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The "Best" , The "Coolest"
in the sport
in 2015! |
Another year has
gone by and it is time to have the "hot" Picks
for 2015!
This year was one of the most difficult
years to determine our TOP picks. WBAN has
elected to list more than one boxer in certain categories to give our due
respect for those fighters who have worked hard throughout the year to
qualify for that top pick!
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Special Dedication in 2015
In memory of the following.....
Elizabeth Sherman - Boxer
Dean Chance - IBA President
John Hill - Covered
sport
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Jessica Chavez |
Fighter of the
year
of the Year
2015
Jessica "Kika" Chavez
| Jessica "Kika" Chavez, has
been busy this year, fighting four times, and winning all of
the bouts. In all of her bouts in 2015, she
fought four times in 10-round bouts for the WBC flyweight
title twice, and one time for the vacant WBC International
flyweight title. Chavez fights out of Mexico City, Mexico,
and has a 25-4-3 (4KO) boxing record. |
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Delfine
Persoon |
Top European
Fighter
of the Year 2015
Delfine Persoon (Belgium)
Delfine Persoon of
Roeselare, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, had four fights in
2015, with two out of the four fights, fighting for a WBC
Lightweight title.
She also fought two eight
round bouts, winning all of her fights in 2015. |
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Ibeth Zamora Silva
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Top Latina Boxer
of the Year 2015
Ibeth Zamora Silva
(Mexico)
| "La Roca" Ibeth Zamora
Silva, world rated #1 with WBAN and Boxrec in 2015, fighting
three times in 2015, with all bouts being world title
fights, winning all of them. She is the current WBC
light flyweight world title holder. She was also
WBAN's 2013 Fighter of the Year (not an easy thing to
accomplish). |
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Top Amateur
Boxers
of the Year
2015
Amanda Bujold - Atheyna Byion - Ginny Fuchs
-
Mikaela Mayer - Claressa Shields
Katie Taylor
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Inspirational
Amateur Boxer
of the Year
2015
Lisa Whiteside
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Lisa Whiteside, who
suffered a fractured skull in a freak fall, fighting at 51kg, won a
silver medal in the Rio Test boxing event having made a remarkable
and very courageous return to the ring following a ‘fractured skull’
earlier in the year. Many felt she would not box again yet against
all the odds returned as good as ever and also took the England
Elite and GB championships titles in 2015. |
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Rising Amateur
Boxing Star
of 2015
Jaijaira Gonzalez
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Jaijaira Gonzalez, WBAN
sees a bright future for this top-notch amateur boxer. She
definitely has the potential and most likely to be a “future AIBA
World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist” and THE one to watch for
Tokyo 2020. |
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Top
Inspirational Boxers in 2015
Alicia "Slick"
Ashley
Eileen "The Hawaiian Mongoose" Olszewski
| Alicia "Slick" Ashley,
with a 23-10-1 (4KO) boxing record, and fighting for a
world title, for the WBC in 2015, for the vacant
WBC Super Bantamweight world title, regained that title
at the age of 48. Ashley began her pro
boxing career in January of 1999, and is still going
strong! Multi-world champion
Eileen "The Hawaiian Mongoose" Olszewski, who fights out
of New York, but was born in Honolulu, Hawaitt,
has been fighting since 2006. Just tipping the scales at
about 111 lbs, she successfully defended her IFBA
Flyweight world title in January of 2015. |
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The Top
"Movers and the Shakers" in 2015
Amanda
Serrano
Cindy Serrano
| These boxing sisters do
not miss a beat in bringing major exposure to the sport.
They are not only some of our elite top professional
boxers in the sport--- they are extremely active outside
the ring, that have included magazine features, a movie,
interviews, and the list goes on! |
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Melissa McMorrow
fights out of San Francisco, California |
Road Warrior in 2015
Melissa McMorrow
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WBAN's top pick for the 2015 road warrior
goes to Melissa "Mighty" McMorrow (USA). In 2015,
McMorrow fought Kenia Enriquez (Tijuana, Mexico) in Mexico,
winning by split decision for the WBO flyweight title.
The activity level for women boxers was fairly slim in 2015,
so we not only looked at this year but an overall
performance of the top pick to where they have fought in
previous years.
McMorrow has fought out of venue in her last nine
fights were either out of the country and/or out of
California. She has not fought in California since 2010!
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Carla Torres |
Biggest Upset of
the year
in 2015
Carla Torres vs. Olivia
Gerula
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On October 22, 2015, Carla Torres of
Cleveland, Ohio, with a boxing record of 4-3-0, went to
Canada to fight Olivia Gerula, 16-14-2 for the WIBA
International Featherweight title. Many thought that
Gerula would win this fight, but out of towner Torres proved
to be a tough opponent and won the fight by a 10-round
decision. |
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Cecilia Braekhus |
The "Where Did
She Go" Award
in 2015
Cecilia "First Lady" Braekhus
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One of the top female boxers in the sport, welterweight
Cecilia "First Lady" Braekhus, being on top of world ratings
was going strong with a perfect undefeated record of 27-0-0
(7KO), and after a very successful 2014 year, winning four
major multi-world title bouts that year----did not fight one
time in 2015! Cecilia has been very much missed and we
want to see her return in 2016! |
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Photo by Mary Ann Owen
BKB had its first female
fight in history as multi-world champions Layla McCarter faced Diana Prazak
in a BKB Championship. |
Cool BKB
Fight of the Year by
Top Female Boxers!
Layla McCarter vs.
