Boxing sisters Kenia and Tania Enriquez of Tijuana – Just like America’s duo in tennis the sisters Venus and Serena Williams, another pair of siblings from Mexico, Tania and Kenia Enriquez dream of dominating the sport of boxing. But unlike Venus and Serena, the Enriquez sisters vowed to never fight each other in the squared circle.
“I would never fight my sister,” said 22-year-old Kenia Enriquez during our telephone interview last Saturday, which was translated by Felipe Leon. “I don’t know if it is true or not, but I believe there is a rule where sisters and brothers cannot fight each other. I want to be like Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, to divide the titles and have a good relationship and not to have a rivalry between us.”
They do have a very close relationship and they train together.
“We train every day and we spar every day against each other,” said older sister Kenia. “And even though we’ve been doing it for years, we still haven’t been able to figure out each other’s styles.”
Their father, Gustavo Enriquez trains both of them at the Box Latino gym in Tijuana. The Box Latino gym is famous because it is owned by legendary Erik “El Terrible” Morales.
Boxing sisters Kenia and Tania Enriquez of Tijuana
“My sister was born with talent. Everything she does comes easy for her,” said Kenia about her younger sibling.
Nineteen year old Tania Enriquez, who is also three inches taller, has amassed a professional record of 7 wins with no losses and 4 knock outs.
“For me it’s a little bit tougher,” continued Kenia Enriquez (15-1, 7KO’S). “I got to practice it more. My sister is more of a boxer. She is intelligent. She is a counter puncher. I try to outhustle my opponents. I try to come forward and I don’t care how many punches I receive to throw mine, but I want to out muscle my opponents to beat them.”
Kenia gets to put some action behind her words on April, 23rd against a very familiar opponent from San Diego, California, Amaris Quintana (9-2-2). The fight will be contested at light flyweight division.
“I know everything there is to know about her,” said Kenia, a former WBO flyweight world titlist now fighting in a lower weight class. “We sparred in San Diego. I know everything she does inside the ring, every move, every punch. I don’t know what weight she is going to come in, but I know that she comes forward and throws punches and I do the same so it’s just the matter of who is going to be stronger and more intelligent inside the ring, but fans are going to get a great fight.”
“It’s going to be a border war,” exclaimed veteran boxing scribe, David Avila describing their upcoming encounter at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. It’s part of the undercard to a main event featuring undefeated middleweight champion, Gennady Golovkin defending his titles against Domenic Wade, this contest will give female fighters major exposure in Southern California.
“I am very proud an honored to share a ring with a great fighter like Gennady Golovkin,” said Kenia. “but it is also a great responsibility. I am going to bring a part of Tijuana and part of San Diego with me, maybe a thousand. I understand that 10,000 tickets have already been sold, so I have a responsibility to put on a great performance that night.”
Undefeated American sensation Seniesa Estrada (5-0,1KO) will be facing Mexican Selene Lopez (3-4-3) on the same night on the same card. There have been talks about matching Kenia Enriquez and Seniesa Estrada, but at the moment Kenia has a bigger fish to fry.
“That fight has been offered to Seniesa before and could have been made but it wasn’t,” said Enriquez. “But I am looking to face world champions, want face the top ten in my division and Seniesa Estrada is not there. It would be a good fight, but I have nothing to gain from it right now.”
Younger Tania will be by Kenia’s side on April 23rd in Los Angeles. She said she gets very nervous watching her older sister fight. Both sisters said that they would love to participate at the Olympics if the Olympic committee would allow pro boxers to compete, but for now they have big dreams of becoming professional world champions. Kenia’s fight at the Forum on April 23rd is a big step towards that goal. Don’t miss it. Aside from two intriguing female fights there is the knock out king Gennady Golovkin and pound for pound king, Roman Gonzales featured on the fight card.
Contact Igor Frank at axident@pacbell.net or via Twitter (Fightmonger)
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