Yazmin Rivas
Yazmin Rivas (31-8, 9 KO’s) successfully defended the WBC bantamweight championship, defeating Susie Ramadan (23-2, 8 KO’s) for the second time, taking a unanimous 10 round decision at Auditorio Centenario in Durango, Mexico.
This was Ramadan’s first contest in over two years, but the former IBF and WBC champion boxed well, and did her best to avoid the heavier shots of the champion, but Rivas caught up with her, and hurt the challenger with some heavy punches in the late rounds. The final scores were 98-92 twice and 97-93 in favor of Rivas.
This was the first defense of the WBC strap for Rivas, who won the vacant title by defeating Alesia Graf in June. She is also a former IBF champion in the same weight class, winning that title in her first meeting with Ramadan in 2011; she successfully defended that title five times.
This was Ramadan’s first bout since July of 2012, and she is also a former WBC and IBF bantamweight champion as well as a former WBF title holder in both the bantamweight and super bantamweight classes. After taking her first defeat to Rivas, she fought just twice in 2012 before this weekend’s return bout.
At the Tokura Gym in Nagano, Japan, WBA atom-weight champion Ayaka Miyao (19-5-1, 4 KO’s) scored a (very) late stoppage of Satomi Nishimura (7-2, 1 KO) to retain the title in her fifth defense. The challenger started well, but Miyao found her rhythm in the second frame and edged out the majority of the remaining rounds on the cards. The scores would be irrelevant in the end however, as the champ would drop Nishimura in the closing seconds of the final round, the challenger being counted out at the 1:58 mark.
The victory was Miyao’s 12th straight and third consecutive knockout. It was Nishimura’s second loss in her last three bouts.
In a super bantamweight contest in Barranquilla, Colombia, Liliana Palmera (23-11-3, 15 KO’s)won the interim WBA World super bantamweight title with a 10 round decision over WBA Fedelatin title holder Ana Lozano (8-3, 6 KO’s). The victory is a major accomplishment for Palmera, who had lost nine (yes, nine) previous title contests going back as far as 2001. Lozano has also had little success in title bouts, having fought three times for a world strap and losing each time.
Chantel Cordova Honored by WBC
At Memorial Hall in Pueblo, Colorado, hometown fighter Chantel Cordova (13-5-2, 3 KO’s) retained the NABF super flyweight title, fighting to an eight round draw in the cards main event against Gloria Salas (3-9-2, 1 KO).
Cordova was also honored by the WBC, being awarded a framed WBC certificate, and a WBC Medal, for her support and fight against domestic violence. Cordova herself is a victim of domestic violence, having suffered serious threats and physical abuse as recent as six months ago.
No Changes in Female Guidelines says WBC
There’s been a recent push by some to alter women’s’ boxing contests by extending the rounds to three minutes and making world title contests 12 rounds as it is with the men. As far as the WBC is concerned these changes won’t take place.
According to an article on the WBC’s website, “medical research has found that women are medically more susceptible to concussions and there are other significant physiological reasons why the shorter fighting spans for women are appropriate”. However, the WBC’s Medical Committee is continuing to research the issue, but no changes will be made until the whole set of facts are available.