The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire

Que up the groan chorus. Bring in the wowsers and gnashers. You knew it was going to happen some time and that time may just be now. A lady boxer and a guy boxer have signed contracts to fight each other in a professional match on Saturday, October 9 at the Mercer Arena in Seattle.

Margaret "Tiger" McGregor of Bremerton, WA is a 36 year-old lightweight with a background in kickboxing and a 3-0 record as a pro boxer. She is contracted to tangle with 26 year old Hector Morales of Vancouver, British Columbia who will be making his pro debut after a short (8-2) amateur career in his native Mexico. The pair have agreed to fight a bout of six 2-minute rounds. Each would be paid $1500 for the effort. Morales, a security guard, originally agreed to weigh-in 10 pounds less than the part-time landscaper, McGregor. This "handicapping" was meant to be a protection for McGregor but it just insulted her and caused complaints from the Department of Licensing. McGregor has now agreed to hit 130 lbs or less with Morales due to come in at no less than 125 lbs.

The Washington Department of Licensing has not yet approved the match and is acting a trifle spooky about it. Instead of the usual one or two days required for a yea or nay on a proposed match, the process of considering this male-female tangle has dragged on for weeks. Spokesmen for the Department of Licensing say there are no rules or laws preventing such a match in the state of Washington, and that McGregor-Morales will be considered on the same basis as any other match--weight, records and skill levels. Despite such claims, this match is being treated differently by the Department. Most matches are approved or denied before fighters contracts are signed. The Department reportedly refused to make a decision until signed contracts were filed. Then, because the delay had caused the promoter to move the date of the show, the Department asked for new contracts to be submitted with the new date. Word is that the Department of Licensing is scared of this match and hopes that delays will make it go away. So far, no such luck.

If Washington approves the fight it will be the first ever sanctioned male vs female pro bout in the United States. News of the proposed match broke on Friday, August 27 in a front page story in the Bremerton Sun by reporter Chuck Stark. Every television channel in the Puget Sound area spread the word on the six o'clock news that night.

The McGregor-Morales match is the brain storm of Bob Jarvis, the Seattle businessman, trainer/manager and proprietor of the Hillman City Gym. The savvy Jarvis was the guy who organized the amateur show in Edmonds, WA back in October of 1993 where the first ever women's amateur boxing match in the United States took place. The global publicity for 16 year-old Dallas Malloy and her opponent Heather Poyner brought satellite trucks and print reporters from Tokyo, New York and Paris to Jarvis's amateur show in a suburban college gymnasium. Malloy's legal battle in the federal courts to win the right to compete as an amateur boxer triggered the recent trend of women and girls heading into the boxing gym. It rejuvenated interest in women's professional boxing which had been languishing since the 70's. Jarvis was the one who introduced Dallas Malloy to her trainer in the first place. You could say that Jarvis started the whole recent Girl Boxer magillah.

Jarvis serves as the Director of Bouts for promoter Tom McNalley, who is staging the October event as a showcase for his brother, talented lightweight Martin O'Malley (10-0, 9 KO's), who is trained by Bob Jarvis. O'Malley will fight a ten round main event on the card against Tito Tovar (24-10) of Denver. O'Malley, the former national flyweight amateur champ, also fought the main event on the amateur card when Dallas Malloy defeated Heather Poyner.

Internet rumors about a proposed match between Michael Carbajal and Lucia Rijker inspired Bob Jarvis. "It's coming," Jarvis told reporter Chuck Stark. "That's why I decided to do it first." Margaret McGregor has had trouble getting matches with other women and Jarvis says the publicity for this match could help her career as well as boosting ticket sales for the O'Malley show. A win for McGregor would make headlines, at least in Seattle.

For Hector Morales it's a different story with no rosey endings. In the eyes of the public, if he defeats (or worse, injures) McGregor, he beat up a woman. If he loses, he lost to a girl. His trainer, Loyd Chow of Vancouver, B.C. told reporter Stark, "The female gender has evolved to where they're comparable to men. That's one thing you have to accept. That old thinking where women are supposed to be feeble things, that ain't so anymore."

Chow thinks Morales is brave to take the match. "For him it's a lose-lose situation," Chow told Stark. "To subject yourself to that kind of risk, it's worthy of some merit."