correction: NOT *Stephan* Johnson it was James (not stephan) Johnson

heres the article: http://ijo.typepad.com/keeping_score/boxing/index.html
http://ijo.typepad.com/keeping_score/boxing/index.html
http://sports.propeller.com/story/2006/10/16/tyson-returning-to-ring-may-fight-women


Mike Tyson might outweigh Ann Wolfe by 60 pounds, but that hardly makes the female boxer a lightweight. According to Ann Wolfe's website, the fighter is currently 24-1. Widely considered to be the hardest puncher in women's boxing, Wolfe has, according to her bio on the Women's Boxing Archive Network, "overcome homelessness, unemployment and being hit by a car while walking on Interstate 35 to become one of the top professional boxers in the United States."

She's also at least flirted with fighting men in the past. Wolfe was reportedly scheduled to fight boxer James Johnson in August 2005, but the fight never happened; in this interview, Wolfe's PR rep says Wolfe and Johnson never signed a contract. Wolfe was then scheduled to take on fighter Bo Skipper on either October 15 or December 2, 2005, although aside from this press release announcing the fight, I can't find record that it ever actually happened.

In the same interview linked above, Wolfe explains that she's essentially only interested in fighting men because she's gotten to the point where she actually has to pay other female fighters to get in the ring with her; the only other female boxer considered to be at Wolfe's level is Laila Ali, who has repeatedly refused Wolfe's invitations to fight.

"This isn't t about women's boxing, this is about Ann Wolfe," she said. "What am I supposed to do, just retire? This is not about me fighting a man, this has something to do with me still having fight left in me, boxing saved my life."

In response to the suggestion that putting a man and a woman in the ring together amounts to a "circus act", Wolfe responded, "I understand what they are saying because [in sports such as golf, where men compete against women] them girls arenâ getting punched in their face, I understand on both sides. [But] when I get into the gym I can out run, out lift and out train a whole bunch of guys... I am trying to feed my children and that is no circus act."



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