Ok. So I just saw yesterday that a Playboy bunny will representing women's Muay Thai at K1 USA. I have to say I am a little peeved. Maybe she is a good fighter but she is only 1-0--as an amateur. Good for her for fighting, however, I want women in kickboxing to be taken seriously, not just as a hot piece of ass remake of the Miller Light commercials. In the past K1 undercards have featured such fighters as Angela Rivera, Carrie Crothers, and Trisha Hill. All bad-ass women fighters. Does any one else think this is a step in the wrong direction for women in the sport? Ladies?? Fellas??

I don't really see a problem with her fighting as long as she actually fights. But, if you're only going to have one female fight of the night, it would be best to have a couple of good fighters with experience. A lot of people will be seeing female fighters for the first time. That's not a good choice for first impressions.

That's my point exactly. We want fans to see the best of the best which is usually what they get with K1. Not that the rest of us aren't cute too. We just wnat to have a woman up there representing women fighters not worried if she is going to get her nose busted.

Hello! I really hear you Amie, but she is marketable. The undercard should be a Las Vegas local and she will probably sell tickets. I think that they should put someone in that has a little more experience cause it is a big crowd and that's a big second step. I used to train her private lessons in Las Vegas and I know her very well. She isn't worrried about her face she really loves Muay Thai and loves to train, so she is doing it for the right reason she just happens to be a playboy.
Angela

I don't know how good a fighter she is, but have you seen this chic. She is gorgeous. I would watch here fight. (I would suggest a fight against her and Mia St. John.) You can check out La Tasha Marzolla at K-1usa.net or take a look at her at www.siren.com/home/story_828.php

Well it is good to hear from a seasoned fighter like yourself Angela. As a business woman myself I can understand the fact that she is marketable. I had never seen her fight but had heard bad things. I hope she represents well but was worried she was being put in the ring only because she is pretty. I am glad to hear that she is a serious fighter. I used to model for a long time too and have no problems with pretty women especially fighters. And yes Roger, she is pretty.

maybe she is a playboy, to get funding to pay for her mt training?

it is not her fault folk think she is lovely.

I doubt anybody seriously worried about their looks would be daft enough to go into the ring?
but if they were that daft and that vain, getting a bust nose would be a good lesson in life for them ;-)

i train with tasha and have to say she trains very hard and has improved tremendously over the last few months. i can understand why people may be peeved about the her being marketed as a playboy bunny, but if she is cool with it, and she can back it up, and k-1 can market it, why not?

I agree. I have no problem with her being marketed as a bunny. That's cool. I hope she gains some fans for the sport in the process. It will be good for all of us if she does well.

I understand the chagribn with the more experienced women
being bypassed for Tasha.

But, I made a decsion to go ahead and plaster a big pic of her on my
homepage. Because after the guys calm down, they will look
around and learn a lot more about women's Mauy Thai and
kickboxing and see these oter women's fighter profiles, up
coming fights, etc etc.

Women;s boxing had the dsame contorversy with Mis St John four years ago,
when she was a playboy model, and got on all the Bob Arum
top rank undecards and no no discernible bocxng. skilss. all the women boxes said she was seting the sport back years.

It turns out today, four years later that she didnt harm women's boxing at all.
no one person has that kind of power.

by the way, Mia weighs 133 pounds. That is way too much for Tasha,
(although Mia will do any combat sport IF the money is right. She has said so.
So, if there is a cretive open minded promoter out there who would like to promote Mia to go to Japan and fight one of the Japanese women Muay Thai fighters or wrestler stars NHB, or MMA (boxer vs wreslter, or boxer vs Kickboxer, let me know, and I;ll
pitch it to her.
I'll bet that could fill the Tokyo Dome-if advertised properly (pictures posters galore)


dan

What weight ? is the Ladies K-1 ?
and ive heard a Trisha hill from the States is pretty good ! is she the right weight ?
and is it open to JUST Americans ?
chers
sandyman

Hi Sandy. Unfortunately, there will be only one' women's bout.
And Tasha Marzolla was chosen to fight.

