MIA ST. JOHN?S LAST HURRAH
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 29 Jul 2012
?It?s been 16 years so I think it?s about time to end my run but first I need to regain my belt,? Mia St John (46-11-2, (18KO) told this writer after getting her custom made mouthguard fitted to her.
St. John came to our offices 24 hours ago after being referred by another female boxer from Oxnard, CA., Crystal Morales.
She wanted a simple white mouthguard but was interested in getting it designed and custom made to address her current dental condition.
St John was a former WBC International Women Lightweight champion. She won the title with a majority decision over Amy Yaratovac (6-1-0) in Mexico City in June 2008.
She successfully defended it in December of the same year with a unanimous decision against Doris Yaris Prado (20-5-3) at Quintan Roo, Mexico.
However, St John failed to hold her belt further suffering unanimous decision loss to Brooke Dierdoff (4-4-1) in April 2009 at Tamaulipas, Mexico.
In June of last year, she traveled to Wurttemberg, Germany to challenge Rolla El Harabi (9-0-0) for the WIBA and WIBF Lightweight title. Unfortunately, she suffered a 5th round TKO.
In October that year she however bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Tammy Franks (2-12-1) at the Sta. Ana Star Casino at Bernalillo, New Mexico.
St John has not fought after that win but she kept herself in shape waiting for her last hurrah before she calls it a day.
That opportunity comes on August 14th at the Table Mountain Casino at Friant, California, a bucolic town just outside of Fresno, California in the lush Central Valley.
St John will be facing fellow veteran Cristy Martin (49-6-3, 31KO) for the vacant WBC female light middleweight title.
The fight with Martin is actually a re-match of a fight they had back in December of 2002 at the Silver Dome at Pontiac, Michigan which Martin won via a unanimous decision.
?It will be nice if I win. It will be a win-win situation,? she said.
A victory will make up for her loss to Martin years ago. It will also give her back a title, something she would love to have as she heads off to retirement.
The Martin-St. John rematch is dubbed the Final Victory by promoter Roy Englebrecht.
It was supposed to be held last June 19th, but Martin asked for postponement to August 3 upon the advise of her trainer, Miguel Diaz. Diaz is better known to Filipinos as ?Pacquiao?s Cutman?.
Martin asked for the postponement to give herself better mentally prepared for the fight after going through the very difficult trial, conviction and sentencing of her husband Jim Martin who tried to kill her.
?I am disappointed,? St. John said, ?but I waited nine years for this. Another three more months will not make a difference,? she added.
Photo: The author with Mia St. John.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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