(FEB 19)  Mexican veteran Mayela “La Cobrita” Perez captured the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) Womens World Atomweight title on Saturday night, February 18, at the Arena Pavillion del Norte in her home-town of Saltillo, beating undefeated compatriot Maryan Salazar.

Using her vast experience, Perez boxed very disciplined and controlled the action on the inside with sharp punching to the head followed up by precise shots to the liver. Salazar had most of her success at long and mid range, troubling her opponent in spurts.

With a great crowd cheering on the local favourite, it was a very entertaining encounter contested at a high level, but Perez just had too much for the 18-year-old from Aguascalientes. While it was always competitive, it was clear beyond the half-way point that Salazar would need a knockout to win.

After ten rounds of boxing, judges Primo Ramos and German Reyes both scored the fight 100-90, while judge Jaime Balboa had it closer at 97-93. The scores did not reflect the competitiveness of the fight, and a rematch was discussed in the aftermath for two or three fights down the line. Referee was Arturo Cota.

The fight, labelled as “Knockout En El Norte”, was promoted by Hector Sanchez and his Rocky Promotions. Winning her south straight bout, the new World Champion improved her deceiving record to 15-21-4 (10). Salazar loses for the first time and drops to 5-1 (0).