Marcela Acuña shuts out Brenda Carabajal in a dominant performance

By Diego Morilla

CASEROS, Argentina – Less than a month shy of her 40th birthday, former multiple champ and Argentine female boxing pioneer Marcela Acuña showed no signs of her age in yet another return bout that saw her dominate fellow Argentine contender Brenda Carabajal (11-3, 8 KO) over ten rounds to lift the interim version of the WBA featherweight title on Friday night in front of a large and very vocal crowd.

Originally from the northern province of Formosa, Acuña (44-6-1, 18 KO) settled in this small town in the outskirts of Buenos Aires when she started her professional career, and has grown to become a prophet in her own land, gathering enough support from the local government to make the access to this fight free of charge for her fans.

But their support was only necessary in part, as Acuña was all business from the get-go against the younger (25) and taller Carabajal, who had a good start and improved slowly up to the point of actually winning the fourth round in at least two cards.

Her effort, as commendable as it was coming from a younger fighter barely qualifying to participate in a title fight (female boxing rules require at least 15 pro bouts before challenging for a title), was not nearly enough, as Acuña simply walked through her in a masterful performance.

Acuña was always the aggressor in the bout, while Carabajal seemed content just trying to counterpunch occasionally and making very little use of her excellent reach and decent boxing skills.

In the end, Acuña’s superb conditioning and mastery of the ring were more than enough to score a shut-out, with scorecards of 100-90½ (Gabriel Tavella), 98-92 (Jorge Gorini) and 99-91 (Edgardo Codutti) all in her favor.

“Today, I thank God that I was able to return to the ring to win this WBA title, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many people that are here tonight,” said Acuña, who previously held titles in the super bantamweight and featherweight divisions.

In the co-main event, Karen Carabajal (12-0, no relation to Brenda) left no doubts in a rematch against Natalia del Valle (7-9-3) in a rematch scheduled for six rounds in the super featherweight divisions, scoring a unanimous decision by scores of 60-54½,  59½-57 and 58½-57.

Previously, Marcelo Caceres (12-3, 9 KO) scored a brutal demolition of an overmatched Arsovi Zapata Vazquez (5-11-2, 1 KO) in only two rounds, flooring the Bolivian national twice in the opening episode and then catching him with a murderous volley early in the second round to score the stoppage in a middleweight bout originally scheduled for six rounds.