History made in Venezuela: All Women’s Boxing Card

 On Saturday night, June 18, 2016, at the Polideportivo José María Vargas, La Guaira, Venezuela, history was made when the WBA presented an all-female card, featuring six female bouts, with four WBA world championships and three WBA Regional titles.  WBAN was told that not only was it an all-female boxing card, but that the referees, judges, time keeper, etc, were all female. On the WBA website they reported that, the Guinness World Records was ringside in acknowledgement of the event’s significance and to add more legitimacy to the proceedings.  The bouts and results included the following:

In the co-main, lightweight flyweight Yesica Bopp,106¼,  of Buenos Aires,  won by a 10-round unanimous decision over Nancy Franco, 108. Bopp was defending her WBA light flyweight title. In a second female bout, Final judges scores were 100-90, 98-92, 98-92.  Referee and International Women’s Boxing Hall of Famer Sparkle Lee refereed the fight.

In another female bout, Hanna Gabriels, 153½, of Alajuela, Costa Rica,  won by a third round TKO over Katia Alvarino,152½, of Juan Lacaze, Colonia, Uruguay.  The bout was scheduled for ten rounds, and they were fighting for the WBO and vacant WBA super welterweight titles;  

In the main event,  Mayerlin Rivas, 116¾, of Maracaibo, Venezuela, won a hard fought ten-round split decision, over Melania Sorroche, 117, of Cataluña, Spain.  Final judges scores were 92-97, 95-94, and 95-94.  Rivas successfully defeated her WBA Bantamweight title in this bout. 

In a battle of the super flyweights, Linda Laura Lecca, 115, of Lima, Peru, fought to a ten round split draw with Carolina Alvarez, 112½, of Caracas, Venezuela.  Final judges scores were 92-98, 95-95, and 100-90.  Sparkle Lee was one of the judges that scored the bout as a draw.  The two were fighting for the WBA Super Flyweight title; in a bout for the vacant WBA Federlatin super welterweight title,

Ogleidis Suarez, 150¾, of Caracas, Venezuela, won by a third round KO over Yarley Cuadrado, 144½, of Colombia. The bout was scheduled for 10 rounds;  Debora Rengifo, 104, of Caracas, Venezuela, won an eight-round unanimous decision over Eva Guzman, 104¼, of Maracay, Venezuela.  Final judges scores were 73-79, 73-79, and 73½-79.  The two were fighting for the vacant WBA Fedelin Minimumweight title;  

Lastly, Yolis Franco, 129¾, of Cartagena, Colombia, won an eight round unanimous decision over Ambar Fajardo, 126¾, of Caracas, Venezuela.  Final judges scores were 73-79, 75-77, and 77-78.

International Women’s Boxing Hall of Famer 2015, Sparkle Lee was one of the participating judges and referees throughout many of the bouts.

WBAN was told that the card was very exciting and a wonderful historic night for women’s boxing!