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5'6" southpaw Galina Koleva Ivanova was born in Bourgas, Bulgaria on March 8, 1978.
Trained by Mikhael Simov and fighting out of Sofia, Bulgaria, she has been one
of the country's most
successful female boxers.
She made her debut on February 12, 1999 in Vienna, Austria against Austrian Krisztina Krek,
losing by a six-round unanimous decision. Krek advanced to 1-2 with the win.
On March 25, 1999 in Sofia, Bulgaria she won a six-round unanimous decision over
Tzvetanka Christova (a.k.a. Mirela Gueorguieva) of Bulgaria, who fell to 0-2.
On July 1, 1999 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, she won a four-round decision over debut fighter
Mirela Rousseva
On September 28, 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria, she won a four-round decision over debut fighter
Radostina Petrova of Bulgaria.
On
July 6, 2002 in Vienna, Austria, Diana Szilágyi of Esztergom, Hungary
won a six-round decision over Galina. Szilágyi advanced to
10-0-0 (4 KO) with the win.
November 9, 2002 at Trend Eventhotel Pyramid in Vösendorf, Vienna, Austria,
Diana Szilágyi (112ľ lbs) of Hungary won a ten-round unanimous decision over
Galina (112˝ lbs)
in a bout for the Austrian international super
flyweight title. Szilágyi was now 12-0-0 (5 KO).
 March 7, 2003 at Foligno, Italy, Galina and unbeaten
defending champion Maria Moroni of Spoleto, Italy fought to a
ten-round (96-95 Ivanova,95-95,96-97 Moroni) draw for Moroni's
GBU European Featherweight Title. WBAN was told that Moroni had been
ill, and did not fight up to par, and that she wanted a
rematch in the near future. Ivanova was now
3-3-1 while Moroni was 7-0-2 (2 KO).
August 22, 2003 at Terni, Italy, Galina won the WIBF/GBU European Featherweight
title with a ten-round decision over defending champion
Maria Moroni of Spoleto, Italy. Ivanova progressed to
4-3-1 (0 KO)
while Moroni fell to 7-1-2 (2 KO).
On November 15, 2003 at Oberfrankenhalle in Bayreuth, Germany,
Galina (114ľ lbs) won the WIBF Super Flyweight (Junior Bantamweight) title
with a 10-round unanimous (96-94,99-91,97-93) decision over
Daisy Lang
(114ľ lbs), also of Bulgaria but based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Lang fell to 17-2-1 (6 KO) with her
first defeat in six years. Ivanova
had replaced Johanna Pena Alvarez on this card.
As
reported by Women's Boxing
Page correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Ivanova
took Daisy Lang apart ... it was hard to believe it was Ivanova that had the
speckled record and Lang that had not lost for six years. The only impressive
thing about Lang on Saturday evening was her entrance .... by the time Ivanova
had finished driving her backwards across the ring with a flurry of eight shots
to the face (only one of which she managed to block) in the ninth round, her
already aquiline nose had swollen to such proportions that she looked like a
flamingo in a wind tunnel ... Ivanova, who has a pleasant face and auburn hair,
is a marvel of lucidity. She doesn’t flinch. Even in the clinches, she keeps her
head up and watches calmly for an opening. Her gaze never strays from the target
area: her opponent’s eyes, nose and cheekbones. In the sixth, the slow motion
shows her catching Lang with a horrible right hook that scrapes across her face
as though calculated to take her nose off. As Lang’s mouth opens to emit a cry
of pain, Ivanova notes the effect and takes a smooth step backwards to steady
herself for the follow-up, which hits the temple and is perfectly timed."
vs. Bettina Csábi (at left) in Hungary, April 2004
Copyrighted photo courtesy
www.Profibox.hu
On
April 17, 2004 at a sold-out Fönix Sport Center in Debrecen, Hungary, which
is the second largest Sport Hall in Hungary, Bettina Csábi (114ľ lbs)
of Hungary won a
ten-round unanimous (96-95,97-93,98-93) decision over Galina (116Ľ lbs)
for the WIBF-GBU Bantamweight title.
