Super Middleweight Raquel Miller and More Fight News
By David A. Avila
(Photo by Al Applerose)
Its rare to see fighters above 147 pounds in the west coast of the USA perform but action begins on Thursday with the arrival of a young amateur star and the return to California of a long-established veteran.
Roy Englebrecht, one of the veteran promoters in Southern California, presents yet another star-studded card on Thursday Aug. 25, featuring the pro debut of US National champion Jessikah Guerra at the OC Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif.
Engelbrecht has always welcomed women’s boxing on his events since he began in the 1990s and regularly features some of the best pro boxers in California. Among those he presented were Bridgett “Baby Doll” Riley, Elizabeth Quevedo, Wendy Rodriguez and recently Chelsey Anderson.
Now its former amateur champion Guerra’s turn and she faces another making a pro debut in Roshetta Vatuvel of Northern California. That area of California has become a hotbed for talent the past 10 years.
Two days later in Pico Rivera, California, a small suburban town about 20 miles east of Los Angeles, the return of Raquel Miller (11-0, 4 Kos) finds her facing Mexican veteran Irais Hernandez (4-4-2, 3 Kos) in a super middleweight clash. FITE.TV will show the fight card on pay-per-view.
MarvNation Promotions has invested heavily in women’s boxing and promotes the Miller versus Hernandez fight at Smith Park in Pico Rivera on Saturday Aug. 27. Both women are talented and this could be one of the best fights of the year in California.
Miller, 37, last fought in December when she defeated Sonya Dreiling at the OC Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif. Many consider Miller capable of competing with Franchon Crews-Dezurn or Claressa Shields. They faced each other numerous times during their amateur phases.
Hernandez, 38, has mostly fought top female fighters including former world heavyweight champion Alejandra Jimenez who she once fought to a draw. She also gained a draw against Ema Kozin in a super middleweight fight held in Croatia. She can fight.
Costa Rica
In two weeks MarvNation returns with Yokasta Valle facing Vietnam’s Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen in a unification minimumweight title fight at San Jose, Costa Rica. She will be joined by two other female fights on the same card on Thursday Sept. 8. DAZN will stream the MarvNation and Golden Boy Promotions fight card.
Valle (25-2) holds the IBF title and Nguyen (5-0) the WBO title and both present contrasting styles. Valle, the speedster, has been working in Los Angeles with Coach Gee. Nguyen defeated Japan’s Etsuko Tada last year in a fight that demonstrated her ability to take shots. She took a lot against Tada who a year earlier won Knockout of the Year.
Also on that card will be Adelaida “Cobra” Ruiz a longtime standout in Southern California boxing circles. She has a rematch against Mexico’s Sonia Osorio who she first encountered last year. The fight ended quickly due to a clash of heads and an ugly cut on Osorio.
Ramla
It didn’t last two minutes as Ramla Ali walked through Crystal Garcia Nova’s punches to hammer the Dominican fighter with a right to the chin in the first round. The referee counted out Garcia.
I guess all that work with veteran trainer Manny Robles in Los Angeles paid off big. That was some clout.
The tall Somalian beauty from England has erased all the amateur habits of slapping and running and now stands her ground to punch with power. As promoter Eddie Hearn said after Ali’s fight, she is sitting down on her punches.
Ali is now 32 and there is no time to develop her slowly. It’s now or never so Matchroom Boxing probably has her scheduled to face one of the super bantamweight champions within the next six months. Or she could face one of the Mexican fighters like legendary champions Jackie Nava, Mariana “Barby” Juarez or even Yamileth Mercado. That might be too much experience to face with only seven pro fights. Ali does have physical tools.
More Fight News
Albania
On Thursday Aug. 25, featherweights Marinela Cani (0-0) and Gulay Bozdogan (0-2) meet four rounds at Tirana.
Argentina
Micaela Lujan (11-1-1) won by majority decision after 10 rounds versus Mexico’s Irma Garcia (21-5-1) on Saturday Aug. 20. The IBF super flyweight world title fight took place at Villa Mercedes. Also, Jennifer Meza (6-3) won by decision over Roxana Bermudez (4-6-2) after 10 rounds for the Argentine flyweight title. Other winners were Sol Cudos (4-0-1) beating Maira Loyola (0-4-1); Aldana Lopez (5-0) defeating Lucrecia Belen (6-2); and Ailen Agrobert (4-0) winning over Aldana Pons (1-1-1).
