Juarez Edges McMorrow: Women’s Boxing – The Weekly Wrap Up

In an entertaining match up south of the border, WBC International super flyweight champion Mariana “La Barbie” Juarez (39-7-3, 16 KO’s) and WBO world flyweight champion Melissa McMorrow (9-4-3, 1 KO) put on an

entertaining 10 round bout at Gimnasio Miguel Hidalgo, in Puebla, Mexico with Juarez’s title on the line.

McMorrow, of San Francisco, California gave a good account of herself in her first bout at super flyweight, keeping constant pressure on the defending champion as she stated she would in her prefight commentary. Despite being at a disadvantage in height, reach, and experience, she managed to get inside the long jab of “La Barbie” and land her fair share of solid shots throughout the bout. In the end however, it was Juarez who worked her way to scoring a close but unanimous decision with scores of 96-94 across the board to retain her title. Some felt the decision should have gone the other way.

It was the third win for Juarez since her first round stoppage loss to Riyo Togo last April. She avenged that defeat three months later, scoring a 10 round decision over Togo which was followed with a decision over Buakaew OnesongchaiGym in October, her last bout before this weekend’s match up. She’s only been beaten on one other occasion since 2007; in 2012 Ava Knight broke her 21 fight winning streak and took a hard fought 10 round decision over Juarez to take her WBC flyweight world title.

McMorrow currently holds the WBO world flyweight title, which she won in May of 2012 when she defeated title holder Susi Kentikian in Germany. She successfully defended the title twice, beating Yahaira Martinez (TKO 9) and, in a bout that won her the WIBF flyweight belt, Nadia Raoui (W 10) before facing Juarez. She also had a short reign as the New York State flyweight champion in 2011 when she beat Eileen Olszewski and defended the belt once against Keisher McLeod Wells before vacating the title.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fernanda Soledad Alegre (18-1-1, 9 KO’s) stopped Marisol Reyes (13-8-1, 6 KO’s) in six rounds to retain the WBO light welterweight title. Alegre has now defended the title nine times with five of those wins coming by stoppage. She won the vacant title with a 10 round decision over Michelle Larissa Bonassoli in 2010, and hasn’t lost a bout since her second pro outing in 2009.

This was the third failed attempt at a world title for Reyes, who lost in bids for the IBF featherweight and WBA lightweight titles before her matchup with Alegre. She also had a shot at the Dominican Republic super bantamweight title in 2010 which resulted in a 10 round defeat.

Jessica Nery Plata (13-0, 2 KO’s) kept her undefeated record in-tact, winning in 10 rounds over Maria Salinas (10-4-1, 4 KO’s) to retain the WBC Youth light flyweight title. It was the sixth defense for Plata. Salinas, who lost a minimum-weight world title bout in 2012 is the current WBC Youth title holder in the super flyweight division, and has also held that title in the minimum-weight class.

Ana Lozano (8-1, 6 KO’s) scored a nine round decision in Caracas, Venezuela over Paulina Cardona (20-18-6, ) to win the vacant WBA Fedelatin super bantamweight title. She was coming off a decision loss to Carolina Rodriguez last year for the WIBA bantamweight strap, accounting for her only pro loss. Cardona has now lost six of her last seven, the one non-loss being a six round draw last August.