▲ The brave and exciting fights that the Mexican world champions starred in have been forgotten. Here is a sample of the fight between Ana María Torres and Mariana Juárez, who competed for the national bantamweight title on June 26, 2002. Photo José Núñez
Karla Torrijos
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, March 29, 2024, p. a10
Those exciting and fierce fights that the various world champions of the country starred in, today are just a pleasant memory of the enormous brilliance that Mexican women’s boxing had a few years ago, which currently seems to be stagnant and whose future looks bleak, as it does not have with great figures and having fewer and fewer conflicts on national territory.
Mexican boxers like Ana María Warrior Torres, Jackie Nava, Mariana Barby Juárez, Yessica Reading Chávez, among others, who were once world monarchs, displayed their titles on countless occasions when facing memorable battles, both in the country and abroad.
However, those spectacular fights have been left behind, which has somewhat slowed down the development of Mexican women’s boxing.
According to the Warrior Torres, former super flyweight champion by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and one of the pioneers of women’s boxing in the country, “this stagnation is not due to the level of Mexican fighters, since currently there are very good exponents, with a lot of quality, like Ibeth Roca Zamora, Yuliahn Cobrita Luna, Erika Cruz, among others, but to the lack of interest of the promoters” to organize contests between women.
Nostalgia and sadness
He estimated that to have those great fights and those intense rivalries between Mexicans again, the promoters must trust the boxers again; I really don’t understand why they don’t do it, we have already demonstrated our quality and dedication in the ring several times.
She acknowledged that the current situation of women’s boxing in the country causes her nostalgia and sadness. Unfortunately, the only thing they have done is use Mexican women as cannon fodder so that others can benefit. We have verified that the level of our fighters is excellent, so I don’t know what is happening, she said in an interview with The Conference.
Despite the murky outlook, Torres was optimistic when ruling out that this slump in which the sport that gave him so much satisfaction finds itself will cause a setback. Women’s boxing is already a reality, there is no turning back, what is missing is to motivate the promoters to schedule more shows; I see the national fighters very well, they have determination, determination, desire to be someone, it is difficult for me to believe that they do not support them, he mentioned.
Contrary to what is happening in Mexico, women’s boxing has grown a lot in recent years in the United States, where it was disdained by the industry. Today there are several world champions from that country, where more and more fights between women are taking place.
The Warrior He considered that this is precisely due to the good work of their promoters, they are moving to find good opportunities for their fighters. Here it is a matter of turning to see more of the Mexican women so that they can get ahead.
For her part, Yesica Nery Plata, unified monarch in the light flyweight category by the WBC and the World Boxing Association (WBA), pointed out that national champions often find themselves at a crossroads. She explained that since there aren’t many fights in the country, you have to show the title abroad, because if you stay here, you can’t do it and obviously you have no income. Although they pay us a little more outside, lately many have had the scepter taken away from them, because boxing in your country is not the same as in another place, the bad thing is that here there are almost no fights.
Recognition and respect
The last time the 29-year-old boxer defended her title was last December in Germany, and so far she has not been able to finish another fight. Before, women showed up three or four times a year, today, although it’s going well for us, we agree to two fights, and some of them abroad. The biggest obstacle, almost always, is the economic issue, since they want to give us much less than what we normally receive, she explained.
In turn, Yamileth Mercado, current WBC super bantamweight champion, said that women’s boxing in Mexico has never been as supported as that of men. The decline that currently exists is perhaps due to the fact that we began to ask for better remuneration, that we be respected and that our rights be asserted. Perhaps that has prevented us from being given the green light for performances.
For Mauricio Sulaimán, president of the WBC, the lack of growth in women’s boxing in Mexico is due to a certain extent to the departure of Televisa from boxing for some time, which greatly affected and delayed the entire process, but we have good champions in the country that are on the right path to return to the good level of our sport.
He indicated that his organization is working hard to find other alternatives to reverse the situation in the near future.
2024-03-29 10:40:02
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