Monday, November 8, 1999

Sidoroff swims against the tide

By MICHAEL TALBOT -- SLAM! Boxing

Canadian female boxer "Mean" Margaret Sidoroff wakes up every morning at the lonely hour of 5:30 a.m. to run in the cold. She's serious about women's boxing at a time when many eye the sport with curious disdain. She has no Playboy centerfold, no cross-gender bouts, no gimmick with which to attract the media's selective spotlight. She's just a fighter at a time when women's boxing seems to be out of focus.

On June 16, 1999 Sidoroff won the WIBF Intercontinental Junior Bantamweight title with a unanimous 10-round decision over Brenda Burnside. The Windsor native achieved the feat in only her fifth pro fight. Since then it's been anything but easy for the 111 pound pug to get fights. "We've been trying so hard to get fights but it seems like we just keep getting turned down. The girls who get the T.V. time seem to only want an opponent they are sure to beat."

Sidoroff started throwing leather in her home town of Windsor after being persuaded into the ring, "I was a youth coordinater two doors down from a boxing club and all the kids would be on me to give it a try and I did and I fell in love with it."

She went on to fight in Canada and Australia, as an amateur, compiling a perfect record of 13-0 before turning professional. Sidoroff won her pro debut on June 30, 1998 with a second round technical knockout of Heidi O'Burke at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey. These days, she trains for fights that don't seem to get made. The reasons can be pondered from many angles. On one hand, Sidoroff is seen as dangerous opponent. The kind that can erase once unblemished records and threaten the facial features of overly "protected" fighters.

On the other hand she doesn't fit into the degrading trend of women's boxing as spectacle. She's swimming against a tide that sells tickets, but undermines the efforts of serious fighters. A trend that match makers seem to be thriving on of late. Recently, in what many considered a step back for women's boxing, Margaret McGregor fought Loi Chow in boxing's first sanctioned male versus female bout. The fight received extensive news coverage.
"I don't think it proved anything," said Sidoroff.

On second thought she added, "All it proved is that a good female boxer can beat a male bum."

In another news grabbing bit of questionable publicity, Mia St. John, a female boxer, posed nude for Playboy. While Sidoroff respects St. John's right to do so, she also realizes that the attention the centerfold received may not be the kind that's best for the sport.

"It's not how I would like to promote female boxing. I think it should be promoted by skill level. I'd rather hear someone saying she's a great fighter rather than saying wow she's beautiful."

Women's boxing, at times, seems to be a victim of its own design. Many women who step into the ring lack the skill and experience that men cultivate after hundreds of amateur fights. To make up for it, promoters search for a gimmick. Something to sell the card and the fight. The very skillful female fighters represent only a handful of the fights we see on television.

"The ones who get on T.V. seem to be the ones who are putting on a side show," said Sidoroff.

It's not too late for women's boxing and its skillful practitioners like Sidoroff. The sport can eventually gain legitimate status. For this to happen, the work must start at the amateur level. Many women are turning pro after only a handful of amateur fights. In return many professionals don't fight like professionals at all. Mismatches are common and a general lack of polish and experience are evident in many bouts. Sidoroff hopes that Olympic competition may one day turn the tide, "If they get women's boxing at the Olympics that would definitely raise the skill level. They'll have to look at it as a sport rather than a sideshow."

For now, women's boxing is a work in progress. Fighters like Margaret Sidoroff will continue to wake up at an ungodly hours to pound heavy bags and do necessary roadwork. The hope being that with enough hard work and dedication, the media and the fans will one day take women's boxing as seriously as she does.

 

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