That's what has some of the ladies upset. and I
understand their chagrin.

yes, trisha Hill is a very accomplished fighter.
And fight say, between trisha and karen Ousey would be
a stupendous matchup that would really put women's
Muay Thai on the map.

But the promoter(s) felt Tasha's' chairsma was the
bigger attraction. I think he is wrong.

Nevertheless, lets give Tasha a chance.
she trained under Angela Rivera-Parr, and
is reportedly very serious about Muay Thai.
So, if she continues to work hard and improve
her skills,
she can be a real boon to women's Muay Thai.

No, there is no weight limit for the k-1.

and yes, it is open to anyone from anywhere.

But, realistically they want a local fighter on the card.

That's why they originally matched Angela Parr with Karen Ousey.
Angela is tremendously talented and was also local at the time.


on anotr matter, It is very possible we will see Trisha Hill and Ms Ousey meet in the UK.
Not saying it is a done deal. But it is a real possibility.

ALSO:


(excuse the caps) One way promoters can afford to bring women across the atlantic (both directions) is for promoters to eliminate one mens bout fomr the card. That saves purse money, and expenses sufficient to cover the women's airfare and lodging expenses.

And to compensate for the time gap created by having one less fight on the card -simply add ten minutes to the intermission, and make the rounds for the women three minutes instead of two-and the rest periods two minutes instead of one.

there: you have consumed a full 20 minutes of the vacant time spot created by deleting one men's proposed fight from the card- and you have a world class women's international fight at NO extra expense .

see, it most certainly CAN be done-IF the promoters are committed or even open to the idea of a high profile womens fight on the card-at no extra expense. I get tired of this lame "we can;t afford to fly her in" bs...Oh yes you can! you just got to think outside the box. (no pun intended)

And by the way. the guys shouldn't bitch about that either. -because their fights still will outnumber women's fights on the card
7, 8, 9 or 10 to 1.

how ya like them apples?

cheers,

dan

1 am fight...

All the best to her but you'd think promoters would try to get a little more experianced fighter in there.

For the men who don't quite understand where we are coming from: Try to think about all those hot model looking men you see in ads in Maxim. Think of one of those guys training for a little while having one fight that apparently stunk and then that guy getting a chance to fight at k1. The promoter has him all over posters for k1 because he is hot but you know he isn't in there for the right reason. That's why so many people are pissed. And for the record, Trisha Hill would kill this chick, and me for that matter. She is a tough fighter.

Amie

Amie-well said but its still different because women aren't as plentiful in the sport. We don't see as many women fight and therefor we don't see as many good women fights.

I think its stupid. But what brings people in brings themm in.

Advertise her fine. But have her fight early and have at least one fight with experianced and proven women.

No knock to her but shes only had one fight.

Amie Parcinski




Amie Parcinski writes:

For the men who don't quite understand where we are coming from: Try to think about all those hot model looking men you see in ads in Maxim. Think of one of those guys training for a little while having one fight that apparently stunk and then that guy getting a chance to fight at k1. The promoter has him all over posters for k1 because he is hot but you know he isn't in there for the right reason. That's why so many people are pissed. And for the record, Trisha Hill would kill this chick, and me for that matter. She is a tough fighter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Amie, I think Men do understand.

And there is no reason to think the fight business is any
different than other businesses, that are public entertainment
related.

I'll give some examples at the risk of going Off way off
topic.

A lot of men get passed over for
sales jonbs in particular
and also TV broadcasting jobs (on camera positions)
who are more educated, knowledgable
and well spoken than certain "hunks"
who land these positions.

Item: There was this kid named Sean HannitY
who was a talk radio host in atlanta, and
a college drop out.

He got a multi-million dollar contract with Fox News
to host their national TV political show in prime time.
Fox CEO, Roger Ailes said (paraphrased) We (fox) knew
"we had a winner when we saw that head of hair"

Yeah, he's got hair that would have made Elvis envious.
and a handsome face. Women go nuts and ring the hook
off the phones on his syndicated nightly radio talk show,

No offense, but he is a quasi "jimbo". (male equiv of a bimbo.)

he was Not even the best talk host even in Atlanta-much less
the whole USA.
>
and it has nothing to do with his conservative views.
Almost ALL talk show are conservative. It is a conservative medium.

