Accident Clears Up St. John’s Doubts About Future

It began for boxer Mia St. John as a lazy summer day on Castaic Lake, a chance to step away from the ring and recharge her batteries.

It ended in horror, the plug perhaps forever pulled on her boxing career.

A jet-ski accident seriously injured the 33-year-old Calabasas fighter’s left leg last month, requiring two operations.

Increasingly angered by the second-class status of women in her sport and constantly frustrated by her lack of progress, St. John had been thinking of pulling the plug herself and walking away from boxing.

Suddenly, she found fate threatening to make the decision for her.

“I did something crazy,” St. John said. “I let a total stranger use my jet ski. I got on the back and he got it up to 60 mph.”

At that point, the jet ski flipped, sending both passengers hurtling through the air. St. John was the less fortunate, the jet ski landing on top of her.

At first, her biggest concern was simply breathing. She found herself trapped by the machinery underwater.

“I couldn’t get out,” she said, recalling the panic she felt.

She maneuvered around, however, and made it to the surface. That’s when she noticed her left leg.

“I took one look at it and started screaming,” she said. “It was nasty. I went into shock.”

A passerby got help, and St. John was pulled from the water with a bump the size of a large apple between her ankle and calf.

In the ensuing days, tests having failed to reveal any broken bones, St. John thought she might have escaped serious injury.

She resumed her normal, vigorous training program but something was wrong.

“The leg had swelled up like a pumpkin,” St. John said.

There was constant pain and a foul odor was emanating from the injured area.

Finally, St. John, scheduled to fight on last week’s Paulie Ayala-Johnny Tapia card in Las Vegas, went to see Dr. Richard Grossman, a burn specialist.

Grossman told her she had a severe hematoma--a blood clot--that could lead to gangrene if not operated on immediately.

“Could I wait 17 days?” she asked, thinking first of her fight.

“This leg doesn’t have 17 days,” Grossman told her, and St. John was in surgery that day.

“We found a clot the size of a coffee mug,” Grossman said.

The damaged area, 2 1/2 inches deep and four inches wide, was removed and skin from her thigh was grafted on in a second procedure.

Once she felt confident she would recover, St. John, a fitness freak, began to chafe at the inactivity.

“When I came to visit her in the hospital, she was doing sit-ups in bed,” said St. John’s manager, Debbie Caplan.

As the strength has returned to her leg, St. John also has found her enthusiasm returning for boxing.

“I had hit a wall,” she said. “I was down on the whole business of women’s boxing.”

St. John, who has been known more for her modeling and her Playboy cover than her boxing skills, is determined to improve in the ring. She briefly hired former champion Genaro Hernandez as a trainer, but, because of his inexperience in the corner, she has since moved on to Robert Ortiz of Simi Valley.

St. John plans to fight again in November, but will have to wear a protective silicon cast on her leg for at least a year.

“I have been looking for a good trainer who will put the time and effort in for me,” St. John said. “It’s hard for a woman to find that because so many people don’t take women seriously in the boxing business.”

The perception for many was that St. John was using boxing as a vehicle to set herself up in the comfortable life of a model. Instead, she has shown that she feels most comfortable in the ring.

“This accident was a lesson for me,” she said. “When I didn’t know if I could go back, I realized it is a big part of my life. Without it, I don’t feel complete. At first, the injury devastated me, but now I’m grateful I’m alive, I have my legs and I have my career.”

DONE DEAL

As expected, the California State Athletic Commission approved a prearranged settlement Thursday with promoter Bob Arum. The deal stemmed from his admission in a New Jersey courtroom in June that he illegally paid $100,000 to get the International Boxing Federation to sanction a heavyweight title fight.

Arum was fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under California law, had to pay $5,000 in investigative costs and was put on probation for the rest of the year.

The Las Vegas promoter has one California show left in 2000, a November date in Chula Vista.

Rob Lynch, executive director of the California commission, would like to see the state maximum on fines increased.

“Nevada has a maximum of $250,000,” Lynch said. “We are going to ask that the maximum for California licensees be increased to $100,000.”

QUICK JABS

It has been eight years since Pepe Reilly lost in the second round of the Olympics.

In that time, the welterweight hardly has distinguished himself, having fought only 18 times (14-4, 11 knockouts).

At this point, he is reduced to matches like tonight’s at The Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga where he will fight Alfonso Perez (11-14, 4) in an eight-rounder.

Word of advice to Reilly: When you find yourself fighting opponents with losing records, it might be time to give up the dream.

Also on tonight’s card will be a 10-round match for the vacant International Boxing Assn. women’s featherweight championship, matching Sharon Anyos (4-1, one knockout) against Jo Jo Wyman (7-2). First bell is at 7:30.

On Thursday at the Arrowhead Pond, junior middleweight Nick Martinez (16-0, 7) will face Alfred Ankamah (20-5, 17) in the 10-round main event. This show also starts at 7:30.