Former WBC world lightweight champion Erica Anabella Farias (21-1, 10 KO’s) won her second world title this past weekend, defeating Alejandra Marina Oliveras (31-2-2, 16 KO’s) by split decision to take home the WBC light welterweight crown in Cancun, Mexico. There was some odd scoring in the contest, as two judges saw the new champ edging it with scores of 97-94 and 97-93, while the third saw the bout in favor of Oliveras with a near shut out of 99-92.
Farias had a long reign as the lightweight champion that started in her eighth professional bout, when she knocked out Darys Pardo in eight rounds back in May of 2010 to win the WBC interim belt. After stopping her next two challengers, she would go on to win the full title from Ann Saccurato when a clash of heads sent the bout to the scorecards after eight rounds. Eight successful defenses would follow over the next 32 months before the title would be lost to Delfine Persoon when the Belgian fighter and holder of three other division titles, took a 10 round unanimous decision.
That bout took place this past April, but just four months later Farias returned as a light welterweight and stopped Roxana Laborde in three rounds to secure this weekends title shot with Oliveras who herself has a resume that includes world titles in four different weight classes.
Coincidentally, Oliveras also won her first world honors by eighth round stoppage in her eighth pro contest; in 2006 she dropped Jackie Nava three times before knocking her out in the eighth frame, winning the WBC super bantamweight title. After three defenses she would lose the strap in a unification bout with Marcela Eliana Acuna and remain without a title for nearly three years. After a failed light welterweight title attempt in 2011, she would come back later that year and win the vacant WBA World lightweight belt and within six months, become the WBO featherweight champion. She would defend the title five times, winning all bouts by stoppage before making the jump to the light welterweight class to stop Lely Luz Florez for the WBC light welterweight title. The bout against Farias was her first defense.
At the Quorum Córdoba Hotel in Cordoba, Argentina, Yulihan Alejandra Luna Avila (12-2, 1 KO) won her first title, nearly shutting out hometown fighter Carolina Marcela Gutierrez (22-5-1, 13 KO’s) in a bout contested for the vacant IBF super bantamweight title. Scores of the bout were 99-91 on all three scorecards.
The win was a major accomplishment for Avila; whose prior 13 opponents combined experience didn’t match that of Gutierrez, who is former super flyweight world titleholder. Since moving up however, Gutierrez hasn’t had the same success at the world level, dropping three world title bouts in her last four outings, this contest included.
One week after winning a routine four round bout, WIBA welterweight champion Tori “Sho-Nuff” Nelson (13-0-3, 1 KO) remained undefeated, successfully defending her title with a 10 round decision over Victoria Cisneros (11-17-2, 4 KO’s) in Fairfax, Virginia. The win also earned Nelson the vacant UBF title. This was the fifth defense for Nelson, who is also a former WBC and WIBA middleweight champion. Since a pair of draws with Teresa Perozzi in 2012/13, she’s tallied seven consecutive wins including a stoppage of former world champion Mia St. John earlier this year. Cisneros has now failed in five world title opportunities; her last three outings, all this year, were all world title contests.
Brooklyn’s Serrano sisters had a successful weekend. Both fighters scored first round stoppage wins on different cards, two nights apart. In Westbury, New York, WBO lightweight champ Amanda Serrano (22-1-1, 17 KO’s) stopped Carla Torres (4-3) in less than one minute of the opening round of a non-title contest for her eighth straight knockout victory. Two nights later, her sister and UBF lightweight champ Cindy Serrano (22-5-2, 10 KO’s) stopped her opponent at 1:18 of the first round in the Dominican Republic. As of this writing, Boxrec.com had no official listing of this contest but the result has been confirmed via the Serrano Sisters Twitter and Facebook accounts.
Former two-division world champion Ava Knight (13-2-3, 5 KO’s) entered the ring for the first time in over a year, scoring a 10 round shut out over Guadalupe Martinez (7-8, 3 KO’s) in Washington D.C. to win the vacant WBC International flyweight title. Her last bout was a close decision loss to Ibeth Zamora Silva in an October 2013 challenge for the WBC world light flyweight belt. Knights held the WBO bantamweight, IBF flyweight, and WBC flyweight titles as well as the WBC silver flyweight and IFBA bantamweight belts. Her record includes wins over Mariana Juarez, Arely Mucino, and Kaliesha West.
Not far from D.C., bantamweight Tyrieshia Douglas (8-0, 3 KO’s) won her first two world titles, defeating Christina Ruiz (7-7-3, 4 KO’s) over 10 rounds to take the vacant UBF and WIBA bantamweight titles. Ruiz won the IFBA bantamweight title last year but has not yet defended the title, and has tallied a record of 0-2-1 since her title win.
At the 2014 Elite Women’s World Championships in Jeju South Korea, U.S. boxers Marlen Esparza (flyweight) and Tiara Brown (featherweight) both opened the tournament with first round wins. Esparza, a U.S. Olympic bronze medal winner, took a 2-0 decision over Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia and Brown defeated Aneta Rygielska of Poland, 2-1. Also competing is Irish Olympic gold medallist Katie Taylor, who is aiming for her fifth straight title in the lightweight division. Competition opened Sunday, and is said to be the largest Elite Women’s World Championships Tournament in History.
Former world boxing champion-turned-MMA fighter Holly Holm suffered a herniated disc, delaying her UFC debut, which was scheduled for UFC 181 next month. The injury is said to be a few weeks old, but Holm didn’t realize the severity until recently undergoing an MRI after symptoms worsened. She’s still interested in facing her scheduled opponent, Raquel Pennington at a later date if the fight can still be made.