(AUG 13, 2015) Oh, no folks…the sky must be falling…..again. A four-round bout, that failed to take place, with a female boxer, who would have fought the same opponent for the fifth time—and an open letter is made public to address that particular female boxer because she did not show up to that event…ah…according to their side of the story.
Yes, Mia “The Knockout” St. John, was supposed to fight Janae Romero-Archuleta for the fifth time, in a four-round bout, on an ESPN2 “Tuesday Night Fights” card at Camp Pendleton, in Pendleton, California.
That is eight minutes of boxing—if the fight went that long.
But, according to other online news media, Mia was called out on the carpet by a Mike Marley, VP of Public Relations, Sycuan Ringside Promotions who wrote an “Open letter” on how Mia let the troops down because she did not fight in this “lop-sided” matchup. Here are a few quotes from that “Open letter”….
Quote: “What does Mia stand for, anyway? M-I-A, does that mean M(issing) I(n) A(ction)? Because you “deserted” your post. You did not flee from your foxhole.”
Quote: “From five star generals down to privates, the men and women who are real “fighters,” the people who serve and protect all Americans, were disappointed by your non-appearance.”
Quote: “You never contacted either the California commission or anyone from Sycuan to explain your “desertion.”
Quote: “This being boxing we heard “whispers” that you might punk out on the Camp Pendleton event because of your upcoming boxing trip to China I don’t want to label you as “Beijing Betty” but I bet some of the disappointed sailors and marines might wonder if your flag-waving words about performing at Camp Pendleton were simply a bunch of hypocritical hogwash.”
Quote: “You had a chance to prove yourself as a champion to our troops. Champ or chump? By your non-action, you chose the chump label.”
Well…you get the picture…
Today, Mia forwarded her response to that “Open” letter to WBAN, and she stated the following:
“My deepest apologies to the troops for not being able to fight on Tuesday due to a serious back injury that can be confirmed by numerous doctors including Dr. Karns. My publicist and I are working on a special appearance for the troops right now.
I want the public to know that I never signed a bout agreement for this fight to begin with nor did I receive an advance for this fight. I received gas money and car rental money to drive to San Diego to attend a press conference that I was hesitant on attending in the first place.
Two weeks ago I hurt my back weightlifting even though I was in a lot of pain I went on with my training. When I started feeling other symptoms I contacted several doctors. I was sent to have MRI’s on Friday, August 5th. I contacted Sean Gibbons that weekend and told him there was a problem and I may not be able to fight. I told him I would know for sure by Monday. On Monday I was told by Dr. Nesbaum that I would not be able to fight on Tuesday and if I had any plans on fighting in China I had better stay in bed and try and recover for the remainder of the week. (WBAN has the actual letter of the injury)
Ron Katz called me Monday, and I told him what the doctor had said. I offered to come down to Camp Pendleton and do an appearance for the troops. Ron Katz said that wouldn’t be necessary and hung up the phone.
I am insulted that Sycuan Promotions thinks I would lie about such an injury. In my entire 9 years of fighting I have never pulled out of a fight. I was terribly disappointed. Fighting is my livelihood and if I
cannot fight I am devastated financially and emotionally.
Even though I do not have to prove anything to Sycuan I will gladly turn over any proof they would like regarding my injury. I will even turn the results over to Fightnews.com, a neutral party that I trust.
Because I am an honest person and I always try and do the right thing I am offering Sycuan the same discounted deal for any fight in the future. And as for the troops, we are currently working on an
appearance for them.
I am deeply saddened by this unfortunate event and my sincerest apologies to anyone that was affected by this. Believe me no one is more disappointed than myself.
I was so looking forward to fighting for the troops in this spectacular event. Like I said it doesn’t matter whether you are to the right or to the left, for the war or against it, we still stand behind our troops. Mia St. John”
It is amazing what will get publicity in women’s boxing, and what is totally ignored. Can you imagine how this sport would flourish if the media and others would spend as much time on the positive as they do the negative when doing coverage on women’s boxing and women boxers?
(Mia originally told WBAN on August 9th that she was injured and that was why she was not fighting.) WBAN told MIa at that time that other than her injury we were glad that she was not fighting Janae, and that others were not happy about this matchup.)