By Jody Kohn
Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA have exploded in popularity over the past few years. At the same time, women’s boxing has been relegated to almost complete obscurity. It has become so bad that most of the top fighters have either transitioned to MMA (Holly Holm) or had to fight in other countries to get paid (Ava Knight) a decent amount.
There are many reasons for this happening, but I believe there are two that have contributed to the decline of its popularity the most. Fortunately, one lady might be the answer to both problems. Last night Maricela Cornejo (4-1) captured the WBC International title with a unanimous decision over Latashia Burton in Miami, Florida. While that victory will go unnoticed by most casual boxing fans, it could have a much bigger impact than people realize.
One of the reasons for the decline in popularity is that the vast majority of women boxers have little to say. They are more content to be wallflowers standing aside hoping for their shot than they are in going out and grabbing the bull by the horns. Layla McCarter and Kaleisha West are exceptions to this rule, but usually when I ask any other lady boxers to do an interview, they decline or have so little to say that I can’t even use the content.
Ronda Rousey is famous as much for her mouth as she is for her ability. Both of them are unmatched, so it should come as little surprise she is among the most famous combat athletes in the world. Love her or hate her, she will elicit some sort of response from you.
Cornejo may not be as controversial as Rousey, but she is not afraid to talk. And with her being of Hispanic heritage, there is so much room for her to capture an audience both in the United States and in Latin America where the women are most popular. She is intelligent and well spoken, and with a platform to get her message out there, she has the potential to be the first female boxer to make people care in some time.
The second reason might not be fair, but what in life is? What do Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Laila Ali, and Mia St. John all have in common? Most would consider them highly attractive. Considering the vast majority of audiences for MMA and boxing are male, it makes sense that they are more drawn to the attractive female competitors. Cyborg may be an exception, but she serves as more of a villain to Rousey than anything else, so that explains that away.
Well, it might be a burden on her, but Maricela Cornejo just happens to be beautiful. In fact, she was even named our most beautiful boxer of the year (see video below) for 2015. That alone will make fans take notice when she climbs into the ring.
There is no reason not to capitalize on your beauty so long as you don’t sacrifice on talent. Ali was gorgeous, but her skills earned the respect of fans and foes alike. She was certainly more than just a model who boxed. She was a fighter and so is Cornejo. Don’t forget that, and they can go hand in hand perfectly. In fact, that is an unfortunate necessity in women’s combat sports. Other than the aforementioned Cyborg, Christy Martin is probably the only other female who even moved the needle a little that didn’t have at least borderline model looks.
We shall see if Cornejo can be the lady to put women’s boxing back on the map. If Saturday night was an indication, she has every chance to do just that. Hopefully, the boxing world will take notice and get behind her as she moves forward in her very promising career.
Check out some of the videos below to see Cornejo in action:
