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Dominga "La Tormenta" Olivo (formerly Dominga Regla) was born
in the Dominican Republic on October 23, 1971. She began boxing as an amateur in
Brooklyn, NY in 2000.
On April 6, 2001 she defeated
Chika Nakamura from Gleason's Gym to win the New York Daily News Golden Gloves 132-lb
division.
In the 132-lb Open Division in the 2001 US National Golden Gloves held
August 8-11 in Augusta, Georgia, she defeated Jennifer
Salinas of Grand Rapids, MI by a 4-1 margin in a preliminary bout,
and stopped Lisa Hedges of Buffalo, NY by RSCH-2 in the second round of her semi-final, but lost to Amber
Gideon of Warrenville, IL by a 5-0 margin in the final.
On April 12 2002 Dominga repeated as New York Daily News Golden Gloves 132-lb champion by defeating
Kat Diaz of Tiger Schulmann Karate at Madison Square Garden Theater.
At the 2002 National PAL Championships in Augusta, Georgia, Dominga won the
132-lb division by defeating Mandy Cone of Raleigh, NC by RSCO-1 on October 5.
She had won a 17-4 decision over Naquana Smalls of Marinetta, WI in her semifinal
bout the day before.
After a hiatus from competition during which she gave birth to her son, Dominga
returned to action in the 2005 New York Golden Gloves. On Long Island in March
2005, she won her
semi-final bout with Melissa St. Vil, which was later described by Stephen Clark
and Heather Ainsworth in a news story about St. Vil: "For four rounds, St. Vil
matched her fury and tenacity against the more polished and experienced Regla.
After a fast start in the first round, St. Vil slowed considerably in the third,
allowing Regla to take a commanding lead and prompting St. Vil's trainers to
threaten stopping the fight. St. Vil regained momentum in the last round, but
when the final bell rang, it was clear who the winner was. Regla jumped for joy
when the decision was announced, while St. Vil fell into the arms of (her
trainer) Greene, who
told her how proud he was."
Olivo went on to lose a hard-fought battle in the finals of the 2005 Golden
Gloves with future
world champion Melissa Hernandez, who had won the
132-lb NYGG title while Dominga was on hiatus due to her pregnancy. As
described in a web posting by Dee Hamaguchi: "Dominga
fought Melissa Hernandez in the finals of the New
York Golden Gloves the same year after she had one of her kids. It was a
skillful action-packed fight that could have gone either way. It looked to me
like Dominga may have tired in the last round, but she was truly impressive
considering she did not have a full season to prepare."
Dominga and Melissa Hernandez were both featured in the 2007
movie "Golden
Gloves" by Leyla Leidecker that covered the 2005 New York Women's
Golden Gloves competition from its quarterfinals through to the finals.
Dominga made her pro debut on April 28, 2006 at Monticello Raceway in Monticello, New York, with a four-round
unanimous (40-36,40-36,40-36) decision over Sarina Hayden of Colorado Springs,
CO in a 135-lb bout. Hayden fell to 0-4-1 with the
loss.
According to Kevin Gleason, "Brooklyn lightweight Dominga Olivo made her
pro debut by beating up Sarina Mae Hayden ... She introduced herself by smacking
Hayden flush on the left cheek with a perfect right hook seconds into the fight.
Olivo pounded away at Hayden, consistently connecting both upstairs and to the
body."
Olivo battles home-standing Tiffany Junot at Coushatta Casino
© Copyrighted photo taken by J&P Photography
On November 4, 2006 at Coushatta Casino and Resort in Kinder, Louisiana, Dominga (137½ lbs) won
a four-round unanimous (40-36,40-36,39-37) decision over Tiffany Junot (138½ lbs) of New Orleans
who fell to 1-1-0. Junot was also an experienced amateur boxer - she was the
USA Boxing national amateur champion in 2004 and 2005 and national Golden Gloves
champion in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
On February 2, 2007 at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York, Dominga (132 lbs) won a
four-round split (40-36,39-37,37-39) decision over pro debuter Ela Nunez (131 lbs) of Jamestown,
NY. According to Lee Groves of Maxboxing.com: "The
five-bout card began with a non-televised four-rounder between female junior
lightweights Dominga Olivo and Ela Nunez ... a rousing, action-packed affair as
"La Tormenta" assumed the role of aggressor and nailed Nunez with several
looping but powerful looking shots. Nunez absorbed the blows unflinchingly and
in the second she began finding the range with her sharp jabs. The already hot
pace accelerated in the third and both fighters got in their fair share of
punches as they traded wildly near the end of the round. A nasty swelling
erupted on Olivo's cheekbone but she didn't let that stop her from swinging for
the fences in the final round. Nunez was clearly faster and more fundamentally
sound, but a big flurry in the final 10 seconds may have allowed Olivo to steal
the round – and perhaps win the fight – as she captured a split decision.".
