different story, serving a totally different purpose.

And they are artfully exploiting the fact that the WBC is willing to hold its nose and sanction "world title fights" that wouldn't pass muster from the WBAN rankings.

Don't blame the Canadian press, they're just reporting what Biggers's team and the WBC allowed to happen, and Scott Zerr is pumping up a popular local fighter. That's all part of the game.

If Mrdjenovich continues to duck Hallback and the others who are above her in the WBAN rankings, and avoids a third fight with Layla McCarter, then her WBC title belt will be a hollow trophy. But it will not be the first time that's been true.

But this fight with Biggers and its result weren't a figment of the Canadian press's imagination ... and the US press may even have done the right thing for once by ignoring it.

[Dee Williams]

allan said:

Home base had nothing to do with outcome of this fight. There are plenty of fighters willing to fight her in her home town. I know one in particular who is hoping for a chance.
Allan

Yes, and I hope it happens, Allan!

If knocking out the Alcanter and Biggers level of US fighter helps your top boxers build fan interest in the sport up there, so that people pay in big numbers to see Jelena and Jeannine when they match each other, then why not?

My only issue is with the WBC calling these mismatches title fights.

[fightfan]

Words inflame, this reporter is overboard in his bias reporting. he did not have to interject what the trainer said, what Jelena had to offer. Pummeled, thrashing, barrage, target practice. I'll get my chance to respond when Jelena is on the canvas withering in pain from a savage onslaught that she had no defense against, plus I'll publish it in a major Internet threads so it will show up on all the news feeds. I could have just said knock out, but withering in pain is more descriptive.

[Dee Williams]

fightfan said:

Words inflame, this reporter is overboard in his bias reporting. he did not have to interject what the trainer said, what Jelena had to offer.

Have you ever seen a home town paper report that did not have quotes from the trainer and the local boxer after she won?

However, one thing I have noticed is that Milan Lubovac always shows total disrespect for other boxers when he talks to the Edmonton press about Jelena. He always manages to come across as a jerk, and I don't see the upside of dissing the fighter your girl just beat, by describing her as "target practise".

Other than his classless comment I don't see this report as being much different than, say, what the Albuquerque press wrote after Holly Holm easily defeated St. John.

They're hyping a local girl's win to help sell seats next time, that's not unusual.

[jr]

admin said:

fightfan said:

Words inflame, this reporter is overboard in his bias reporting. he did not have to interject what the trainer said, what Jelena had to offer.

Have you ever seen a home town paper report that did not have quotes from the trainer and the local boxer after she won?

However, one thing I have noticed is that Milan Lubovac always shows total disrespect for other boxers when he talks to the Edmonton press about Jelena. He always manages to come across as a jerk, and I don't see the upside of dissing the fighter your girl just beat, by describing her as "target practise".

Other than his classless comment I don't see this report as being much different than, say, what the Albuquerque press wrote after Holly Holm easily defeated St. John.

They're hyping a local girl's win to help sell seats next time, that's not unusual.

These local reporters help define the difference between writing and journalism. They fill the seats at the events and they sell newspapers. In many cases, the local-paper reporting and the actual fights just don't match. Albuquerque, Edmonton, Narragansett - it happens everywhere.

Jelena Mrdjenovich should distance herself from the comments of her manager. He can make all the rash statements he wants (it's part of his job), but Mrdjenovich needs to show respect for her opponents. Her "tough talk" sometimes approaches trash talk.