CMC-Gwendolyn O’Neil is talking confidently ahead of her second fight against the famous Laila Ali tonight at the Emperor’s Palace Casino.
The two will meet for Ali’s World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight titles.
The undefeated Ali had beaten O’Neil easily – in three rounds – when they met first in September 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ali, predicting a knockout win, is a heavy favourite to repeat the win but the 37-year-old Caribbean veteran has vowed to silence the 29-year-old American star.
“Laila, she talks too much. She’s gonna pay for that talking on Saturday night,” O’Neil told reporters this week.
O’Neil says she plans to “move more, dance a bit more” than she did in their first meeting.
This fight – the first woman’s professional match in the history of South African boxing – was scheduled for August last year but was called off at the last minute because of contractual disagreements between Ali and the promoters.
Ali boasts a solid record of 23-0 with 20 knockouts, and O’Neil’s log reads 12 wins (7 knockouts) against four losses.
Since her loss o Ali almost 2-1/2 years ago, O’Neil has logged a three-fight winning streak – scoring victories at home against little-rated Guyanese Margaret Walcott (4th round TKO) and Pamela London (points), and Trinidad and Tobago’s Krystal Lessey (points).
Tonight’s card will also feature former world super featherweight champion Cassius Baloyi tackling Argentina’s Nazareno Ruiz for the vacant International Boxing Organisation (IBO) title.
The bout is an opportunity for Baloyi to revive his career that was derailed last July when Guyana’s Gary St Clair beat him on points for the IBF and IBO titles.
St Clair lost the titles in his first defence last November in South Africa to Baloyi’s countryman Malcolm Klaasen.
