Uppercut Magazine - Kaliesha West Wins

By David A. Avila

After hours on a jet then several more on a bus WBO bantamweight world titleholder Kaliesha “Wild, Wild,” West motored to the coastal beach paradise then motored past Mexico’s Jessica Villafranca by unanimous decision.

“We had a great trip, the best I ever had for a fight,” said West.

Moreno Valley’s West (14-1-3, 4 KOs) had her second world title defense and the speedy boxer used her athleticism and skills to defeat Villafranca (12-3, 4 KOs). The title match took place at the Casino Black Pyramid in the beautiful beach resort of Manzanillo, Mexico on Saturday. That made it two successful title defenses in a row.

West, 23, recently signed with Mexican promoter Hector Garcia who has several other female standouts including the venerable Ana Maria Torres, the current WBC bantamweight world titleholder. All signs point to a showdown in the very near future.

“We met Ana Maria Torres and she is just a regular girl always smiling,” West said of her potential rival.

One major reason West signed with HG Boxing is the lack of interest by North American promoters willing to financially back her title bid. What most fans don’t realize is that to fight or defend a title such as the WBO, there is a cost of $1,500 to $6,000. Usually that fee is paid by the promoter of the title fight. Few promoters are willing to spend that amount for a female boxing match. That cost does not include the actual fight purses awarded the two female boxers contesting for the title. That’s an extra cost.

“I couldn’t afford to be a champion,” said West about nearly quitting the sport until she was signed a month ago by the Mexican-based promotion company.

Now, following her first win under the auspices of HG Boxing, West can look forward to fighting regularly against some of the most capable female boxers in the world. But there is a major drawback.

Anyone familiar with Americans fighting overseas or in other countries knows there is a huge gamble if a fight goes to the score cards. Judges in other countries let alone some states in the U.S. can be prone to “homerism.” In other words, the out-of-town girl usually must knock the other fighter out or produce an irrefutable win.

“I didn’t fight my normal fight at first because of the crowd,” said West, adding that in the beginning of her match with Villafranca the crowd didn’t respond when she landed punches on the Mexican fighter, but cheered wildly if the other fighter threw a punch. “It took me a while to fight my normal self.”

West realized she had to fight more aggressively and began attacking more in the middle rounds.

Her father and trainer Juan West said that he felt that Villafranca was hurt in the sixth round and later in the fight.

“I busted her nose and she couldn’t breathe,” West said of Villafranca. “After that she began to slow down.”

West pulled out a close unanimous decision over Villafranca by scores 97-95, 96-94 and 99-91 in Manzanillo.

“She hit really hard,” West admitted. “But she was slower so I used my speed.”

West finishing with a flourish and the crowd applauded her effort.

Female boxing a large draw in Mexico

Ironically, the nation of Mexico as recently as 1999 banned female boxing. Many of the girl boxers were forced to travel to the United States or to other countries if they wanted to pursue the sport. Then, boxing promoters discovered that female prizefighter was very appealing to the boxing fans in Mexico. Girl pugilists like Mariana Juarez, Jackie Nava and Torres drew large crowds to arenas and also sparked television ratings in that country.

“Wherever we went they called me champion,” said the perky fighter from Moreno Valley who landed by plane 300 miles away from her destination and took a bus to reach Manzanillo..

West also said that her promoter’s backing gave her a new feeling of confidence and support not common in the U.S.

“It was so different to have someone backing me,” she said. “It felt great.”

North America has been slow to accept female boxing and few promoters or television networks are willing to gamble. Despite popularity among those who actually witness a female prizefight, many remain in the dark about its appeal.

Several weeks ago Torres and Nava’s fight was shown on Mexican television and had great ratings success. It’s one main reason a Southern California female boxer like West was willing to venture below the border.

Mexico is showing the way.   

“Mexico treated us great. I can’t wait to come back,” West said.

Fights on television

Fri. Fox, 11 p.m., Hector Serrano (13-2) vs. Juanito Garcia (14-3).

Fri. Telefutura, 11:30 p.m., Frankie Gomez (10-0) vs. Adrian Granados (8-1-1).

Fri. Telemundo, 11:30 p.m., Jose Nieves (18-2-3) vs. Cuauhtemoc Vargas (15-5-1).

Sat. Fox, 6 p.m., Raul Garcia (30-1-1) vs. Moises Fuentes (13-0-1).

Sat. pay-per-view, UFC 134 Anderson Silva (28-4) vs. Yushin Okami (27-5); Mauricio Rua (19-5) vs. Forrest Griffin (18-6); Antonio Nogueira (32-6-1) vs. Brendan Schaub (9-1) plus more.