(NOV 18) On Friday night, November 15th, at the Steamfitters 449 Union Hall in Harmony, Pennsylvania, entitled the "Brawl at the Hall 2" event promoted by Derek Gionta of Gionta Management, Mary Casamassa from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania won the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) middleweight title against Adriana Dos Santos Araujo from Brazil. The event was live streamed on the Combat Sports Now website.

In this fight, Casamassa has moved down one weight class from the super middleweight division. Earlier in the year in March, Casamassa also won the vacant WIBA super middleweight title against Olivia Gerula of Canada, winning by ten-round unanimous decision.

Prior to this WIBA middleweight title fight, the title had been vacant for about four years. The previous champion was Ema Kozin who defeated Chris Namus by ten-round unanimous decision in October 2020.

Both Casamassa and Araujo are rated in the top ten by the computerized ratings of the International Boxing Organization (IBO). Casamassa is rated No. 3 in the super middleweight division and Araujo is rated No. 4 in the middleweight division.

At the weigh-in, Casamassa weighed 157.6 pounds whereas Araujo weighed 166.2 pounds. The weight limit of the middleweight division is 160 pounds. Since Araujo was actually a super middleweight for this fight, she probably would not have been declared the new champion even if she had won. The title would have remained vacant in that scenario. Araujo had the weight advantage, but Casamassa had the age advantage. Casamassa is 25 years old whereas Araujo is 43.

Even though this was a world title fight, it was scheduled for eight rounds and not the customary ten rounds for women’s boxing.

According to WIBA President Ryan Wissow, the fight was originally planned with Casamassa's opponent being Daniele Bastieri from Brazil. However, the Pennsylvania commission only approved Bastieri for an eight-round fight. As a result, the opponent was changed to Araujo, who is also training with Bastieri. While Bastieri is ranked No. 17 in middleweight by the IBO, Araujo holds a higher position at No. 4. Their rankings in the WIBA are similar as well, with Bastieri at No. 19 and Araujo at No. 3.

Since the Pennsylvania commission decided to stick with the scheduled eight rounds and accepted Araujo as the upgraded opponent, Wissow made the choice to sanction it as a world title fight. This decision is not typical for the WIBA but has happened before. In the past, the WIBA has allowed world title fights to take place over eight rounds. However, it is common for women’s boxing matches competing for regional titles to be scheduled for six or eight rounds.

Casamassa fights using a southpaw stance and Araujo is orthodox. The fight was a brawl at times.  Casamassa had better speed and athleticism, but Araujo was a worthy opponent and showed that she is a legitimate top ten contender.  Casamassa won most of the rounds, although one judge scored every round in her favor.  The total scores of the judges were 80-72, 78-74, and 78-73 all in favor of Casamassa by unanimous decision. Casamassa remains unbeaten with a record of 6-0, 1 KO. Araujo’s record is now 6-3, 1 KO. There is a possibility that Casamassa could get a world title shot from the International Boxing Federation (IBF) because their middleweight title is vacant. The WIBA encourages unification. Casamassa also works as an engineer. She majored in environmental and civil engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.

On the undercard, there was another women’s title fight, but specifically for the United States. Colleen “Chaos” Davis successfully defended her American Boxing Federation (ABF) super featherweight title against Lauren Michaels in a six-round bout. Both are from Pennsylvania. Davis weighed 126.9 pounds whereas Michaels weighed 128 pounds.

This fight was more of a brawl than the main event. In round one, Davis knocked down Michaels from a right hand to the head. Michaels got up and the fight continued.The rest of the rounds were close because the fight was a slugfest.The total scores of the judges were 58-55 for Davis, 59-55 for Michaels, and 57-56 in favor of Davis. Davis won by split decision. Davis improves her record to 4-2-1, 1 KO. Michaels’ record is now 2-4, 0 KOs.

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