Fight 8 – Katrina “Crazy Fists” Bass vs. Tiffany Johnson
Record/Votes: Katrina - 2-0-0/24Tiffany – 0-5-3/31
Description:The management of Katrina “Crazy Fists” Bass decidedto have their boxer take a big step up in her third DWBL bout. When they made her match with Tiffany Johnson, they knew that Ms Bass would be climbing into the ring with a more experienced opponent. They also accepted the Johnson camp’s request for the bout to be contested over six rounds, as Ms Bass’ management obviously felt that, after two victories in her first two fights, she was ready. Now, disregard the fact that Tiffany Johnson’s record coming in was 0-5-3. Focus on this instead: two of her draws have come in fights against Carrie Smith and Frida Larson, neither of whom is ever a “gimme” opponent. The third came when she held Anika Hu to a draw in a fight that packed more action into four rounds than I’ve seen in some entire #49.95 pay-per-view “spectaculars”. With that in mind, it didn’t look like an easy step up for Katrina Bass.
Tiffany Johnson has been absent from the last several DWBL events. Her last appearance was in a knockout loss to Katelyn Blaire in Event 11. So, what has she been doing all this time, you ask? I can tell you this much: she sure hasn’t been stretched out on the couch watching soap operas. More likely, manager Motown has had her in the gym 24/7, pushing her hard. Sure, she still looks like your old Army buddy’s sweet little sister. But when she shed her robe tonight, Tiffany Johnson looked harder muscled and better prepared than I’ve ever seen her. She locked eyes with Katrina from across the ring in a stare down that lasted from before the introductions until after the boxers received their instructions from the ref. And the look in Tiffany’s eyes said one thing: Bass season was open.
The sound of the opening bell was still hanging in the air as these two ladies got down to work. They brushed the knuckles of their gloved right fists together and the fight was on. Johnson stepped forward immediately, popping Bass with a stiff overhand right, followed up by a pair of right hooks downstairs, and Katrina backed off a step. Which most likely saved her, as Tiffany blasted a looping left hand up and over Bass’ guard, landing it hard to the side of her chin. If Katrina had been standing her ground, that shot likely would have ended the fight there and then. Even connecting less than squarely, it rocked Ms Bass, whipping her head around and leaving her a bit wobbly. Ms Johnson kept up the attack, hammering the body of Crazy Fists as Katrina retreated, her gloves raised to protect her head. A couple of quick sidesteps and a countering left hook – right cross combination temporarily derailed the advancing Johnson and allowed Bass to regain her composure. The remainder of round one was fought at more of a distance, but no less passionately by Johnson, who obviously was looking to take out eight bouts’worth of frustration on Katrina.
Between rounds, both corners appeared busy dispensing advice to their fighters. Motown got right in Ms Johnson’s face and growled at her to slow down, as all the preparation in the world wouldn’t keep her from running out of gas at the pace she was setting. The Bass camp kept it simple: jab, throw combinations, and work the angles.
From the opening seconds of round two it was apparent that both boxers had listened carefully in their respective corners. Katrina got things started quickly, coming out of her corner pumping her jab and working in a series of hooks to the head and body of Tiffany. Ms Johnson had slowed down, per her manager’s instructions, but that didn’t mean she’d stopped throwing leather. Once she managed to get her feet set, Tiffany was countering Ms Bass effectively, making Katrina pay for most every shot she landed. Periodically, Bass would seek to distance herself by circling away from Ms Johnson before the fighters would close in on one another again, each firing her jab on the way in. Throughout the second round Katrina showed excellent boxing skills and superior quickness of hands and feet. Meanwhile, Tiffany’s slower, less direct punches may have landed less frequently than her opponent’s, but they were connecting with more power than the Crazy Fists of Ms Bass.