In fact, There is a guy named Neal Boortz in Atlanta (same views as Hannity) who is much more knowledgable, educated and informed and articulate than Sean Hannity.
And he KILLED Hannity in the ratings war on the RADIO-where their faces
were not seen.


But, for Fox national TV? Boortz is TOO tall,(6'5") and he is bald. and his face ain't pretty. so he will remain a local radio celebrity.



But Hannity? It's crazy the way all these women rave about how
"brilliant " he is.

He aint retarded, but you would think he was Einsten to listen
to these lonley hosewives calling in.
But in fact, he is a very normal guy with average abilities
and extraordinary looks.

Factoid: No President of the USA this century has been under six feet tall. (except Jimmy Carter) You know why do you suppose that is?


People think taller men are stronger in character, wiser,
more intelligent, fairer minded, more competent, better leaders,
you name it.


ITEM: There was a study done at GSU and at Emory University Law school
in Atlanta.

They got two local actors to present the exact same closing argument
to differnet "jury panels" made of students.

One actor was very tall, over six feet, and distinguished looking.
he was described as a "Jimmy Stewart look alike"

the other was short, I dont remember all the particulars but
maybe five feet 8 inches, and was balding
with a ruddy complexion,and slightly overweight.

So guess which adjectives were used to describe the tall guy
guy when presenting verbatim the same closing argument:

here are the adjectives the "jurors" used to describe the Jimmy stewart Look alike:.

"commanding" "knowledgeable" "articulate"," masterful"
"principled" "strong" "trustworthy"
intelligent" "fair minded" "thoughtful" "deliberative"

The short chroe dome...Thanks for asking:

"feisty" "belligerent" "argumentative" "hot headed"
"emotional" "slick" "pushy" "opinionated" "untrustworthy"

ditto sales jobs.

anyone..male or female who is considered good looking has a leg up
on the competition. And women enable this to continue as much as men

inho.

They are just less blatant and "up front" about it. no pun intended.

Life is unfair. Why do we always have good looking celebrites as "spokepersons" for products being advertised.

We see things on TV like: "Take it from me, Brittany Spears this is the
better product"

how the #### does SHE know? she probably has someone do her shopping for her

Or, "take it from me, Michael Jordan, this is the car you should buy."

I want to shout at the tv, what the #### is a twewnty year old athlete doing telling me what consumer decisions is the wiserchoice to make, after living and making decisions 60 years on this planet?

why not get a non famous average looking person who is a genuine
crdntialed expert on whatever product his being advertised?
Indeed, why don;t the experts deserve that lucrative high payg endorsemtnt informing the public ? They at least worked for their credentials.

The truth is, we love attractive people, and reward them for
a genetic accident of birth.

Life is unfair and people suck.

I agree it is good to question it, as you are now,
and hopefully make it less socially aceptable.

But, I think we make a mistake to think only men are guilty
of mismeasuring their fellow human beings

dan

K-1 has definitely taken a WWF type of a turn. What next ? Mud wrestling ?

I think Fahad proved the point here with his thread "Playboy model Thai boxer".
'Nuff said.

ok again, i see where you are coming from, but is this tasha's fault, or fahad's? not that i believe fahad was trying to be insulting to anybody. is k-1 possibly looking at marketing here rather than fight value? maybe. it is still a large event to showcase women on. and again, contrary to popular belief based on her looks, tasha does train hard.
does everybody remember the hottest girl in kickboxing type threads a while back focusing on that one girl who fights for mike miles? well she is a great fighter who is very skilled and most of us still found a way to reduce her to "being hot" rather than being talented. yes i am guilty of this too sometimes. this issue is a lot more coplex than a lot of us may realize...