The event was promoted by Hungarian promoter Felix Racz and billed
as 'The night of the Amazons'. It received a lot of attention with
live TV coverage on Hungarian network TV2.
 On Saturday, November 6, 2004 at the Velodrome in Amsterdam, Holland
Esther Schouten of Hoorn, Holland and Galina fought
to a 98-94 (Schouten), 97-95 (Ivanova), 95-95 draw over 10 rounds for Schouten's
WIBF Super Bantamweight Title. According to correspondent Marcel Niessen:
"Apparently it was not without controversy. The observers I talked to basically
all said the same ... the first half was very even with most of the second half
for Ivanova. They thought Ivanova pulled it off. This girl did extremely well
for fighting out of her weight class. Schouten fought back with a ton of heart,
but Ivanova landed the cleaner shots. They only showed a few rounds on TV here,
but it looked like an entertaining and clean fight. There should be a rematch."
Schouten was now 16-1-1 (7 KO's).
On September 10, 2005 at the Topsportcentrum in
Rotterdam, Holland, Galina defeated
Esther Schouten of Hoorn, Holland
by a six-round split decision in a non-title rematch of their controversial
November 2004 bout. Schouten fell to 17-2-1 (8 KO's).
On November 19, 2005 at Trend
Eventhotel Pyramid in Vienna, Vösendorf, Austria, Galina won a six-round
unanimous decision over Floarea Lihet in a bantamweight bout.
On February 24, 2006 at City Sporthall in Tápiószentmárton, Hungary, Reka Krempf
(113Ľ lbs) of Esztergom, Hungary won a ten-round unanimous (96-94,97-95,96-95)
decision over Galina (114ľ lbs) for the WIBF Junior Bantamweight title. Krempf
improved to 13-7-3 (5 KOs) with the win while Ivanova fell to 7-5-2 (0 KO's).
On March 3, 2007 at the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, Zarika Njeri (aka
Fatima Zarika) of Kenya won a 10-round unanimous (98-95,97-94,96-94) decision
over Galina for the WIBF Bantamweight title. According to a WBAN correspondent,
"Njeri won a decision ... in a ten-round
fight that saw the Kenyan girl have trouble with her first southpaw opponent.
The taller Galina used her reach well, keeping away from Zarika's right while
making rightly timed jabs throughout the fight. By the 7th round, the fight
could have gone either way as Njieri constantly failed to make the fight from
inside to counter the smooth movement of the Bulgarian." Njeri improved her record to 14-3-1
(7 KO's) with this result.
On May 29, 2007 at Parc des Sports in Pont-Audemer, Eure, France, Galina won a
ten-round majority (95-95,97-93,96-94) decision over previously unbeaten Myriam
Chomaz of France for the EBU Featherweight and European Featherweight titles.
Chomaz, who had been the 2005 European and four-time French amateur champion, fell to 7-1 (5 KO's)
as a pro boxer with this loss.
 On May 16, 2008 at
Ballhaus Arena in Ashersleben,
Germany,
Ramona Kuehne (133 lbs) of Berlin, Germany won a ten-round split (93-97,96-94,96-95)
decision over Galina (129ľ
lbs) for the vacant WIBF Lightweight title. As
reported by
Thomas Wischnewski: "Kuehne
started out her world championship fight at pressure. Bulgarian Galina Ivanova
performed as a southpaw and technically good female boxer. Both boxers made a
fight of outstanding technical level and high pace. In the fourth round, the
girl from Bulgaria demonstrated her entire experience and technical skills
through rapid combinations, which really troubled Ramona Kuehne. However, the
boxer of Berlin proved to have a brave heart and kept setting counterattacks. In
the sixth round Kuehne bloodied Ivanova’s nose but the Bulgarian kept pressing
hard and accomplished the prophecy that she would be a pretty heavy opponent for
the boxer of Berlin. Every minute of the fight was suspenseful. Both rivals
stayed really hard with each other till the last minute exchanging heavy blows
and performing a real ring battle, which was acknowledged by the grateful
audience with rapturous applause."