Perhaps her corner told her she’d slowed things down a bit too much in the previous two minutes, as Tiffany Johnson crossed the ring in a big hurry to open round three, trading jabs with Ms Bass before landing a head rocking overhand right to Katrina’s chin. This punch was apparently a recent addition to Tiffany’s arsenal, as it got as much use throughout this round as a favorite new toy on Christmas morning. Ms Bass quickly learned to take it in stride and was soon using it as a launching point for a right hook counter to Johnson’s body. Still, it was hard not to wince every time that overhand right thudded home to Katrina’s face. With the round drawing to a close, Ms Bass stepped up her pace, ending the third with a furious extended flurry of punches that caused Tiffany to retreat behind her defenses for the final forty or forty-five seconds. Was it enough for Katrina to steal the round away? From where I sat, I didn’t think so, but Ms Johnson looked agitated as she returned to her corner, while Ms Bass confidently raised her fists and smiled at the crowd.
At the bell for round four, Johnson came out of her corner breathing fire. Once again, she charged across the ring at Bass, giving Katrina no chance to get herself set to punch. Instead, Tiffany left her trying desperately to defend against a hail of pink leather. To longtime observers of the DWBL, this was truly uncharacteristic behavior for Tiffany Johnson, but it seemed to be winning her rounds – and fans. At about the midpoint of the round, a chant of “Tiff! Tiff!Tiff!” had been startedby a group of Ms Johnson’s supporters and it had spread throughout much of the arena. Not to be discouraged, Ms Bass was never out of the fight, adjusting her style and taking advantage of Tiffany’s somewhat porous defense to score repeatedly with counter punches that showed ring prowess well beyond her two and a half fights worth of experience. However, the hardest punches that landed this round were fired by the new and improved Tiffany Johnson.
The momentum of the fight appeared to shift at the opening of the fifth round, as Katrina Bass answered the bell determined to take charge. She was working effectively off her jab, firing solid one-two combinations at Ms Johnson. Tiffany steadfastly held her ground, doggedly countering with hooks that were just a bit wider than they needed to be in order to land with their full power. Katrina’s superior hand speed was allowing her to come off better in the exchanges, as she was consistently landing three or fourpunches to every two or three landed by Tiffany. Shortly before the first minute of the round was over, Bass stabbed a short, hard right hook downstairs to Johnson’s ribs. Tiffany immediately stepped to her right and directly into a left cross that slammed into her temple, snapping her head around and sending her sprawling to the canvas. Katrina looked to the ref, who pointed her to a neutral corner before picking up the count at “three.” Johnson got back to her feetat the count of “seven”, allowed the referee to wipe off her gloves, and rejoined the battle. A solid exchange announced the resumption of hostilities, with both women taking some hard shots. The closing seconds of the round saw Johnson being rocked again by Bass’ left hand, as Katrina scored with a hook that set Tiffany back on her heels. Ms Johnson quickly regained her balance, but a trickle of blood from a cut over her right eye looked like potential trouble at the bell.
The referee and ringside physician made a between rounds visit to Johnson’s corner, with her manager arguing that she would be able to continue after her cut man finished attending to the split in her eyebrow. Once the blood had been cleaned up, the cut was revealed to be deeper than initially thought, and the doctor overruled the objections of Team Johnson, calling a stop to the bout.
Decision: Katrina Bass takes the win by technical knockout when the doctor at ringside stops the fight between rounds five and six due to a cut above the right eye of Tiffany Johnson. Ms Bass goes to 3-0-0 with this victory over the still winless Ms Johnson, who drops to 0-6-3. At this point in her young career, Katrina looks like one of the best prospects among the league’s new fighters, while Tiffany’s performance tonight leaves her with nothing to be ashamed of.
I had the chance to speak briefly with each of these young women at the post fight press conference. Ms Bass joked that she was considering relinquishing the nickname “Crazy Fists” to Ms Johnson so that Tiffany could adopt it as her own. Ms Johnson, still looking like your old buddy’s sweet kid sister – albeit with a nasty shiner and a butterfly bandage across her cut eyebrow – walked up to me, showed me her very pretty smile and said, “Maybe I can’t qualify as a wolf yet, Mr Koufax, but I think I could make a good case for myself as the League’s toughest rabbit!”
Roger Koufax