Big-Name Female Boxers Featured

Three of the most recognizable female boxers in the world will be in the Staples Center ring on June 21 on the undercard of the Lennox Lewis-Kirk Johnson heavyweight title fight.

Lucia Rijker (15-0, 14 knockouts), considered the best of the female fighters, will face Mia St. John (27-3-1, 13), who is as well known for posing in Playboy as for her ring accomplishments. Rijker, originally from the Netherlands, lives in Van Nuys, St. John in Canoga Park.

The other female fight is a rematch between Laila Ali (14-0, 11), daughter of three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, and Valerie Mahfood (13-5, 7), who formerly worked at a maximum security, all-male prison.

Ali, who agreed in principle to participate on the card, beat Mahfood last November on an eighth-round TKO.

-- Steve Springer