The WBAN Award(s) is a prestigious recognition of those
who stand out in the sport and who has significantly attributed to the sport
either in the ring and/or outside the ring. We have recognized
many of those throughout the years since 2000, and continue to do this each
year.
Claressa Shields
8-0-0 (2KO)
Fighter of the
year
For
2018
Claressa Shields
"T-Rex"
Flint, Michigan
Claressa "T-Rex" Shields
of Flint, Michigan, fought
four
times in 2018 winning all bouts that were for world title bouts.
Shields now holds the IBF, WBC, WBA Middleweight titles,
and the WBAN independent world title belt. She was
inducted in USA Boxing Alumni Hall of Fame. In 2018, Shields was
named the
Boxing Writers Association of America recipient of the
2018 Christy Martin Award for female fighter of the year; and
Ring Magazine's Fighter of the year. She was also named a top-10 finalist for the 2018 Individual
Sport “Sportswoman of the Year” by the prestigious Women’s
Sports Foundation. During the 2018---Shields was named
twice as our WBAN's Fighter of the month.
Katie Taylor
12-0-0 (5KO)
Top European
Fighter
of the Year 2018
*Two Years in a Row"
Katie Taylor
Bray, Ireland
Katie Taylor of
Bray, Ireland, stayed very active this year, fighting four bouts
that were all world title bouts. She currently holds the IBF and WBA Lightweight world titles. This year, Taylor
won the prestigious British Boxing Board of Control award.
Two of her most impressive wins that were in the United States
were fought against Victoria Bustos and
Eva Wahlstrom. Taylor was named as WBAN's
Fighter of the Month twice in 2018. There was also a
documentary made on Taylor named "Katie Taylor:
The Comeback". It follows the intensely private Olympic
Gold Medalist as she attempts to restructure her career
following a period of turmoil in her life. More On Katie
Taylor
Daniela Bermudez
24-3-3 (7KO)
Top Latina
Fighter
of the Year 2018
Daniela Bermudez
"La Bonita"
Santa Fe, Argentina
Daniela Bermudez, 24-3-3 (7KO),
of Santa Fe, Argentina, had a huge upset when she defeated
Marcela Acuna, 46-7-1 (20KO), in a world title bout for the IBF
Super Bantamweight championship. This was a top-notch matchup
for these two with BoxRec rating the bout five stars. Bermudez
then fought one other bout in December 2018, defeating Yolis
Franco by TKO in the fourth round, where the two were fighting for the WBO Bantamweight
title. Bermudez, now considered a veteran of the sport beginning her
pro boxing career in 2010----now fighting for eight years as a
pro.
Layla "Amazing" McCarter,
a six-time multi-world champion, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is SO
"Amazing" that she has become one of the most "Avoided" female
boxers in the sport in 2018. Being named the "Most Avoided"
fighter of the year is considered one of our TOP WBAN Yearly Awards
and is intended for an "elite athlete" who is considered one of
the best---but just cannot seem to be able to fight opponents
they seek to get in the ring with.
Cecilia Braekhus Amanda Serrano
Top
History-Making Female Boxer(s) of the
year 2018
Cecilia Braekhus
"The First Lady"
Bergen, Norway
Amanda Serrano
"The Real Deal"
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Cecilia Braekhus,
35-0-0 (9KO), of Bergen, Norway,
fought three times in 2018, making history on HBO when she
fought Kali Reis, and was also featured on the last-ever showing of
boxing on HBO. Braekhus also received the Ring Belt,
first female to be honored with that belt and she was entered into
the Guinness book of world records.
Amanda Serrano,
35-1-1 (26KO),
of Bronx, New York,
Made yet another highly significant History-first for
female boxing, when she went for her sixth title, in six
weight classes, fighting for the WBO Super
Lightweight World Title against Yamila Reynoso. Serrano
won the bout by a ten-round unanimous decision, with judges
scores of 99-91 on all cards. Serrano now holds world titles in
the divisions of: bantamweight, junior featherweight,
featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight, and now super
lightweight.
Full Story on this History-Making Event
Mikaela Mayer 9-0-0 (4KO)
Hottest Female Boxing
Rising Star In
2018
Mikaela Mayer Colorado Springs, CO, USA
NABF Super Featherweight champion
Mikaela Mayer fought six times in 2018, and she was not only the top
pick for WBAN's "hottest Rising Star" in the sport, but she was a
"definite" road-warrior in 2018 when she fought all of her bouts out of
venue. Mayer fought in Carson, California; Madison
Square Garden, in New York; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Glendale,
Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; and Corpus Christi, Texas. Mayer, a
2016 U.S. Olympian, who is with Top Rank Boxing, made her television
debut in a six-rounder on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, when she fought in
Arizona. 2019 should be a big year for this talented boxer!