On Friday Aug. 26, super flyweights Carla Ayelen (8-2) and Natalia Alderete (4-9) meet eight rounds at Oncativo.
Brazil
On Friday Aug. 26, light heavyweights Adriana Dos Santos (6-1) and Gleisiele Gomes (0-0) meet six rounds at Lauro de Freitas.
Canada
On Saturday Aug. 27, super welterweights Carolyn Redmond (5-0) and Diana Tapia (4-1) meet eight rounds at Hamilton.
Colombia
Viviana Ruiz (5-1) defeated Johana Zuniga (16-4) by decision after 10 rounds on Saturday Aug. 20. The flyweight title fight was held at Bogota. Also, Bethy Franco (1-0-1) stopped Kimberly Segovia (0-1) in the third round of their super bantamweight fight; and Dayana Reinoso (1-0-1) knocked out Diana Cotrino (0-1) in the second round.
Czech Republic
Barbora Mayerova (1-0) beat Anna Ganova (0-6) by majority decision after four rounds on Sunday Aug. 21. The super featherweight bout was held at Brno.
Germany
Leoni Krause (1-0) won by decision after four rounds against Stephanie Wirt (0-4) on Saturday Aug. 20. The lightweight fight was held at Torgau.
India
On Sunday Aug. 28, featherweights Priyanka (1-0) and Chandni Mehra (8-3) meet six rounds at New Delhi. Also, Rajwant Kaur (1-2) and Gurpreet Kaur (0-0) meet four rounds.
Japan
On Sunday Aug. 28, atomweights Reika Kawaguchi (1-1-2) and Hamburg Hiroko (1-1) meet four rounds at Kyoto.
New Zealand
Mea Motu (13-0) defeated Thanchanok Phanan (11-3) by knockout in the fourth round on Friday Aug. 19. The featherweight bout was held at Auckland.
On Friday Aug. 26, super middleweights Nailini Helu (2-4-1) and Tinta Smith (0-1) meet eight rounds at Auckland.
Panama
Teresa Almengor (7-1-2) knocked out Janeth Asprilla (1-2-3) in the fourth round on Saturday Aug. 20. The featherweight clash was held at Panama City.
Saudi Arabia
Ramla Ali (7-0) knocked out Crystal Garcia Nova (10-3) in the first round on Saturday Aug. 20. The super bantamweight fight took place at Jeddah.
Sweden
Marianne Ahlborg (6-1) won by decision after six rounds against Katarina Vistica (2-21) on Saturday Aug. 20. The super welterweight fight was held at Ystad. Also, Anna Donatella (9-3) defeated Nana Dokadze (2-15) in a featherweight match.
Thailand
Ketmanee Chasing (2-0) knocked out Irada Suparsakon (2-1) in the fourth round on Wednesday Aug. 17. The minimumweight fight took place at Pathum Thani.
United Kingdom
Amy Timlin (5-1-1) won by decision over Janileth Vallejos (1-7-1) after four rounds on Saturday Aug. 20. The featherweight bout was held at Bolton.
On Saturday Aug. 27, welterweights Kerry Haley (1-0) and Bojana Libiszewska (7-48) meet six rounds at Houghton le Spring.
USA
Stevie Jane Coleman (3-1) won by first round knockout over Jesenia Rivas (0-1) on Saturday Aug. 20. The welterweight fight was held at Uncasville, Conn.
Samantha Worthington (2-0) knocked out Camille Casson (0-12) in the first round on Saturday Aug. 20. The super lightweight match was held at Oak Grove, Md.
Lupe Medina (2-0) scored a first round knockout over Jennifer Morales (1-3) on Friday Aug. 19. The minimumweight fight took place at Commerce, Calif.
Pearl Gonzalez (1-0) won by unanimous decision after six rounds against Danielle Wynn (0-1) on Friday Aug. 19. The lightweight match was held in Biloxi, Miss.
On Thursday Aug. 25, super welterweights Jesikah Guerra (0-0) and Roshetta Vatuvel (0-0) meet four rounds at the OC Hangar in Costa Mesa, Calif.
On Saturday Aug. 27, super middleweights Raquel Miller (11-0) and Irais Hernandez (4-4-2) meet eight rounds at Smith Park in Pico Rivera, California.