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5'5" bantamweight Adriana Delgado from Albuquerque, New Mexico
was born on March 2, 1979.
Adriana was more interested in ballet than in sports as a 10-year-old, but her
older brother Mario Delgado Jr. took up boxing when
he was 11 and Adriana would follow him to the gym. She also watched boxing on TV
with her father and seeing Julio Caesar Chavez fight motivated her to try the
sport herself. Adriana's parents did not encourage her at first, because they
felt that boxing is not a sport for women. However, they eventually relented and
allowed Adriana to try kickboxing. After training for two years, she was unable
to get matches and in 1998 she was finally allowed to try amateur boxing.
She went 2-0 and then decided to box professionally.
Photo Credit: Cris Cozzone/New Mexico Boxing/
*Permission to list photo
Adriana made her pro debut on December 4, 1998 at the State Fairgrounds in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, with a TKO at 1:17 in the first round over Monica Ramirez who fell to
0-2 (and hasn't boxed since).
On April 17, 1999 at Michael Marr Gym in Las Vegas, New Mexico, Adriana won by a first round knockout of Deanna Wyman of El Paso, Texas, who fell to 0-5.
On June 12, 1999 she won a four-round unanimous decision over
Imelda Arias of Ciudad Juárez, México, who fell to 4-4-0.
On August 7, 1999 in Taos, New Mexico she won a four-round unanimous
decision over Denver's Elisha Olivas, who fell to 0-1-1.
On November 6, 1999, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Delgado lost a six-round decision in a flyweight bout
with the elusive Jayla Ortiz of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who moved to 6-4-3 with the win.
Delgado later told interviewer Chris Cozzone:
"I’d never prepared to fight someone who moves around so much. I mean, she moves good. She’s fast and everything."
On February 19, 2000 in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Adriana (115 lbs) won by a second-round TKO over Imelda Arias (130 lbs)
of Ciudad Juárez, México.
On April 15, 2000 at Sky City Casino in San Fidel, New Mexico,
LeiLani "Kekoa" Salazar
of Tucson, Arizona won by TKO over Adriana when Delgado was unable to answer the bell for
the start of the fifth round in their scheduled six-rounder. Salazar moved to 3-4-0 (3 KO)
with the win.
On June 12, 2000 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Adriana won a four-round unanimous decision
over Imelda Arias of Ciudad Juárez, México.
On November 10, 2000 at Sky City Casino in Acoma, New Mexico,
Adriana won a six-round unanimous decision over
Marsha Budde of Denver, Colorado, who is now 3-4 (1 KO). Delgado controlled the early rounds but was cut over her left
eye near the end of the third. Budde appeared to be working on the cut in the later rounds, forcing Delgado to protect
it, but Delgado held on and finished strongly by knocking Budde down in the sixth.
On June 15, 2001 at Sky City Casino in Acoma, New Mexico,
Adriana won a four-round unanimous decision over Nina (Bertha) Gonzalez
of California, who dropped to 3-4-1.
On January 25, 2002 at the Isleta Casino and Resort near Albuquerque,
a crowd of 2,500 saw Adriana (118¾ lbs) and Monica Michel
(117½ lbs) of Los Lunas, New Mexico battle for four tough rounds before Delgado won a narrow decision. Monica
Michel was a clear underdog in this bout ... but she's shown no fear of starting against experienced opponents (her pro
debut had been a six-rounder against Santa Fe, New Mexico veteran Jayla Ortiz). In this four-
rounder, Delgado controlled the early rounds with superior boxing skills and Michel ate a stream of straight rights, but
Michel kept coming forward aggressively and started to take back the fight in the third and fourth. Delgado got the
decision, but Michel had clearly shown that she comes to fight and had kept it close. Michel fell to 0-2-0 (0 KO).
On May 3, 2002 in Durango, Colorado,
Adriana Delgado (119¾ lbs)
and Monica Michel (118 lbs) battled to a six-round draw on a badly split
scorecard. Delgado started well and had the upper hand in the early going,
landing hard left hooks and combinations in the first two rounds. Michel, who
had sworn to quit boxing if she lost this fight, came on aggressively in the
third and backed Delgado up with solid rights. The rest of the bout saw
hard-hitting see-saw action that entertained the crowd and left both fighters
tired and the judges in disarray. One saw it 59-55 for Delgado, another 58-56
for Michel, and the third tallied a 57-57 draw. Michel's record fell to 0-3-1 (0
KO).
On
July 19, 2002 at Isleta Resort, Isleta, New Mexico,
Adriana (118¾ lbs) won a clear six-round unanimous (60-54,59-56,59-55) decision over Tracy Moulton of Denver,
Colorado. It was an impressive win for Delgado who schooled Moulton from the outside, regularly beating her to the punch
and landing with a hard left hook and solid combinations. Moulton couldn't find many answers for Delgado but battled
gamely to the end with blood pouring from her nose. Moulton slips to 5-6-1 (2 KO) with the loss.
On September 21, 2002 at Pueblo Fairgrounds Events Center in Pueblo, Colorado,
a scheduled bout for the WIBA Intercontinental 118 lb title between
Adriana and #13 ranked featherweight Jayla Ortiz of Santa Fe, New Mexico did not
take place because Ortiz was arrested on her way into the arena, on charges
related to an incident involving a gun.
On May 31, 2003 at Sky Ute Casino, Ignacio, Colorado,
Adriana won the IFBA Bantamweight title with a ten-round unanimous (97-93,97-93,97-94) decision over #4 ranked junior
featherweight Kathy Williams of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Williams carried the fight to
Delgado in the early going but was tagged repeatedly by the hard-counterpunching Delgado. Delgado staggered Williams
with a right to the head in the fourth but Williams survived and came on strong again in the sixth. Delgado mounted a
strong counterattack in the seventh and eighth but Williams rallied again and Delgado needed a big final round to make
sure of the decision. Delgado is now 11-2-1 (3 KO) while Williams fell to 13-5-0 (4 KO).
Adriana left competition after this bout but she plans to return to the ring in
2005, saying "This time I'm going for all three titles before I leave the
fight game."
On May 31, 2008, at the Sky Ute Casino, Ignacio, Colorado, Jennifer "The Razor"
Barber, 7-0 (4 KO's) won by a dominating performance with a 4th round TKO over
Adriana Delgado. According to our sources, the ref stopped the fight at the
advice of Delgado's corner. This was the last professional bout that
Delgado fought in.
Page last updated:
Friday, 02 June 2023 |
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