Top Women Cops
Who Boxed In
2018
Tiara Brown Irma Garcia
Samantha Salazar
Tiara Brown,
from Washington DC, USA, an elite amateur boxer who
turned pro in September 2016, she fought three times in 2018, winning
all bouts by TKO or RTD. Brown is a Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officer. She is currently signed
with Lou Dibella, of DiBella Entertainment. Thus far, since her
last pro fight, she is currently undefeated as of June 30, 2018.
Brown is originally from Myers, Florida.
Irma "Tornado" Garcia,
of Mexico City, Mexico, who has been
boxing professional since 2010, and is currently fighting the very best
in the sport. She is ranked #3 in the world, and has fought more than 20
plus pro bouts. Garcia is passionate about combating
discrimination and violence against women in Mexico, saying "I must
confess that the road has not been easy. It's amazing that in this
century we still have to deal with the macho mentality of many who still
discriminate (against people) because they are women." [More
on Irma Garcia].
Samantha “The Enforcer” Salazar, from Dallas, Texas, USA
fought four times in 2018, winning three bouts, and having a draw.
She’s a police officer by day and dedicates most of her spare time in
the gym training boxing and caring for her family. Salazar began
professionally boxing in August of 2015.
M.C. Mary Kom She made this history by winning in 2002, 2005, 2006,
2008, 2010, and 2018.
Amateur
Boxer
of the Year 2018 "Two Years in a Row"
M.C. Mary Kom
Amateur boxer Mary Kom of India made history recently
when she became the first woman boxer to win six gold medals at the
World Championships. India’s legendary boxer Mary Kom clinched a
record sixth Gold in the Women’s World Boxing Championship, which
was held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. Kom was
WBAN's December 2018 Fighter of the month.
Roxy Verduzco
Youth Amateur
Boxer
of the Year 2018
Roxy Verduzco
Roxy Verduzco, of Los Angeles,
California, with a amateur record is 74-4, began boxing at the
ripe of old of four years old. She is a fourth generation boxer,
rated #1 in the nation, and 2018 Youth Amateur World Champion. Verduzco has not lost a fight in ten years, with 17 National
Championships under her belt. This year she won the USA
Nationals, WBC Amateur Championships and became an AIBA Youth World
Gold Medalist.
Jessica McCaskill
6-2-0 (3KO)
Best
Kept Secret
Fighter 2018
Jessica McCaskill
"CasKILLA"
Jessica McCaskill, 6-2-0 (3KO), of Chicago, Illinois, took big
fights right out of the shoot, defeating Erica Farias, and being named
WBAN's November 2018 Fighter of the month. With just seven fights as
a pro she won the WBC Super Lightweight World title defeating
Farias, a
veteran boxer that had 28 pro bouts going into the fight." In
her short career thus far, she has taken on some heavy competition
and will take on some very difficult competition.
Maria Jesus Rosa Passed Away on
December 18, 2018 at the age of 44 years old.
Special Tribute in 2018 Maria Jesus Rosa
June 20, 1974 - December 18, 2018
WBAN gives a special
Final Tribute to Spain's Maria Jesus Rosa, 44 years old
who passed away, after being diagnosed with cancer, just a couple
months prior to her death. Maria Jesus Rosa
boxed professionally from 1999-2005. She retired from boxing
with a 19-1-0 (4KO), with only losing one time against Regina Halmich,
where she lost by a close ten-round split decision.
Maria made boxing history when she became Spain's first
ever world champion in 2003.
Full Story on Maria Jesus Rosa
WBAN would like to give a
special mention to the female boxers who were our top picks
throughout the year of 2018, as our "Fighters of the Month".
When you consider all the many fights that go on each month with
the high amount of professional female boxers on the scene, it
is very difficult to be picked as a "Fighter of the month".
Congrats to each of these female boxers who was WBAN's
top picks for each month!
Top Fights for the Year
of 2018
Cecilia Braekhus
vs. Kali "KO" Reis
Claressa Shields vs. Hanna Gabriels
Katie Taylor vs. Victoria Bustos
Tiara Brown vs. Dahianna Santana
Jelena Mrdjenovich vs. Stephanie Ducastel
Daniela Bermudez vs. Marcela Acuna
Marcela Acuna vs. Laura Soledad Griffa
Katie Taylor vs. Ewa Wahlstrom
Guadalupe Guzman vs. Irma Garcia
Tyrieshia Douglas vs. Helen Joseph
Did WBAN Missed one? Send link to
WBAN to view video of a fight you feel should be listed ----Email:
wban100@aol.com
WBAN is looking forward to seeing
women's boxing continue to grow in popularity as we have
seen in 2018---let's see 2019 "Rock" in the sport!
Sue TL Fox
