Ali TKOs Arcand

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Brad Hortie called it on March 3. He worried that his fighter, Crystal "Braveheart" Arcand, was being set up for a fall by her opponent's handlers. They were looking for someone who would help their fighter, Laila Ali, move up the ladder in a controlled fashion, someone who would provide a bigger challenge than previous opponents but not too much of a challange.

The Edmonton boxing club owner said Arcand has a big heart and, despite the eight-day notice the Arcand camp received about the fight, would give Laila Ali all she could handle when they met at the Casino Windsor on March 7.

As it turned out, Arcand, the pride of the Alexander First Nation and Edmonton's Hortie Boxing Club, lasted just over a minute before the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali knocked her to the canvas for the second and last time in front of 900 VIP spectators at the casino in the border city across the river from Detroit, Mich.

The high-profile professional match earned Arcand in excess of $2,000, a stratospheric payday in the relatively new world of female prize fighting. Ali was rumored to have picked up as much as 10 times that amount.

With a four-inch height advantage, the 21-year-old Ali scored early and often in the scheduled four-round fight, knocking her 27-year-old opponent down and then finishing her off a few seconds later.

Going into the fight, Arcand told Sweetgrass she was expecting to do well in Windsor.

"I believe in myself," she said. "I believe I'm going to do well."

The day after the fight, the Arcand camp admitted their fighter let the excitement of the event distract her.

"Ali's history has been to get off to a quick start. Our game plan was to bide our time and not get involved in a slugfest - wear her down a little," said Hortie. "But Crystal got caught up in the heat of the action and got drawn into it."

Both the fighter and her trainer now say they're convinced Ali is not just cashing in on her famous father's name.

"I'm not going to take anything away from her," Arcand said. "Laila Ali's got extreme power."

"She's for real," Hortie added. "We thought she might just be riding her father's name and a lot of hype but, no, she throws incredibly hard punches and lots of them."

Hortie said he believes it was a right uppercut that knocked Arcand down. She didn't take the full eight-count that fighters are allowed to take before continuing after a knockdown and that may have cost her.

"It may have made a difference. It's hard to say because Ali was just so overwhelming," Hortie said.

From there Ali connected with a straight right and left hook combination and Arcand's dream of glory was over, for that evening at least.

Hortie said he and his fighter agonized over the wisdom of taking this fight at this time, knowing it probably wasn't the wisest course of action to make a pro debut in such a pressure-packed situation against such a high-profile opponent. But both fighter and trainer decided it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

"It was a great experience," Arcand said, laughing. "I learned a lot. I guess I know now how to take a blow to the head."

It's back to the drawing board now for Hortie and Arcand.

They started at the top, made some money and got the kind of exposure that money can't buy and now it's time to get back on track and work their way back to the big time.

"This was the kind of opportunity that comes along once in a lifetime," Hortie said. "Boxing's a tough business. It could have gone the other way but it didn't. We'd like to think Crystal will get a re-match with Ali, but I think that's highly unlikely right now. Because of the way the fight went, I think we'll have to get some big wins under her belt before that will happen."

Arcand said she was feeling fine the day after the fight, although she sounded disappointed. Hortie said the fighter was physically fine after the technical knockout.

"Her biggest hurt is her disappointment," he said. "She's OK."

Bertha Cardinal, Arcand's mothe, was preparing to take her grand-children to Edmonton International Airport to welcome their mother back from Ontario. Cardinal spoke to her daughter moments after the bout and she said she could hear the disappointment in her daughter's voice.

"We're still proud of her," she said. "It's been exciting and there was a lot of pressure fighting that name, fighting Ali. But you can be guaranteed that Crystal Arcand is going to be a name to be remembered, too."

The Alexander band member's week in the national spotlight has been an exciting time for Native people all over the country. Muriel Stanley Venne, the president and founder of Edmonton's Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women, helped the fighter with some expense money and backed her with emotional support as well.

"She's so special. She's done so well in spite of all the things she's had to face. We're so, so proud of her," Venne said.

Hortie said his fighter's second pro bout will be in Edmonton where Arcand's fans can get a closer look at her in action. That fight should be within the next month or so.