Marcela Acuña, who tipped the scales in the Casino de Mendoza yesterday at 55 kg to her opponent's 55.3 kg, faces a dangerous challenger for her WBA super bantamweight title tonight in the Estadio Andres Talleres, writes Ovación's Jorge Luciano Bertolotti: "the Mexican, Jazmín Rivas: young, powerful, ambitious, on the way up, and – above all – experienced at world level."

"Beautiful, with well-defined Aztec features, a sweet, soft voice ('curvaceous', too, he notes elsewhere), the Mexican boxer has been steadily turning up the heat since her arrival," writes Jorge Marquez: "Marcela would do well to enjoy her last hours as a champion," she told journalists. "I feel very strong and have absolute confidence in my fight plan."

According to Acuña, she went further than that: "She said she had youth on her side and chose to describe me as 'old'. I'm going to show her that nobody calls me 'old' and that experience counts for a great deal more in life than youth… Poor Rivas! She's going to have to eat those words."

[Acuña repeated after yesterday's weigh-in her promise to KO Rivas inside the first four rounds.]
 

"But how do you prepare mentally? How do you bring yourself to thump a beauty like the Mexican?" Marquez asked her. "

(Laughter) I'm used to it. It isn't necessary for me to persuade myself first that I hate her."
 

"But haven't you ever felt bad about inflicting excessive punishment on an opponent?"
 

"Certainly not. The day I feel bad about hitting an opponent, it will be time to retire. In this sport, there's no room for pity. Look at her. If she can kill me with her fists, she'll do it. This is all or nothing. And it's always the strongest that wins. (Pause) – Or the one with most experience."

Rivas struck a lighter note in an interview with the same correspondent earlier in the day.
 

"Marcela says the title is like one of her children and that she'll defend it by whatever means are necessary. How do you see it?"
 

"As a child I'd like to adopt."
 

First she has to establish that the Argentinian is an unfit mother, which she'll be aiming to do somewhere around 10 o'clock tonight.
 

* * *

[Sources: Ciudadano Diario, Los Andes, Box Noticias, Sports Yahoo]