(AUG 21)  Last Friday night, at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel, in Fort Worth, Texas, lightweight Crystal Delgado, 133, made her pro debut against another pro debuter, Elizabeth (Lizzy) Tavarez, 132 1/4. Delgado won her pro debut by a close majority decision, with one judge seeing the fight as a draw at 38-38.

This was a tough fight for the two. Lizzy told WBAN, "I am proud of my performance although I am disappointed at the outcome. No one likes to lose but I will definitely learn from my failure to convince the judges. I ended up in the emergency room after the head butt in the first round that caused a laceration under my right eyebrow which got six stitches. As soon as I stepped into the ring, I realized that my opponent  was a southpaw and head butts quickly became an issue."

Delgado is one of many in the sport, who are turning pro after having an extensive amateur career.  At only 17 years old, she leaves the amateurs with 60 bouts, and  six national titles.  Fighters as Delgado is a reminder in the sport that we are fortunately seeing some very good amateurs entering the pro ranks, and that these experienced amateurs are going to bring women's boxing to a higher level.

WBAN's photographers, J & P Photography, caught a photo of this young boxer, two years ago in July of 2005, and they told WBAN,  "Tonight we attended an amateur boxing event in Beaumont, Texas,  hosted by the Police Activities League and Orange County Boxing. We did not see any female bouts, but we did see the 2005 National Junior Olympic Champion - Crystal Delgado! Crystal is fifteen years old from Houston, Texas, and she has been boxing for four years. She is managed by her father, Phillip Delgado. Crystal has had 29 fights. Hopefully, we will see more of her in the years to come!"

It appears that like their comments have now rung true, and we WILL be seeing more of Delgado.  By the way---we are also excited to see not only Delgado, but her tough competitor LIzzy Tavarez who has an extensive kick-boxing background enter the sport!  Tavarez apparently handled herself quite well to have lost to Delgado by a majority decision.