Helga Risoy gets back in ring

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Sept. 25, 1997 | 9:01 a.m.

She was an attractive curiosity, fighting when it was novel for women to fight.

Living in Las Vegas and appearing regularly on boxing cards here three and four years ago, Helga Risoy caught the customers' collective eye. She could hit and she could get hit, a combination that led to some exciting, if unnerving, fights.

Bloodied as often in victory as in defeat, Risoy demonstrated an age-old quality that endeared her to fans: She had heart.

"I feel like a pioneer," she said this week, preparing for a Friday fight at The Orleans. "People thought I was crazy and no one seemed to believe me, but I knew women's boxing was going to be big."

It's certainly bigger than it was when Risoy was something of a groundbreaker. Now she's back in town and looking to resurrect her career with the hope of meeting the biggest of the women's stars, Christy Martin.

"I've asked for her and I think it will happen," Risoy said. "We're friends and we stay in contact, and she's been after me to fight for years."

Risoy, a native of Norway, is 11-5-2 as a boxer after getting started in martial arts in 1978. Martin, a onetime Sports Illustrated cover girl, is 33-1-2 and is scheduled to fight Oct. 25 in Mexico City on the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Miguel Angel Gonzalez undercard.

With next month's opponent for Martin yet to be determined, Risoy is interested although apt to feel a little rushed.

"I'd like to fight two or three times first," she said. "I think I can beat Christy if I get my mind into it. She gets hit a lot and it might be my time."

A Risoy-Martin fight is a natural in many respects, not the least of which is the fact they both weigh 138 pounds.

"A lot of people see me and say 'You were the one who was supposed to be big, not Christy Martin,'" Risoy said. "It's funny in a way."

It's funny in a way that Risoy still is fighting.

"I had to quit for a while," she said. "My career started off pretty good, then I injured both my hands. Then I think I got burned out a little bit."

Risoy, whose last fight was in February in Atlantic City, meets 5-0 Kathy Robbins Friday at The Orleans. That bout fills a need that every local promoter has come to accept: Fans want to see at least one women's fight.

"I'll be retired by then, but in five or six years I think you'll really see a good group of women fighters," Risoy said. "There's a new generation coming and I'll bet they'll be pretty good."