Theresa Kibby was looking to turn things around after
having her formerly flawless record tarnished twice over by roller derby sensation
turned professional pugilist Diane Syverson. After first dueling to a
four-round draw with the skating ‘Slugger Queen’ from Canada, Princess Red Star
lost a disputed decision in their rematch three weeks later, as the ominous
cloud of a death threat hovered over the Olympic Auditorium.
Courtesy of casino owner Milos ‘Sharkey’ Begovich and
matchmaker Bill Dickson, the Indigenous trailblazer would receive her
opportunity to add another notch to her win column, not to mention a guaranteed
$400 purse, by squaring off against first-time boxer Lavonne Ludian during the
1976 Bicentennial weekend. This would be a return trip to Las Vegas’ Silver
Slipper for Kibby, having outpointed Gwen Gemini in the Slipper’s upstairs
ballroom two weeks prior.
The inside of a casino was hardly unfamiliar territory to
Ludian, a resident of Lake Tahoe who was locally renowned on the talk show
circuit as a popular cocktail waitress, blackjack dealer, and aspiring
prizefighter. “My goal is to get enough money to buy a ranch,” said Lavonne,
who performed in rodeos on weekends. She also played coy when asked about her
age. “Jack Benny was 39 for years,” she quipped. “Why can’t I be 29?”
Ludian had run a scouting mission at the Silver Slipper
by sitting ringside for Princess Red Star’s win over Gwen Gemini, formulating a
game plan to fight Kibby in close and be relentless with her offense. With a
two-inch height advantage, it may have better suited Ludian to stick and move
from the outside so as to not smother her punches.
“That gal was tough. She had a hard right hand and she
kept coming,” conceded Princess Red Star’s adopted father, manager, and trainer
Dave Kibby Sr. “But Theresa outboxed her. I felt beforehand that anyone of that
caliber could be outpunched and outboxed.”
His estimation proved to be right on the money, and
Theresa pounded out a relatively easy unanimous decision victory over four
rounds. “We thought they’d stop it in a TKO in the fourth but the bell saved
her,” concluded Dave Sr. “The referee stopped the fight three times to check
Ludian’s condition.”
Even Ludian put up no post-fight resistance to the validity
of Kibby’s command over her. “Theresa, I never knew you could move so good and
hit so hard so many times,” she later offered in a congratulatory locker room
meeting.
Lavonne went back to serving drinks and slinging cards,
but was in no way deterred from further pursuing the fight racket. Walking to
the ring in a hooded robe the same color as her ring moniker ‘Snow White,’
Ludian rattled off a multi-fight unbeaten streak in the aftermath of her debut
loss to Princess Red Star.
An injury to her index finger prevented Lavonne from
throwing her right hand while training under the tutelage of former
bantamweight Mario ‘Mo’ Macias, which serendipitously resulted in the
development of a left jab that would literally turn heads. “I think the jab is
going to win for me every time,” surmised Ludian. “Most of the women fight like
girls with a big round hook. I hope to counteract it by fighting like a man.”
By contrast, though, Ludian admitted that “it’s important
for a woman to look nice in the ring, even though we’re fighting in a man’s
world. We have to retain some femininity.” Sportswriter Steve Sneddon of the Reno-Gazette
Journal, for one, seemed smitten by Lavonne’s “Miss America smile”
and the fact that she “answers question like Bert Parks was quizzing her.”
Seven months after their first encounter, ‘Snow White’
would once again cross paths with Princess Red Star at the Silver Slipper. For
Theresa Kibby, it would mark her first time entering the ring without her father
Dave Sr. by her side. The beloved Kibby elder died suddenly and unexpectedly at
a Crescent City hospital on February 9, 1977. Fortunately, Theresa’s brother
Roger Buckskin was available to step in and work her corner.
A sellout crowd of 800 fight fans crammed shoulder to
shoulder inside the Silver Slipper ballroom on March 9 and were treated to a
bell to bell brawl. Ludian used her left jab to great effect in the first round
to jump out to an early lead, but a buoyed Kibby bloodied Lavonne’s nose in the
next frame, and was believed by ringside spectators and unofficial scorers to
have established and maintained control throughout the rest of the bout. To the
surprise of pretty much every eyewitness, the judges declared the fight even
after four rounds and their dubious verdict was booed lustily by those in
attendance.