On February 9, 2007 at Suffolk Community College in Selden, NY, Chika Nakamura (5'7", 135 lbs)
of New York City won a four-round split decision over Dominga (135 lbs),
advancing her own pro record to 5-0 (1 KO). The bout was shown on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights".
On March 23, 2007 at Huntington Townhouse, Huntington Station, NY, Dominga repeated her win over Ela
Nunez, this time by a six-round unanimous (58-55,57-55,57-55) decision, dropping
Nunez to 0-2 but not without some difficulty.
On June 9, 2007 at Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colorado, Dominga faced
an experienced world champion in
Layla McCarter of Las Vegas, Nevada, who she held to a 78-75,77-75,76-76 majority decision. McCarter
told WBAN correspondent Bernie McCoy that she took some time to adjust to Dominga's best weapon - her overhand right.
McCarter improved to 25-13-5 with this close result - which should have sent a
message to the wider women's boxing community that Olivo is a "road warrior" to contend with!
On July 20, 2007 at Grantham Indoor Arena in Grantham, New Hampshire, Dominga (129½ lbs) won a
four-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Denise Moses (5'3½", 129 lbs) of Lawrence, Massachusetts,
dropping Moses' professional record to 5-1 (4 KO). Moses, a former New
England Golden Gloves champion, had compiled a 5-0 record as an amateur.
Despite Olivo's solid start to her pro career, which had already earned her a
WBAN ranking as high
#6 at lightweight in November 2007, many pundits considered her next move a mismatch,
as she took on Canadian star Jelena Mrdjenovich
(129 lbs) at the Shaw Conference Center in Jelena's home town of Edmonton, Alberta for the WBC
Junior Lightweight title on December 7, 2007.
Olivo (128½ lbs) stunned those pundits by fighting the WBAN #4 ranked Mrdjenovich to a ten-round draw
(95-95,96-94,94-96). Mrdjenovich kept her WBC title with the split draw, amid calls for a rematch on neutral ground. Olivo moved her
pro record to 5-2-1 (0 KOs) while Mrdjenovich went to 21-2-1 (11 KOs).
The draw left Mrdjenovich complaining to her home town Edmonton Journal: “I really don't understand these
judges. I outboxed her, out-countered her, I had better defence, better
offence. When I heard those scores I was shocked. It's almost like the judges
expect me to come out strong and when I change my style a bit I get penalized
for it." However, as
detailed by WBAN contributor Bernie McCoy, the WBC champion had been less
than convincing to others than to herself against Olivo's always-dangerous overhand right!
As McCoy put it, "Friday night may
have been the first recorded instance of a hometown fighter complaining about
hometown judges in her own hometown."
In January 2008, WBAN rated the Mrdjenovich/Olivo draw
as one of its "Biggest Upsets of the Year 2007".
The WBC may also have seen it as an upset, as they did not rank Olivo anywhere at
lightweight while sanctioning the bout (though they did rank Ela Nunez - who Olivo had defeated twice!)
The Mrdjenovich "upset" was no
surprise to New York boxers who know Olivo and her career best, however, and her
WBAN award as "Best Kept Secret in Women's Boxing 2007"
may have summed up the situation best!
On March 7, 2008 at
the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada Layla
McCarter (135 lbs) of Las Vegas TKO'd Dominga
(134 lbs) in the sixth round of a scheduled ten-rounder for the GBU Lightweight
title.
Olivo was down twice in the
second round, once in the third, and the fight was stopped in the sixth round.
McCarter improved to 29-13-5 (7 KO's) while Olivo fell to
5-3-1 (0 KOs).
