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Photos © Jim Everett/SaddoBoxing
SaddoBoxing spoke with Mia St. John at Casey’s Boxing Gym in Warwick , Rhode Island while she was in town for her upcoming bout with Jaime Clampitt. The fight billed as “Hearts of Fire” will be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence , Rhode Island. St. John 43-7-2 (18) will face Clampitt 16-4-1 (7) for the IWBF World Lightweight Title tonight, Friday, February 9, 2007. During our exclusive in depth interview, we spoke about the title, her opponent and her career as a business woman.
SaddoBoxing: Thank you for taking the time. You are fighting for the IWBF Lightweight Title…
Mia St. John: “I am? Ok (laughing).”
SB: You’re not sure (laughing)?
MS: “It could be the W… the DWP, the ABA I could care less. The only belt I am concerned about is my own which is the IFBA. The rest are just belts that you pay someone for.”
SB: So, you don’t put too much credit into the various titles?
MS: “No, I’ve never even heard of half the titles out there. It’s a business like everything else. They’re just out to make money so you pay someone for a title and then you have a title.”
SB: With your upcoming fight you mention you’re not even sure of what title you are fighting for, is this something that you actually pay sanctioning fees towards?
MS: “I don’t. I refuse to pay any sanctioning fees. The only title that I will promote is my own which is the IFBA. That’s the only one I am willing to pay sanctioning fees towards. I won’t pay sanctioning fees to the rest of them.”
SB: Do you know much about your opponent, Jaime Clampitt?
MS: “Yes, from what I know of her and what I’ve seen she’s a very technically sound fighter. She’s a great fighter. She has boxed some great fighters and beat them. She’s lost to some of them but she has beaten a lot of them too. We are kind of similarly ranked. I think she is a great fighter, her style is a little different than mine but I give her a lot of credit, she has done a lot.”
SB: Do you have any predictions for the fight?
MS: “I think that it will be a great fight (smiling).”
SB: You’re not committing to anything?
MS: “No, I never do (laughing). This is like my 55th fight. I’ve never done that.”
SB: Do you feel the difference in age, you are now…
MS: “39.”
SB: I believe that Jaime Clampitt is 30, do you think age will play into the fight at all?
MS: “Age will never play into the fight. I fight girls that are 20, 23 it doesn’t matter. I have better conditioning than most women in thier 20’s. I don’t think age has anything to do with it. In fact for me, I’m like wine; I get better with age (laughing). If you have seen my previous fights and followed my career you’ll see that with each fight I get better and better”.
SB: A lot of boxers would have begun to decline at 39 years old, why do you feel you continue to get better?
MS: “I think it’s for me, not boxers in general. I spent 23 years in Tae Kwon Do and had to switch over to boxing. It took me a while to get the hang of it and now that I have and you just see me getting better and better. So I think I am in a little bit different situation than most boxers. So for me, I get better with age.”
SB: With that said, do you see your boxing career going on for awhile?
MS: “This is probably my last fight in the United States and the rest will most likely be overseas. As far as the United States, this is probably the last one.”
SB: Any particular reason you decided to go overseas?
MS: “CHA-CHING (laughing)! It’s getting harder and harder to make money in the United States as far as fighting. I can still make money doing endorsements, TV shows, book deals, DVDs and stuff like that because I am a business woman. I can still find ways of making a great living but as far as fighting, boxing is not what it used to be since the MMA and the UFC took over. I just get better offers now overseas and me, being a business woman, I go where the money goes”.
SB: In regards to women’s boxing, I believe that you were one of the women that helped put the sport on the map after Christy Martin and later Laila Ali; do you feel that it has gotten better or worse in that past few years?
MS: “Christy Martin came out on the undercards of Mike Tyson and me with De La Hoya and Bob Arum, and later Laila came out and kept it going. But, you don’t see promoters with women anymore. Arum doesn’t have any women, King doesn’t have any women. Me and Christy were the last. I think it has nothing to do with women. Unless your name is Oscar De La Hoya you’re not going to be making very much money in the sport anymore. The sport has just evolved.
“This generation is more violent, you can see it in video games and television. Now you see it in the sport they want to see the UFC, they want to see cage fighting and the networks have gravitated towards that. I think boxing has lost a lot of fans, so I don’t think its women, its boxing in general loosing a lot of ticket sales.”
SB: You have had quite a career, having been promoted by Don King and Bob Arum. Do you think those were successes in your career and would you have done anything differently?
MS: “Oh I think those were great successes. The most memorable years of my life were spent with Bob Arum and opening up for Oscar De La Hoya. My whole career has been memorable. I wouldn’t have changed anything. I think I have made some really smart business decisions. Every decision I made was based on business. I am a business woman and I made great decisions. I was able to do things that I was passionate about like starting my own foundation for Latino’s in California.
“I am first generation born in America and that was something that I was very passionate about. Had it not been for my great business decisions, I wouldn’t have had the money to do things like that. With my money, I am able to give back to my community, I am able to help and inspire other Latino’s in this country. Oscar De La Hoya does the same thing, so I don’t think I would change anything that I have done”.
SB: How long have you had your charity organization?
MS: “Since 2002. I am looking to expand it. I am looking into becoming a dual citizen, United States and Mexico . I would like to expand my charity into Mexico and help the people in that country as well. My family still lives in Mexico, both countries mean just as much to me.”
SB: What are some of the other things that you’re doing in your career?
MS: “I have two books coming out; a health and fitness book and my memoirs. My second workout DVD comes out in the spring and the book will follow with it. When my memoirs come out, that’s when I expose everybody in boxing and expose all the corruption (laughing).”
SB: Do you expect any negative feedback?
MS: “Sure. I am so looking forward to it. I am sure all the promoters would love to strangle me and don’t want me saying anything. I just feel that there has been so much corruption for so long in boxing and I want to expose it. I am on the side of the fighters; I have always been on the side of the fighters.
“We go out there and risk our lives and risk our brain cells and the promoters don’t seem to care. Everybody is in on it; it’s like the good ol’ boys club. You have the commission, the judges, the officials and the promoters and they are all part of this club that no one can seem to take down. It’s not that I want to take anyone down but I would just like to expose it.”
SB: Without giving away too much of your book can you tell me one of the worst things that you seen in the sport of boxing?
MS: “I have seen so many bad things. Things that would make your stomach turn. There is just so much illegal stuff that goes on and just too much corruption. It just breaks my heart when it comes to the fighters.”
SB: I look forward to reading your book and I wish you the best of luck in your career.
MS: “Thank you.”
