Bernard Fernandez | Fight lady promotes her way into hall

THE FIRST indication that

Diane Lee Fischer

had made it as a boxing promoter came shortly after she staged her first professional fight card, in Atlantic City in 1997.

She was sued.

Megapromoters like Don King and Bob Arum are

involved in more litigation than

Perry Mason, but Fischer was a beautician and lifelong fight fan who had sunk most of her financial assets into a sport that chews up and spits out most newcomers. It wasn't that she had little margin for error; she had no margin for error.

"My father was concerned," Fischer recalls. "He said, 'Diane, are you OK?' And I said, 'Don't worry about it, Dad. Now I'm like Don King.' "

Some years later, His Hairness, in fact, acknowledged a certain kinship with the feisty, orange-haired woman who has withstood lawsuits, veiled threats, fighter-stealing and all manner of bumps in the road to remain in a rough game.

"I remember meeting Don King and him saying to me, 'So you're Don Queen,' " says Fischer, a Camden-born resident of Vineland, N.J. "I got a kick out of that."

She also is getting a kick out of the most recent indication that she has made it as a boxing promoter: her recently announced election into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.

Fischer is part of the 13-member class of 2007, which will be inducted Nov. 8 in Garfield. The group is headlined by former world champions Charles "The Natural" Murray and Al "Ice" Cole, but it's a good bet none of the honorees trod a more unlikely path to success.

Born Diane Lee Trevethan, Fischer was introduced to boxing as a child by her father, Jack.

"We couldn't afford tickets, but we used to watch 'Friday Night Fights' on TV every week," she says.

Her fascination with boxing has survived three failed marriages and, most notably, the death of her 16-year-old daughter, Dawn, in a 1982 auto accident, something she calls "the worst thing any parent can go through."

A lot of neophytes take a dip into the shark-infested waters of boxing promotion, get bitten and exit, disillusioned, amid a spreading stain of red ink. Fischer lost money on her first card, but this is someone who does not discourage easily.

"I took my hits, like everyone else," Fischer says of the early days. "But in boxing, you get back up when you get knocked down."

Knockdowns? Let us count the ways. Many times, when Fischer identified a prospect she would like to sign, a male rival with a fatter wallet swooped in and priced her out of the bidding. And when she did get there first on a young fighter, and developed him, the big cigars appeared again to woo him away.

"There's a lot of stealing in boxing," she says, ruefully.

But Fischer - who still works 3 days a week in a beauty shop at the Tropicana in Atlantic City - is a testament to persistence. She has outlasted the doubters, staging more than 60 cards, mostly in this area although she has ventured as far afield as Baton Rouge, La., and even Panama. Among the fighters who have appeared on her shows are Wladimir Klitschko, Ray Mercer, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, Ivan Robinson, Mike Stewart and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde.

Fischer took a yearlong sabbatical from promoting to care for her mother, Mary, who passed away several months ago. But her company, Dee Lee Promotions (whose catchphrase is "My Daddy's Dream"), returns April 21 at the National Guard Armory in Northeast Philadelphia headlined by the eight-round junior middleweight bout between Derek "Pooh" Ennis (10-1-1, 7 KOs) and Edgar Reyes (10-6, 3 KOs).

"It feels good to be back in it again," Fischer says.

As if she ever really left.

The Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Eastern Regional open class championships will be held Saturday night at the New Alhambra, Swanson and Ritner streets, in South Philly.

The Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Eastern Regional open class championships will be held Saturday night at the New Alhambra, Swanson and Ritner streets, in South Philly.

The father-son team of Joe Hand Sr. and Joe Hand Jr. are presenting the event, the winners of which advance to the state finals April 21 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. State champions move on to the nationals, April 29 through May 6 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Perhaps the highest interest bout of the evening pairs 178-pounders Dennis Hasson, of Harrowgate Boxing Club, and Joe Mazzuca, of Pottsville.

First of the 12 scheduled bouts is at 7:30, and all seats are $20.

"I never let distractions get in the way of my training," Manny Pacquiao was saying. "I can do many things at one time."

"I never let distractions get in the way of my training," was saying. "I can do many things at one time."

Let's hope so, because Pacquiao (43-3-2, 34 KOs), the Filipino sensation who defends his WBC International super featherweight title against Mexico's Jorge Solis (32-0-2, 23 KOs)

Saturday night in San Antonio, is juggling so many potential

distractions this fight should be held in the center ring of the

Cirque de Soleil.

For one thing, "Pac Man" is running for Congress in the

Philippines. Incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio, whom he's trying to unseat, reportedly filed suit to prevent his bout with Solis from being televised in the Philippines, claiming the

exposure will give Pacquiao, a

national sports hero, an unfair advantage. It does not appear, however, that Antonino-Custodio, who claimed not to have knowledge of the lawsuit, will be successful at blocking the telecast.

Pacquiao also might not have his trainer, Freddie Roach, who is in Puerto Rico preparing WBC super welterweight champ Oscar De La Hoya prepare for his May 5 defense against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Roach has told Pacquiao, "He's going to do his best" to make it to the Alamodome and work the corner. If not, Justin Fortune will fill in as Pacquiao's chief second.

Roach's iffy situation is of particular interest since promoter Bob Arum and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions are claiming to hold paper on Pacquiao, an indiscriminate signer of contracts. It's a pretty safe bet Arum would prefer that Roach stay away. *

Send e-mail to fernanb@phillynews.com