Hi Rob. How are you? Are you going to the fights? If so can you post the results. Thanks!
Angie

I don't take offense to Fahad at all. She is hot for Pete's sake. Enough of this. It is a social problem that probably won't go away for a long time. Regardless, GOOD LUCK TASHA!!

angie, check your email!

i watched the K-1 USA Pay per View here in the US

Did she win the fight?
they did not mention it, or if they did, i missed it.

Melanie Kohler def La Tasha Marzolla TKO1

Marzolla took quite a beating in the first round and would not come out for the second round.

i think that its a real shame that she lost, love her or hate her she would have been an awsome marketing tool for muay thai and let face it im sure she wouldnt have minded.

Amie Parcinski i c where ur comin from with the maxim guys but if that famous underwear model from the calvin klein ad became a headline fighter id be made up no matter if he was good or not, cos at the end of the day what is it to me? im not going to go "oh its not fair hes got nicesr pecks then me" but im sure hed bring in a lot of intrest into the sport, and in the case of Tasha Marzolla, something to talk about cos let in a few days theres been 3 threads on a girl whos had one amatuer fight.

the truth is us men arnt know for our good looks so its not something we can exploit. also at the end of the day it comes down to what u do in the ring and in this case she lost so thats the end of that. shame really she cud hav been great for gettin womens MT in the public eye

raks, i wasn't mad at her. Not at all. She maybe a really nice girl. I guess I should have stated more clearly what I was upset with. The fact that a inexperienced fighter was fighting on a huge card just cause she is a looker. That's all. The reason she spawned so many threads is not because she was a great muay thai fighter and a hottie but just cause she is good looking. That's what women don't want. I hope she keeps fighting and perserves despite a difficult loss. What happened to the chick she was supposed to fight? She was supposed to fight the girl she fought last time.

Amie

Amie sorry if i gave the impression that i thought u were mad at her, i know ur not uv clearly explained ur points in ur first post:) and a short answer is no she shouldnt have fought and its not right but at the end of the day she sells tickets and thats the way the world works but if she could advertise womens MT in any way thats a good thing

also (this should be in the Getting Ahead Based On "looks") but i think being a plaything puts added pressure on u because ur on a uphill struggle to prove people wrong. ill tell u what, its not the kind of thing id like to face after one ametruer fight

Well Tasha getting ko'd after 1 round will have done women Thai Boxers the world of good!!!
rach
x

Hey, I guess it could be her a new shtick,

You know, she can next time be the playboy bunny that won't quit.

Kinda like the little engine sorta.

I think the good outweighs the bad in this situation.
The media and the crowd love the freakish ( eg Sapp), and a stunning girl fighting in a brutal sport is kinda strange.

raks said 'It is not the kind of thing id like to face after one amateur fight' That is the point,Tasha should not have to face that .I do not beleive it will do the sport any good. People should be seeing two world class fighters on a show like the K1. That would show people that women are serious and talented. I understand about the selling of tickets, I don't know if they truly wanted to promote womens boxing but a fight between two more experianced fighters would have been a better choice.IMO.

I agree with Jo

as a muay thai fan what would i rather see trisha v unknown or karen Ousey v Angela Rivera-Parri? please im not going to answer that. but if i were a promoter putting a bunny on my poster might sell more tickets (maybe it wouldnt but if u look at the'K-1 Vegas Pool 2003'thread somebodies already done it)

the truth is in this case trisha wasnt ment to promote womens mt, she was ment to help sell tickets for the main event. however if were talkin purely womens muay thai im no marketing consultant but im sure she could of helped in some way, BUT later on when more experianced. like iv said above (kinda) to fight on a k1 bill after one ametuer fight is too much pressure too soon and not the kind of thing id like to face.

jo i couldnt agree with u more, in my last post i wrote "NO she shouldnt have fought and its NOT right but at the end of the day she sells tickets and thats the way the world".

What a mad world we live in. Lets just hope to see a couple of world class fights on the next k1. I reckon they would still sell an awful lot of tickets. And I agree with raks about maybe later on when Tasha is more experienced she might help in some way. I just felt that this fight did not show women in the way that they should be. ( well in regards to womens boxing/Muay Thai)