Everyone has at least one fight they would rather not anyone
use as a measuring rod of their abilites.

For Ilonka, it was no doubt her fight with Lisa Howarth. Or perhaps her loss to Stefania Bianchini.

For Lisa Howarth, no doubt her fight with Naoko Kumagai who ko'd her in the first round. or her fc loss to Nancy Jospeh.

For Kim Messer? no doubt her loss to Naoko Kumagai.

For Lisa Houghton-Smith? her first loss to Ilonka in Rotterdam.

For Laura Skinner? probably her second fight with Julie Wood.

For Sachiyo Shibata? her loss to Jussy Lowe,or Vanessa Bellegarde.

For Regina Halmich? her first round KO loss to Naoko Kumagai wa s aprticulalry embarrassing.

For Trisha Hill? probably her loss to Jackie Nava.

For Angie Parr, probably her loss to Nava.

for Nava? her ko loss to Patty Gomez.

For Holly Fernely? her loss to Asako Saioka.

For Askao Saioka? probably her loss to Wang Zhan Li.


For Naoko Kumagai? probably she would like to take back her 2 shootboxing losses to Terumi Fujiyama. (she never has been beaten in Muay Thai) although there is an unsubstantiated report she lost one in Thailand to Daoprasuk Petchopas.

Also many fighters simply have a nemsesis-meaning there is one particular adversary, who may not be as good as they, but who simply "has their number." In other simply knows how to frustrate and beat them.

That's one reason the WIKBA does not use head to head competition to rate fighters-except as a tie breaker when all other factors are even.

We often see a situation where A beats B; B then beats C. then C beats A.
so which is number 1?

If you rate any of those three fighters number one, based on head to head competition, rest assured one of the other two will challenge your ranking. on the basis they beat someone you ranked above them.

Therefore we prefer to look to a fighters ENTIRE CAREER to rank them-not who beat whom in a single fight.

Lets just say Ilonka and Howarth are two of the best female fighters ever.As are several others previously metnioned here-or elsewhere.

dan