Curry and Popravak Battle to a Split
Draw
by Ron Scarfone
May 1, 2024
(MAY 1) On Saturday, April 27th,
at the Miccosukee Casino & Resort in Miami, Florida,
Olivia Curry, 159.8, and Melody Popravak, 158.4, fought to a
draw in a six-round bout in the middleweight division. The rounds were each two
minutes in duration.
Curry is a contender in the super
middleweight division with a rating of No. 5 by the
International Boxing Organization (IBO). Popravak had a record
of 1-1 before this fight, but her one loss was by split decision
in a four-round bout to super middleweight contender Kaitlin
LaVigne who is rated No. 12 by the IBO.
The fight between Curry and Popravak had nearly nonstop action.
The fight began with left jabs by both. They both also landed
the left jab and straight right combinations to the head. Curry out landed Popravak in the first round, although Popravak
connected with counterpunches. The second round was similar to
the first round with Curry landing more punches, but Popravak
held her own with a strong desire to win. Curry got cut on the
left side of her left eye in the third round. Her cornerman was
working on the cut between rounds and was able to stop the
bleeding. Curry and Popravak traded blows in the fourth round
and it arguably could have been scored 10-10. They were fighting
at close range in the fifth round as if they were in a phone
booth. In the sixth round, they were leaning on each other at
times. However, these were just short and intermittent respites
from the action which rarely abated. Curry connected with a left
hook to the head as the final bell rang.
The audience clapped in approval of the boxers. Some people
stood up and gave a standing ovation. I was sitting at ringside
and someone asked me who I thought won. This was a very close
and competitive fight, so I said it could be a draw. The ring
announcer confirmed my opinion. The final judges’ scores were
58-56 in favor of Curry, 58-56 in favor of Popravak, and 57-57.
It was specifically a split draw.
Curry improved her boxing record
to
7-2-1, (2 KO's) and Popravak is now 1-1-1, (1 KO).
On a side note from the past... This is not the first
time that a women's boxing match ended in a split draw at the
Miccosukee Casino & Resort. On August 12, 2000, Laura Serrano
and Melissa Del Valle fought for the vacant Women's
International Boxing Association (WIBA) super featherweight
title. The final judges' scores were 95-93 for Del Valle, 96-92
for Serrano, and 94-94.
The boxing event on April 27th was promoted by Laura Ching of M&R
Boxing Promotions. Video of the entire event was uploaded to
their YouTube account. The time stamp for Curry vs. Popravak is
1:57:00.
M&R Boxing Promotions is hosting
a boxing event on June 29, 2024, at the Miccosukee Casino &
Resort. Super welterweight contender Elia “Soul Snatcher”
Carranza was initially supposed to fight on April 27, but her
match got pushed back to June 29th. She will be competing in the
middleweight division for eight rounds. However, her opponent
has not yet been determined. It's worth noting that Carranza
also works as a deputy sheriff with Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO)
in Broward County.
