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5'6" southpaw Yvonne Trevino from Peoria, Arizona was
born on January 18, 1967. She was a well-regarded pro kickboxer
(fighting under the nickname "The Terminator") before embarking on a
career as a pro boxer in 1993.
She made her boxing debut on Sept. 18, 1993 in Davenport,
Iowa at 127 lbs as a last-minute replacement, and broke the nose of
Chris Kreuz (128 lbs) on the way to a four-round decision.
On April 8, 1994 in Laughlin, Nevada, Yvonne lost a four-round unanimous
decision to Bridgett Riley (119 lbs) of Sherman
Oaks, California, who was making her debut as a pro boxer.
On March 13, 1995, at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Cruz, California, she
lost an ISKA Women's World Light Atomweight Freestyle Kickboxing title fight
to Kim Messer. Kim dropped Yvonne with a
head kick in the fifth and dominated the later going before the fight was
stopped in the ninth.
Yvonne made her mark by winning the WIBF (then Super) Flyweight
109-lb title title in an April 20 1995 brawl at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas with
unbeaten teenaged German star
Regina Halmich. Yvonne was decked early
in this bout but came back to overpower the young German, cutting her badly under her
left eye to earn a TKO in the fourth round. Halmich fell to 8-1-0 with the
loss.
On November 25, 1995,
Yvonne knocked out Ann "Killer" Quinlan of the UK in the second round of a
kickboxing bout.
On June 1, 1996 at Boulder Station Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yvonne
fought Delia Gonzalez of Chamberino, New
Mexico to a four-round technical draw.
Gonzalez moved to 7-1-2.e
Yvonne (112 lbs) defended her title against undefeated Brenda Rouse
(110½ lbs) on April 19 1997 at the Las Vegas Hilton in a match that was
the first women's boxing bout to be seen live on U.S. network TV. ABC's goal was to showcase a women's event on
their Wide World of
Sports alongside a one-hour feature documentary on women's boxing that
was shown in their Passion to Play women's sports series the next day.
Brenda Rouse had previously been seen on TV in a competitive 4-rounder against Eva Jones-Young
on Cable USA's Tuesday Night Fights. But she was no match for the
aggressive Trevino in this fight, which was stopped with seconds left in the
first round. Rouse fell to 6-1-1 with the loss.
On April 29, 1997 at Club Rio in Tempe, Arizona, Yvonne (117½ lbs) won by a TKO at 1:24
of the first round over Akiya Griggs (118½ lbs), who was making her pro
debut, and hasn't fought since.
On May 17 1997, Yvonne fought on the first IFBA all-women's card at the Reseda
Country Club in Indio, California. Her fight was again supposed to be a showcase event,
pitting her against promising newcomer Jolene Blackshear
from Santa Rosa, California. Trevino was clearly surprised by the
aggressive Blackshear, and was knocked down twice early in the first
round. Both knockdowns were ruled slips, but nobody who watched agrees
with this! Later in the round, Blackshear was deeply cut under her right
eye by what appeared to be an elbow strike from Trevino. The fight was
stopped in Yvonne's favor to a storm of protests from Yvonne, from both
corners, and many in the crowd!
On August 2 1997, Yvonne earned the IFBA Bantamweight title with a 10-round
unanimous decision over Suzanne Riccio-Major at the Grand Casino in Biloxi,
Mississippi.
Yvonne was undefeated as a flyweight in the WIBF after winning the
federation's
world title, but she was stripped of this title when she fought in
the IFBA. This deplorable decision ... world titles should not be lost through
politics ... was later reversed by the WIBF, but Trevino would not fight
for their belt again.
On February 15, 1998
at the Grand Theatre in Biloxi, Mississippi, Yvonne (112 lbs) lost the IFBA bantamweight
title by a 10-round unanimous decision in a rematch with Bridgett
Riley (118 lbs). Yvonne seemed intent on fighting Bridgett at close range where
Riley's hooks were an effective counter to her southpaw style. Riley
wore her down in a fast paced fight whose outcome was in little
doubt as Yvonne tired in the later rounds. Riley improved her pro boxing
record to 5-2-0 with the win.
On August 8, 1998 at the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort in North Dakota, Yvonne
(112 lbs) lost a hard-fought 10-round split decision (97-94, 98-92, 93-96) to Para Draine (110 lbs) of Spokane, Washington in
a challenge for the IWBF Flyweight title. Draine's record was now 7-1 with 5 KO's.
On November 17, 1998 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas,
Yvonne (114 lbs) lost a convincing
six-round unanimous (60-54, 59-55, 59-55) decision to
Kathy Williams (112½ lbs)
of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. A crowd of 1836 saw the
former IFBA Bantamweight champion knocked down in the third and fifth
rounds by the experienced Canadian policewoman, who had a 25-6 record as
an amateur and improved her pro record to 3-0 with the win.
Yvonne battles Delia Gonzalez in Las Vegas
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On April 16, 1999 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada,
Yvonne (112 lbs) broke her three-fight losing streak and moved her pro record to 8-4-1
with a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision over
Delia Gonzalez (111 lbs) of Chamberino, New Mexico, who fell to
10-4-2. Gonzalez's nose was badly bloodied early in the fight but she
put up stiff resistance and kept up a fast pace the whole way even though there
was blood streaming down her face (and all over Yvonne ... see Mary Ann Owen's
post-fight photo of Yvonne below.)
On May 28, 1999 at the Orleans in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yvonne (weighing in at 113 lbs)
moved her pro record to
9-4-1 with a controversial TKO of Suzanne Riccio-Major
(5'2", 115 lbs)
of Pittsfield, Massachusetts at 1:34 of the fifth round.
Unlike their first meeting on
August 2, 1997,
which had been a fairly tame tactical match, this bout had see-saw
knockdown action.
Yvonne scored a knockdown in the first round, but Riccio-Major returned the
favor with a solid right hand in the second.
Trevino landed a flurry of punches with Riccio-Major against the ropes
when the bout was stopped, but apparently nobody but referee
Mitch Halpern thought that the
Massachusetts fighter was in trouble at this point!
The crowd booed the decision loudly, and Trevino grabbed
the microphone from ring announcer Jake Gutierrez to tell
them that she didn't want the fight to be stopped. Yvonne
demanded a rematch, which promoter Tony Trudnich said he
would grant. Riccio-Major fell to 6-6-1 with the loss.
On May 6, 2001 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, Yvonne returned to pro
boxing competition as a featherweight to face
WIBF Americas Featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries. Jeffries moved to 11-3 (1 KO)
with a four-round unanimous decision over Yvonne, who
was knocked down twice in the first two rounds but kept trying
to turn the tide of the fight. Trevino fell to 9-5-1 (6 KO's) with the loss.
Her team tell me
that she did not get warmed up until the end of the third
round in her first 4-rounder in several years.
Yvonne after her 1999 fight with Delia
Gonzalez
© Copyrighted photo taken by Mary Ann Owen
On October 7, 2023, Yvonne Trevino will be
officially inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame at
the Orleans Hotel & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Page last updated: Thursday, May 20, 2004 |
