DESPITE a contentious loss to her name at the Battle of Bendigo, Lorrinda Webb is looking to the future and not behind her.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 30-year-old boxer from Bendigo was on the wrong side of a split decision against former Perth-based MMA fighter Rianne Ware, evening the ledger in her professional career at one win-one loss.
While Webb and her trainer Scott Tuddenham were convinced they had done more than enough to get the judges' nod, a defiant Webb is taking everything in her stride.
"She was a lot stronger opponent than the first one, obviously a weight division up on what I would have liked, but it's all experience," she said.
"It's a been a year since I've been in the ring - I wish I had got back in there sooner.
"But the next (fight) will come up pretty quick."
In the lead-up to Saturday, Webb said she had never envisioned being on the card of such a high-profile boxing card, let alone the opening event on the Jeff Horn and Michael Zerafa undercard.
She described the eight-week build up as 'good fun'.
"It would have been nice to walk away with a win, but it was great to get the experience," she said.
"The loss is only going to make me want to come back stronger.
"I said I'd have a week off (after the fight), but I'll be back in the gym by Wednesday and hopefully there's another fight for me in October. A year's too long between fights."
A former White Hills netballer, Webb took solace in the Demons' semi-final win against Colbinabbin earlier in the day, which put the reigning premiers into the grand final for the fourth-straight season.
"I definitely do still have a soft spot for them, there's a few of them in the crowd here tonight (Saturday) to watch," she said.
"That's something I will never let go of, so go Hillies for the grand final."
As one of four female fighters on the card, Webb was 'very disappointed' to see 'such an amazing sporting event for Bendigo' get partly overshadowed by a controversy over the use of ring card girls.
The former amateur fighter leapt to the defence of the event's promoters, in particular former Bendigo-based Olympian Lynden Hosking, acknowledging the opportunities he had provided to her and other female boxers during their careers.
Another of those beneficiaries, Shannon O'Connell, whose world title fight in 2015 headlined a Hosking Promotions show in 2015, was again on the card on Saturday night, winning a tough battle against Bianca Elmir.
"This is my second fight for Hosking Promotions and they have been nothing but great for me," Webb said.
"This political stuff about 'ring girls' - they are just as much of the show as we are.
"They had rings guys up there tonight, I hope that pleases everyone.
"As a boxer - and a female boxer - these promoters are the most unbiased people out there. Not a lot of them have girls on their show.
"(Hosking Promotions) last show was an all female show. If that's not promoting equality, I don't know what is.
"As a local boxer he didn't have to put me on this show. There were a lot more boxers he could have put on, and a lot bigger names, but he has chosen to support locals. To be put down by people, it's pretty rough.
"I found it disrespectful to him and us female boxers as well."
"(Hosking Promotions) last show was an all female show. If that's not promoting equality, I don't know what is.
- Lorrinda Webb
READ MORE:
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.
