The highlight of the evening was a rematch between Marsha "Apple Cheeks" Valley and Ann Wolfe. Their first date aired on ESPN2's FNF and it was quite a war. Wolfe got the best of Valley that night, scoring a 6th round TKO win.

It is no secret that the masculine consensus on female boxing is that women simply can not fight. There are issues with technique, ability, stamina, etc. I remember Razor Ruddock telling me in an interview that "getting hit in the chest could cause cancer, and thus, he didn't favor women boxing." Okay, Razor, we hear that one...

As I watched these five matches at the War Memorial Auditorium last night, one thing became very clear. Women boxers don't ever, ever quit; they are most courageous and what they may lack in formal skills at times, they more than make up for in the heart category, unlike some of their male counterparts.

The night was full of action; not a boring fight on the card, and the audience appreciated the effort and the willingness of the contestants to go all out. After watching Ada Velez vs Takeysha Williams on Friday night at the AmericanAirlines Arena, and when I thought it couldn't get any better than what those two dished out, ten women pull out all stops to entertain and give credit to the sport.

Opener was an exhibition bout between Melissa "Honey Girl" del Valle, (22-0-1) and Michelle "Amazing Grace" Linden, (7-3, 6 KOs). Both women are very talented, but Melissa stands out with a combination of ring savvy and street smarts; she loves to taunt and have fun in the ring, while steadily dishing out punishment. There is so much of her brother Lou in her; after all he did start her in the sport and trained her for a long time when they were very young.

The first bout of the evening marked the debut of Yvonne Reis vs Bonnie "The Queen Bee" Mann. Yvonne pulled out a unanimous nod, and had a particularly strong fourth round, causing a cut on the bridge of her opponent's nose. They fought in the welterweight division, and Mann drops to 1-4.

Local favorite Marianne Churbirka, with a 1-1, 1 KO record stepped up to face Gracie Roca in a WIBC qualifier. Marianne is one of the hardest working athletes I have ever seen in a boxing gym, thus, conditioning will never be a factor with her. Heart was in place and it showed, as she and Roca put on a heck of a brawl every second of every round. It was brutal and bloody, with Roca's nose oozing blood from the opening stanza and Marianne suffering an ugly cut over her left eyelid courtesy of a Roca head butt.

Churbirka prevailed, with superior boxing skills and tremendous will, earning a 40-36 unanimous decision. Propers to Ms. Roca for fighting like a true warrior; her record now drops to 0-3-1. The fans were into this fight, and their ovation at the end of the bout was indicative of their appreciation.

Lisa "Bad News" Brown vs Karen Martin followed; the winner of this bout to meet Ada "Ace" Velez for the vacant WIBC bantamweight title.

Brown weighed in at 121.5 lbs, Martin at 121, and their physical condition was most impressive. Brown dictated the pace, the more skilled of the two, connecting with greater accuracy and power. Martin was never in serious trouble, but couldn't get off enough to impress the judges, who scored it 60-54 all for Brown. She boosts her record to 7-0, 3 KOs, while Martin drops to 6-3, 5 KOs.

Ada Velez and her new promoter, Jessie Robinson from Warriors Gym, were invited to the ring to announce the clash between "Bad News" and Velez in the early part of 2003. When asked to speak, Velez thanked the fans and said she does her talking in the ring. Enough said!

Melissa Jeter and Sunshine Fettkether went at it in a ten round championship battle in the welterweight division. It was a brawl, toe to toe for all ten rounds, with Sunshine pulling out another unanimous decision, 96-94, 99-91, 97-93, upsetting now former WIBC champion Jeter.

Sunshine is a tall, lanky welterweight, with good skills and sound technique. She is strong, paces herself well, fights off a beautiful jab, and can counter punch, too. Melissa Jester gave it her all, but it was simply not good enough on this night. Her record drops to 15-4-1, 3 KOs while Sunshine improves to 5-2-2, 2 KOs.

The main event was next, with Ann "Brown Sugar" Wolfe facing Marsha "Apple Cheeks" Valley. If you saw these two on ESPN2's FNF then you knew that this was going to be a real grudge match. Valley wanted to offset her loss, while Wolfe wanted to make it a personal 2-0 against Valley.

For those who say women boxers can't punch, I would like to extend an invitation to an Ann Wolfe bout. At 168.5 lbs, she hits like a freight train, often lifting herself off the canvas when connecting with a blow. Her opponent got lifted off the canvas, too, by the power of Ann Wolfe's punches.

Valley went down in the 6th round, and almost came through the ropes in the 8th. She was picked apart and punished, and within 48 seconds of the tenth round the bout was called off by referee Jorge Alonso, after Wolf unloaded a brutal barrage of head blows that went unanswered by Marsha Valley.

In the audience, Richard Hall and Ricky Quiles, who came to cheer on his beloved Marianne. Richard told us that he has now severed all ties with Murad Muhammad. Hall is calling out Antonio Tarver and we will have more on this story very soon.