Diana Prazak
| BKB had its first female
fight in history as multi-world champions Layla McCarter faced Diana Prazak
in a BKB Championship. According to news sources,
McCarter and Prazak may have just stolen the show this night
in 2015. The BKB (Big Knockout
Boxing) had it's second event at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas,
Nevada, and was shown on PPV. |
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Holly Holm
Boxing to UFC
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Top Non-Boxing Knockout
of the Year by Retired Multi-world World boxing champion in 2015!
Holly Holm
| What many called it the
"upset of the century" on other news media sources, 18-time
world boxing champion Holly Holm KO'd Ronda Rousey in the
second round in a UFC 193 fight for the women's bantamweight
title. Anyone who actually knew Holm's
background didn't see this as a surprise or upset as
those who took her at face value prior to the fight. |
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2015 Top Busiest Boxers
Bojana Libiszewska - Poland
Gabriella Mezei - Romania
Klaudia Vigh - Hungary
Szilvia Szabados - Hungary
Jasmina Nadj - Serbia
Bojana Libiszewska (Poland) - nine fights, one win (over
Vigh); Gabriella Mezei (Romania) - nine fights, four wins
(4-4-2); Klaudia Vigh (Hungary) - nine fights, no wins;
Szilvia Szabados (Hungary) - eight fights, five wins (5-3)
lost title fight to Adler; Jasmina Nadj (Serbia) - eight
fights, no wins (0-7-1) Two title fights included fighting
Tissen. |
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2015 Top "Sister
Acts" Boxers
Kenia Enriquez and Tania Enriquez
Amanda and Cindy Serrano
Mariana Juarez and Lourdes Juarez
We have three top picks
this year, and these "sistas" are on fire in the sport.
Sisters Kenia Enriquez and Tania Enriquez fight out of
Mexico; Mariana Juarez and Lourdes Juarez, Mexico; and
Amanda Serrano and Cindy Serrano, out of New York, USA. |
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2015 WBAN Fighters
of the Month
Arely Mucino (Mexico)
Eileen Olszewski (United States)
Melissa McMorrow (United States)
Naoko Fujioka (Japan)
Eva Wahlstrom (Finland)
Yazmin Rivas (Mexico)
Debora Dionicius (Argentina)
Mandy Bujold (Canada)
Edith Soledad Matthysse (Argentina)
Ibeth Zamora Silva (Mexico)
Carla Torres (United States)
Daniela Bermudez (Argentina)
WBAN would like to give a
special mention to the female boxers who were our top picks
throughout the year of 2015, as our "Fighters of the Month".
When you consider all the many fights that go on each month
with the high amount of professional female boxers on the
scene, it is very difficult to be picked as a "Fighter of
the month".
Congratulations to each of these female boxers who was
WBAN's top picks for each month! |
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2015 Top Fights
Sandy Tsagouris vs.
Shannon O'Connell
Erica Farias vs.
Klara Svensson
Melissa McMorrow vs.
Kenia Enriquez
Naoko Fukioka vs.
Mariana Juarez
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Top #1 Rated
WBAN World Female Boxers
in
2015
Esmeraldo Moreno - Naoko Fujioka
Anabel Ortiz - Edith Soledad Matthysse
Ji Hyun Park - Maribel Ramirez
Ibeth Zamora Silva - Mariana Juarez
Yazmin Rivas - Marcela Acuna
Jelena Mrdjenovich - Claudia Lopez
Layla McCarter - Erica Farias -
Amanda Serrano
Cecilia Braekhus - Anne-Sophie Mathis
Christina Hammer - Diana Prazak
Melissa Hernandez - Sandy Tsagouris
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WBAN would like to give a
special acknowledgement to all of our #1 World rated female
boxers throughout the year of 2015. Some of these top
athletics were ranked #1 throughout the year. It
is no easy task to be ranked #1 with WBAN at anytime, and
hats off to all of these great fighters for this high
achievement! |
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The Coolest in 2015
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Best documentary on women in sport
of the year 2015 - PLAY FAIR
| The documentary PLAY FAIR is a
compelling, unflinching and visually rich documentary
that questions the assumption that women’s fight for
full rights in the world of sports is over. The film
explores five decades of activism and legal challenges
that women fought to ensure they would have equal access
and rights to compete in sports on elite and community
levels. Olivia Gerula, professional boxer
was also featured in this documentary.
Video:
http://www.playfair.tv/ |
Kenia Enriquez Gives Back to the
sport
In 2015, where we
saw WBO flyweight champion
Kenia Enriquez (13-0, 6KO) held her first ever all-female
amateur boxing tournament in her native city of Tijuana this
past Saturday, February 7th. Held at the city-run gym adjacent
to the Municipal Auditorium, over ten amateur fights were held
to determine champs in five categories.
Historical Event in New York - Three
minute round fight for the first time
On May 15, history was made as the New York State Athletic
Commission and Ronson Frank/Uprising Promotions, supported their
women in boxing. Susan Merlucci Reno rematched Paula
Ortiz. In their first meeting the rounds were fast and furious
and too close for two of the three judges to call. They fought
four 2-minute rounds. Now these women had 18 minutes to
strategize, set traps and box, not just punch.
Eight Inducted Into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame
| The sport of Women's
boxing put it's ceremonial best foot forward on July 11
with the second annual induction ceremony of the sport's
Hall of Fame. The ceremony, attended by a sell-out crowd
of athletes, boxing officials and fans, was held at the
Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six in Fort Lauderdale, FL and
coincided with the nearby National Women's Golden Gloves
tournament.
Full
Story |
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WBAN would like to thank the public who participated in giving
suggestions, and submitting their choices on the survey that we
posted to encourage participation.
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