On
June 13, 2008 at the Catholic Youth Center in Scranton, Pennyslvania, Dominga
(129¼ lbs) won a four-round majority (40-36,40-38,38-38) decision over
scrappy LaKeysha Williams (5'4", 130 lbs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who
fell to 9-13-3 (1 KO).
Olivo improved to 6-3-1 (0 KOs)
with this win.
On July 31, 2008 in the main
event at Frontier Field in Rochester, New York, USA, Ela "Bam Bam" Nunez (121½
lbs) won the vacant IWBF Junior Featherweight world title with a ten round
unanimous (100-90,98-94,97-93) decision over Dominga Olivo (122 lbs).
Nunez moved her record to 8-3-0 (2 KO's) with this win.
On August 21, 2008 at the
Tachi Casino Hotel and Resort in Lemoore, California,
Dominga (120 lbs) won a close split decision over local favorite Ana Julaton (121¼ lbs) - 77-75 (Olivo), 77-75 (Julaton), and 79-73 (Olivo) - for the WBC
International Super Bantamweight title. According
to a report by David Avila of TheSweetScience.com, "The
New Yorker’s strength was obvious from the start as she planted her feet and
swung for the fences from both sides. Julaton was effective with her speedy jabs
and combinations throughout the bout, but was hit during the infighting ...
Julaton had her moments too. At times her
jab seemed to be able to score whenever she fired it. But after the jab or a
combination, that little pause opened up the door for Olivo to retaliate."
Olivo improved to 7-4-1 (0 KO) while Julaton suffered her first pro loss falling
to 4-1-1 (1 KO).
On June 6, 2009 at the Cowichan Centre in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada,
local favorite Jeannine Garside (126 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous (78-74,77-75,78-74)
decision over Dominga Olivo (125 lbs) for the WBC International Featherweight title.
Former WIBA world champion Garside improved to 8-3-1 (2 KO's) while
Dominga Olivo fell to
7-5-1 (0 KO).
On April 17, 2010 in
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dominga Olivo (124½
lbs) won a convincing six-round unanimous (60-54,59-55,58-56) decision over
local favorite Nathalie Forget (122¾ lbs) of Montreal.
WBAN correspondent Rick McLean
reported
that "Olivo dominated the fight outclassing the
former Canadian National amateur champion Forget throughout all six rounds. In
the first round both women traded leather in close trying to establish their
jabs and were each able to land effective combinations. Olivo however was able
to land the better punches in the exchanges. In rounds two and three Olivo
picked up the pace throwing more punches especially the uppercut and right hook
to the head. Olivo was able to loop her hard right in around Forget’s guard at
will which stunned Forget more and more as the rounds progressed. Forget was
able to counter punch but they were few and far between. Olivo continued to
batter Forget with hard left and right hooks to the body and by the end of the
round had created a huge welt and swelling over Forget’s right eye. In the sixth
round Olivo never let up on Forget and continued to pepper her with solid
combinations to the head in body and Nathalie seemed to have no answer to the
onslaught." The loss dropped the 35-year-old Forget's pro tally to 2-1-0 (0 KOs).
On May 7, 2010 at the Shaw Conference Center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Jelena Mrdjenovich of Edmonton TKO'd Dominga at
1:28 in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round rematch of their December
2007 draw.
Mrdjenovich improved to 24-5-1 (12
KOs) as Olivo dropped to 7-6-1 (0 KO's). On
April 9, 2011 at the Sports Center in Yecheon, South Korea, former IFBA
Junior Lightweight champion Ji-Hye Woo of Seoul, South Korea won a
seventh-round TKO over Dominga for the vacant IFBA Featherweight title.
The IFBA web site reports that "The attending physician stopped the fight due to excessive bleeding to
Oliva, as a cut caused by a second round accidental head-butt re-opened.
Oliva’s cut man stopped the bleeding in the second, with the fight
continuing at Oliva’ request, only to re-open in the fifth and
ultimately causing the stoppage in the 7th. Woo, showed her speed and
conditioning throughout and at the end the judge’s scorecard’s read
69-66 all in favor of Woo." Woo improved her record to 12-2 (1 KO) as Olivo fell to 8-7-1 (0 KO's).
Page last updated:
Monday, 14 November 2022 |
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