“I had a feeling it would be like that,” wept a
melancholy Princess Red Star. Her brother Roger, equally devastated by the
decision, resigned himself to the unfortunate fact that, “You can’t beat a
hometown girl in her hometown.” To add to her wounded pride, Kibby took home a
mere $400 while Ludian was guaranteed a $750 purse plus a percentage of the
gate, netting her a $1,300 payday.
All was not lost for the Kibby and Buckskin clans that
evening. Darlene Buckskin improved to 2-0 by virtue of a four-round decision in
the show’s curtain raiser over San Pedro’s ‘Baby’ Jane O’Brien. Additionally,
while Theresa was still brooding in the locker room after the fight, she was
offered a return bout against Ludian to take place on April 16 at the Aladdin
Hotel.
The fight would pay both Kibby and Ludian $2,500 and be
broadcast across the country live on a major television network, a historic first for women’s boxing. This
overture, however, came with strings attached. Strings which would essentially
tether Princess Red Star like a marionette to Top Rank’s puppet master, Bob
Arum.
Dated March 16, 1977, Arum’s official letter to Princess
Red Star spelled out the terms of a proposed three-fight contract worth a total
of $15,000 ($4,000 for the first bout, $5,000 for the second, and $6,000 for
the third) to go into effect following the grudge match against Ludian at the
Aladdin. For one additional year extending past this agreement, Arum would
retain the right to first refusal for promoting her fights during this time
frame, as well as being the sole beneficiary to exclusive radio and television
deals. Top Rank agreed to pay expenses covering round trip transportation,
hotel accommodations, and meals, and would determine the venue and date of Theresa’s
bouts as well as the opponents, who she would at least get to agree upon.
Arum offered Sue Fox the same deal as Kibby, assuring both
women that, if they signed with Top Rank, they were guaranteed to be paid the
$15,000 even if none of the three fights occurred within the stipulated twelve
months. Although they weren’t contractually bound to one another, manager Dee
Knuckles accompanied Fox to her lunch meeting with Arum, during which Sue
wisely refused to “sell my soul,” as she put it, until she could have an
attorney review the contract.
A poorly mentored thus underprepared Fox had been TKO’d
by Theresa Kibby in her pro boxing debut and fought to a controversial draw
with Lavonne Ludian back in March, in which Sue says she knocked ‘Snow White’ around
so hard in her own hometown that “she saw the lights of Las Vegas” and was
lucky to make it out of the first round. Fox was paid $300 and flown into
Nevada on April 16 as a stand-by substitute for either Kibby or Ludian should
the need arise. But both Princess Red Star and ‘Snow White’ were present and
fit to fight before 1,500 spectators at the Aladdin, not to mention in front of
the TV cameras which would transmit this groundbreaking event across the
airwaves for that afternoon’s edition of CBS Sports Spectacular.
Dee Knuckles suggested that, since Fox was already on
site and prepared for a possible bout anyway, she could lace up and take on
Princess Red Star’s sister, Darlene ‘Bluebird’ Buckskin. Because the 175-pound
Darlene had a significant weight advantage over the welterweight Fox, they
agreed that the fight would be strictly put on as an exhibition.
Even so, Sue recalls going to the weigh-in with silver
dollars stuffed into her bra and pockets at Knuckles’ urging to make up some of
the difference. All of that being said and done, Fox was astonished when an
official verdict was rendered after the final bell of their four-rounder, with
Buckskin given the nod by split decision.
Princess Red Star, who admitted she “wasn’t in the peak
of condition” and “didn’t move much” in her last bout against Ludian, was far
more ring-ready this time around thanks to a solid week of tough sparring sessions
in Stockton with her sister Darlene and their brother Roger, as well as Marsha
Cruz, that kicked off right after Easter Sunday.
Ludian was never a factor in the fight, with Theresa
expertly “bobbing and weaving” and “slipping punches,” according to Sunday’s
writeup in the Times Standard out of Eureka, California. With her back
to the ropes in the fourth and final round, Ludian caught a hard right hand
from Kibby that nearly put her away and undoubtedly solidified the unanimous
decision victory for Princess Red Star.
“She was the hometown favorite,” said Kibby, “but in the
second or third round they started hollering for me.” The win earned Theresa
not only her guaranteed $2,500 purse, but the Nevada State Women’s Welterweight Championship.
