Women boxers raised the temperature even in winter. With courage and skill, they delivered spectacular fights for boxing fans to make this a great year for boxing. The World Boxing Association is proud of the great competitive growth of female champions and shares some of the best fights of 2021.
For March 20, Mexican Anabel “Avispa” Ortiz’s 105-pound WBA world champion since 2013, fought Siniese ” Super Bad” Estrada, a Los Angeles native with other belts under her belt. Anabel gave great combination of unorthodox boxing and unrelenting attack, Estrada overcame a difficult test. Unanimously after ten rounds, the American was crowned with the black and gold belt.
On April 22 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, a Mexican woman arrived, with police training in tow, to face the emblematic Canadian, Jelena Mrdjenovich, who had held the crown until then. The bout was almost completely dominated by the Aztec fighter name Erika “Dinamita” Cruz Hernandez. The exchange of blows was intense until the seventh round, with a pronounced bleeding in Jelena’s face, the doctor decided that it was enough. That was the surprise of the year with Cruz as the new WBA featherweight champion.
After the two wars that Katie Taylor had against Delfine Persoon, there is a contest to highlight in 2021, and that is the fight between the undisputed queen of 135 pounds, the Irish Katie Taylor, which took place on May 1 in the United Kingdom against Natasha Jonas. The two fighters showed not only aggressiveness but also an exhibition of their technical strengths. The decision was in favor of Taylor, with a close decision by the judges.
And if we talk about surprises, these two boxers are at the top: the British Shannon Courtenay against the representative of Australia Ebanie Bridges, were underestimated in the moments prior to the clash held on April 10. Back and forth of blows with an almost permanent occupation of the center of the ring. There prevailed the distance that Courtenay knew how to keep in the different passages to gain an advantage. With their bloody white suits, as shown, the decision was in favor of Courtenay who took the WBA vacant bantamweight belt.
To conclude this selection by the WBA, of which the public can be part, we add the staging of the ecumenical boxer from Mexico, minimum champion of the pioneer organization, Montserrat Alarcon, against her compatriot Silvia Torres on December 4. Both, with amateur experience and knowledge of each other from past fights, who put on a great show for those present in Guanajuato. A close fight without title exposure but that provided a lot of experience for the winner Montserrat.
