Raquel “Pretty Beast” Miller Stays Undefeated
By Felipe Leon
COSTA MESA, Calif.-Former interim WBA super welterweight champion Raquel “Pretty Beast” Miller (11-0, 4KO) might need a couple more rounds than the six she got against the overmatched but game Sonya Dreiling (4-2, 2KO) on Thursday.
In a entertaining scrap part of the legendary “Brawl at the Hall” series by hall of famer promotor Roy Englebrecht, fans saw Miller (11-0, 4 KOs) of San Diego by way of San Francisco, CA, earn a hard-fought six round unanimous decision over Greely, Colorado’s Dreiling (4-2, 2 KOs) at the OC Hangar.
Scores were not announced.
Miller, who captured the interim 154-pound WBA title with a unanimous decision win over Alma Ibarra in late 2019, had not seen action for two years. Promotional and management issues plus surviving a personal tragedy, kept the 36-year-old out of the ring for 24 months.
In the early summer of 2019 Miller captured the vacant NABF middleweight title with a 7th round KO of Erin Toughill.
The 31-year-old Dreiling went pro months before Miller’s last fight in 2019 and went on a four-fight win streak before suffering her first loss, a six-round unanimous decision, to the then undefeated Logan Holler. The very tough Dreiling owns wins over the previously undefeated Kara Wiggins and Jordanne Garcia as well as beating veteran Latasha Burton in her last win back in the summer of 2020.
From the opening bell it was evident Miller was a bit off. Why Dreiling was having trouble getting on the close real estate of the much bigger and stronger Miller, the former champion looked like she was having trouble timing her punches and gauging her distance.
Dreiling kept plugging along, sporadically landing hard jabs to the face of Miller, the best coming in the fifth round prompting a reaction from the sold-out crowd. Despite the rust, Miller was the more successful of the two, scoring with a hard straight right hands flush to the face of Dreiling.
By the fourth round of the scheduled two-minute rounds, Dreiling’s face was looking worse for wear with her nose bleeding steadily. Miller didn’t leave the fight unscathed with her left eye slightly swollen from the steady diet of jabs from Dreiling.
By the sixth round, Miller looked like she was getting into her groove, landing more and with better results but time just ran out for the former champion.
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(Photo by Al Applerose/ThePrizefighters.com)