Kuehne improved her record to 11-0-0
(3 KO's) while Ivanova slipped to 8-6-2 (0 KO's).
On June 21, 2008 at
Brondby Hallen in Copenhagen,
Denmark,
Galina (117˝ lbs) won the
WBC, GBU and the vacant WBA Bantamweight titles by defeating
Anita Christensen (117Ľ
lbs) of Denmark by a convincing 98-91, 97-93 and 100-89 ten-round unanimous
decision. The previously unbeaten Christensen was knocked down in the fourth
round. Christensen fell to 24-1 with the loss.
 On September 6, 2008 at the
Grand Hotel in Tijuana, Mexico Galina Ivanova (118 lbs) and Zulina Muńoz (118
lbs) of Mexico City fought to a 10-round draw for the WBC Bantamweight title.
According to a report on
SDFights.com, "In round one, the southpaw Bulgarian seemed cool
and collected as she successfully boxed around the ring while Munoz over
anxiously stalked her opponent but failing to cut off the ring. Ivanova
finished off the round by scoring with a right/left combination that quickly
became her weapon of choice. In the second, the pace quickened as Ivanova
opened the stanza by landing a big counter left to the jaw of Munoz. Although
the Bulgarian continued to control the rhythm and pace of the bout, Munoz began
to close the gap and began to land lead left hooks to the head of the champion.
In the third, Ivanova began to increase her movement and effectively slip the
body attack of Munoz and in turn frustration began to show on the face of the
Mexican. Ivanova closes the round with another effective straight left that
shocks Munoz. The middle rounds were more of the same as Ivanova circled to her
left, away from the right hand of Munoz and effectively scored with right/left
straight punch combinations. By this point, it started to become apparent that
the frequent head bumps that were initiated by Ivanova were frustrating Munoz as
much as the fact that the Mexican was ineffective at cutting off the ring of her
quick footed rival. Zulina Munoz had her best round in the seventh as she landed
a straight right/left hook to the head of Ivanova that stun the champion and
allows her to trap Ivanova against the ropes and attack the body. Munoz opened
the eighth with a right hand but the quick right hand jab of Ivanova opened a
cut under the eye of the challenger. After the success of Munoz in the seventh,
Ivanova made it a point box her out classed opponent for the remainder of the
round. Although Munoz had success in cutting off the ring in the ninth, Ivanova
was still able to control the action with her straight punches to the head of
Munoz and finishing off the bout with an impressive display of quick footwork
and even quicker hands." Judge Roman Cruz scored it 96-94 for Ivanova,
judge Ramon Espinoza had it as a 95-95 draw while judge Alejandro Rochin Mapula
saw it 94-96 for Muńoz, who moved to
19-1-1 (16 KO's).
On March 6, 2009 in Yakutsk, Siberia, Russia, Galina won a hard-fought ten-round
decision over Oksana Vasilyeva of Suntar, Russia for the WIBF and WBC
Bantamweight titles. Fighnews.com reporter Alexey Sukachev
noted that "This encounter was
(a) unification between the WBC female champion (Ivanova) and WIBF titlist (Vasilyeva)
and resulted in a narrow 96-95 points win for the guest boxer. Ivanova’s best
triumph was a road victory over then 24-0 Dane Anita Christensen last summer;
the fight in which she also captured WBA and GBU belts. She later vacated those
titles."
FFBoxe.com
reported that "Despite the score which gave her only a one-point lead
(96-95), Ivanova did a better job, boxing smarter and showing that her success
last year against Anita Christensen was not a surprise." Vasilyeva fell to 8-4 (2 KO's).
Galina was named WBAN Fighter of the Month for April 2009 in recognition of her
latest win "on the road" on the international scene. On October 5, 2009 at Ban
Rai School in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Galina lost a ten-round
unanimous (96-94,97-93,97-92) decision to Usanakorn Kokietgym of
Thailand for the WBC Bantamweight title. Kokietgym progressed to
5-1 (4 KO's) with the win. Ivanova fell to 10-7-3 (0 KO's) and has not fought since.
Other Galina Koleva Ivanova links
Page last updated: Saturday January 21, 2012 |
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