HISTORY WILL HAVE TO WAIT!
COW PALACE MMA "BRAWL FOR IT ALL" EVENT IS CANCELED
Updated on 11/12/07
By: Rich Fernandez
Before the cancellation, Bay Area Sports Drive had the unique opportunity to chat with Mia. Below is the interview by Bay Area Sports Drive Boxing Contributor William Kiss. Enjoy!
Mia St. John Set To Make History At The Cow Palace
By William Kiss 11/09/07
Bay Area Sports Drive Boxing Contributor
Very
few female athletes have blazed as many trails as World Champion boxer Mia St.
John, but the talented pugilist that was born in San Francisco broke new
ground once again as she stepped into a cage at the Cow Palace for her
first-ever mixed martial arts fight as part of the “Brawl For It All” promotion.
After compiling a very impressive 43-9-2 record in the squared circle, St. John is eager to jump into this new endeavor with both feet. She will be squaring off against another boxer who’s an MMA newcomer on Saturday, and in a recent interview, St. John talked about her desire to try out a new style, stating “It’s just an evolution, you just have to evolve and go with the flow or you’re going to be left behind.”
As accomplished a boxer “The Knockout” is, however, the switch from boxing to MMA is not always smooth, even for the best athletes. “The training is completely different,” said St. John. “We work so much on our ground game, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. It’s a really tough sport, but what I’ve noticed is that there’s not a lot of head trauma because you’re doing a lot of kicking and wrestling, so it’s actually not as dangerous as boxing. And I used to think, prior to training in MMA, that it was more dangerous but it’s not.”
The “ground game” can be the difference in any MMA fight, but St. John isn’t worried about her lack of experience in wrestling or jiu-jitsu. “My only experience is spending 23 years in martial arts and then 11 years in boxing. So my standup is awesome, but my ground game is what I needed to focus on. Because my opponent started training about the same time I did, we can both be considered kind-of amateurs as far as ground game…if you’re a good stand up fighter, you want to stick to that. But, you have to know what to do if you end up on the ground.”
If
there is one thing that St. John is prepared for, it’s for the fight to go the
distance. Six of her last seven boxing matches have been scheduled 10-rounders,
with five of those matches going the distance. “I have really good endurance
because I’m used to pushing myself past the 10th round in training.
We actually train for 15 rounds, so I feel like my conditioning is great. My
sparing partners are MMA girls, so not only is my stand up much better but my
endurance is much better.”
Asked if she sees Saturday’s bout as a stepping-stone to a further career in MMA, St. John is quick to point out that it’s going to be a brief foray. “I’m only planning on doing one cage fight, maximum,” she stated. “I’m planning on staying a boxer. I’m just doing other things and it’s time for the younger girls to take over and have their time in the spotlight. Me and Christy (Martin) were kind-of the pioneers, and now it’s time for someone else to take over.”
Despite all her time in the ring and in the gym, St. John has also spent time as a television boxing analyst, has released a workout DVD, and has penned a pair of books that are due out next year. “I have a health and fitness book coming out in March 2008 and then my memoirs, kind-of a ‘tell-all’ of my experience in boxing,” said St. John. “…fans can check my website (www.miastjohn.com) for updates on the release.”
Although her business interests have grown in recent years, St. John is not quite done fighting. She hopes to wrap up her boxing career in front of family and fans in Mexico at some point in the near future. “One of the things I want to do before I retire in the fight game is that I want my last boxing match to be in Mexico, which is where my family is from and still lives,” she said. “I’ve never been able to fight in Mexico before, and that’s going to be my goal to really focus on in the next year.”
Asked if she has a message for any up-and-coming female athletes, St. John stresses the importance of a college education. She states, “The first thing that I tell girls that write to me or come up to me is get a college education. That’s the one tool that no one can take away from you. And even if you become a fighter, you’ll be able to deal with managers and promoters and not get ripped off. You can always protect yourself. I think that’s the main thing because it’s so easy for these girls to get into the sport and get taken advantage of. That’s the one thing that I stress to these kids, is that you become educated first and foremost. That’s a tool that’s going to help you throughout your entire life.”
Although she is a self-proclaimed “SoCal girl,” St. John loves coming home to the Bay Area to fight in front of her friends and family that remain in the region. Fans can meet and greet “The Knockout” at the Wrestle Fan Fest in the South Hall of the Cow Palace all weekend long. She’ll be signing autographs on Friday afternoon, Saturday until the fight, and Sunday as part of the promotion, and she encourages all fans to stop by.