Mia St. John - A Girl And Her Title

How did you get involved in pro boxing?

I started in boxing after twenty three years of competing in tae-kwon-do, and at the age of twenty nine Don King made me an offer to go pro and I took it.

When did you start studying martial arts?

My dad put me in martial arts when I was six years old. He put me in taekwondo and I just did it and was just good at it but I didn't love it. It was kind of like something I was forced to do; forced to train in. And I honestly didn't love it until my 20's.

What made you fall in love with fighting?

Something happened. I was in college and I'd already had my two kids by then. And I started competing like every weekend. Just kind of like, I was going through a divorce and so fighting was kind of like a way to get my aggressions out and focus on something else other than my divorce. And I don't know, just through that I just fell in love with it.

How did you challenge the image of women boxers?

Don King, as smart as he is, did not know how to promote me. He had me in the ring, I was wearing all black and no make-up and it is just the wrong way to promote me. And when I left him for Bob Arum, we came up with a completely different idea. Pink, wearing make-up, feminine, and we sort of just countered everything Christy Martin did, who was with King at that time. She was this rough, burly, masculine fighter and I came out feminine and soft and sweet. And she came out on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and so I came out on the cover of Playboy, and she was opening for Mike Tyson, and I opened for Oscar De La Hoya so everything she did, we just did the reverse, and it worked. The marketing worked. And so basically, Bob Arum and I were geniuses.

What obstacles did you face as a female boxer?

Well the way Bob Aaron was promoting me was a girly-girl, feminine, sexy, and so the fans loved it, but the critics just demolished me. And the press, was like, "she's not a real fighter", but then Aaron was promoting me as if I was the world's greatest fighter and so I was kind of left like, "I didn't know what was going on, and, you know, was I the best?" "Was I the worst?" I didn't really know.

When did you prove yourself as a boxer?

I found out how good I really was when I left Arum, because he just refused to let me fight Christy Martin, or any of the girls that were the top notch girls. So I had to leave him to do that. Everybody in my family was so worried. So, I said I don't care, you know, I'd rather know the truth, than be living some farce. I wanted to know where I stood. My first fight without Arum, I was TKO'd on ESPN, live on national television, because I was without the protection of my promoter. And I was okay with that, as hard as it was. Because they kept replaying it over and over again, you know, “Mia St John gets knocked out, woo-hoo!” They just loved it! That was really hard, but it had to happen, because I had to know. From that day on, I fought everybody. I fought the toughest females there were. Anyone and everyone who would step in the ring with me. And I found out the truth, which was, no I wasn't the best, like Arum was promoting me, and no I wasn't the worst, either, like the critics said I was. I was damn good. I was a damn good fighter. And I could hang with the top-notch girls.

What was your favorite match?

It had to be the Christy Martin fight, just because she was probably the next most famous female fighter next to me and she was considered like the best and the toughest and it was predicted that she would knock me out in the first round and not only did I go 10 rounds with her, but I out boxed her, but because she was able to choose her officials she ended up winning the decision, but clearly you could see that she was more of a brawler and really I gave her a boxing lesson. Which was so ironic because I was known for being like a crappy boxer and more of a brawler but yet in this fight you could see that really the truth was I was a very technical fighter. I was a very skilled boxer. So I think that had to be my favorite match.

What were your greatest boxing challenges?

I did finally get a championship belt. I won the IFBA title. I fought for other titles. I fought another champion. I fought her twice to try and beat her. And each time I couldn't do it and I almost fought her a third time. And I just thought you know what? No, it's ok, it's ok. I gave it my best shot and I didn't do it. She was the better fighter, and I can live with that because I know that I'm good and I do what I love and I don't have to be the best. If somebody beats me I just have to live with that and be satisfied knowing that I was a very good fighter.

How did appearing in Playboy affect your boxing career?

People had this image that I was this wild, hot Playboy chick and it's so funny because I was probably one of the most boring fighters. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't go out on weekends, I read for fun, I travel for fun, and you just can't get more boring than that. But that's okay. I went along with the role I had to play until I just couldn't do it anymore. And I'm okay with that today.

Who have your biggest supporters been as a boxer?

Well my mother always said that fighters are born and they are not made and she felt that I was born a fighter. And she said she always knew it even though she pushed me to graduate from college and get a safe career. She always knew in my heart that that's what I was going to do and that's what I wanted to do. No matter what she did to try and stop it, it was like something just told her it was just going to happen anyway, no matter what she did. She tried hard though. She still tries to this day. "Retire. Use your college education."