Headliner Earnie Shavers tuned up for a September meeting
with heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden by dispatching
16-1 Howard Smith in the second round, while Olympic gold medalist Michael
Spinks brought his ‘Jinx’ to the big time by making his pro debut with a first-round
stoppage of Eddie Benson. Besides getting to pose for photos with Ken Norton
and Jerry Quarry after sticking around for the main event, Darlene Buckskin got
to make the acquaintance of “The Gambler” himself.
Whether or not he played a few hands of poker in the Aladdin’s casino beforehand, displaying his proficiency at knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, Kenny Rogers had attended the fights. During a recent reunion with Sue Fox, Darlene recalled that the country/western crooner introduced himself to her and expressed his admiration for the skills displayed by the women on the card. He then invited Darlene and her group to his concert that evening where he gave them the VIP treatment—their own private table, free food, an autographed record album, and a special acknowledgment during his performance.
Not everyone shared Kenny Rogers’ enthusiastic response to the women’s fights, however. Princess Red Star and Sue Fox were informed not long after that the televised bout between Kibby and Ludian had been poorly received by a majority of the press and general public, meaning that the one-year, $15,000 deals Bob Arum had laid on the table for each of them just last month would remain there, unsigned and disregarded.
After deciding to take a well-deserved rest for the
remainder of April, Princess Red Star had a May 4 fight lined up by promoter
Bill Dixon. Ultimately, though, her win over Lavonne Ludian at the Aladdin
would prove to be the final time Kibby would compete in the prize ring.
Ludian boxed for another four years, but never again had
her arm raised. She hung up the gloves in 1981 after falling victim to a
technical knockout at the hands of Cat Davis, having previously been stopped
inside the distance by Dulcie Lucas, Gwen Gemini, Julie Mullen, and Cora
Webber. Besides being a blackjack dealer, rodeo rider, and professional
prizefighter, Lavonne was also a police officer, physical therapist, scuba
diver, skier, and springboard diver. She is alive and well, living in Grass
Valley, California.
Theresa Maxine Kibby-Buckskin sadly passed away in
Brookings, Oregon on September 4, 2021 at the age of 68. A mother of three, she
was said to be the loudest supporter of her grandchildren whom she loyally cheered
on from the sidelines during their soccer scrimmages, basketball games, and
track meets.
Princess Red Star spent the last two decades of her life
working with the Tolowa Dee Ni Nation, first as a receptionist and eventually
as an enrollment specialist. She was remembered fondly as being “warm,
strong-hearted, generous, friendly, easy to talk to, stubborn, feisty” and for enlivening
countless conversations with “a distinguished sense of humor and laugh that
will live on in our memories.”
She and Darlene Buckskin will be honored at a special
ceremony during the 2022 International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame inductions in Las Vegas on October 22.
Sources:
Sue Fox. Theresa Kibby vs. Lavonne Ludian in
Rematch on National Television (WBAN—accessed at https://www.wbanmember.com/april-16-1976-theresa-kibby-vs-lavonne-ludian-in-rematch-on-national-television/)
Steve Sneddon. Snow White Ludian Fights Like
a Man …and Wins (Reno Gazette-Journal, October 6, 1976)
Steve Sneddon. Fight Fans Boo Draw Decision (Reno
Gazette-Journal, March 10, 1977)
Don Terbush. Princess Notches 7th
Pro Ring Win (Eureka Times Standard, July 4, 1976)
Don Terbush. Princess Hits Jackpot (Eureka
Times Standard, April 24, 1977)
Indian Princess Red Star in Special Event
(Mason Valley News, July 2, 1976)
Modesto Gal Loses (Modesto Bee, April 17,
1977)
Obituary for Theresa Maxine Kibby-Buckskin
(Redwood Memorial Chapel—accessed at https://www.redwoodmemorial.net/obituaries/Theresa-Maxine-Kibby-Buckskin?obId=22364376#/obituaryInfo)
Woman to Box on TV (Modesto Bee, April 16,
1977)
Part I: Sue TL Fox Travels to Crescent City, CA to Meet Up with Pioneer Boxer Darlene Buckskin (YouTube, July 16, 2022—accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoxBZogUjaE)
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