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5'4" southpaw Johanna "La Bailarina" Peña Álvarez was born on January 6, 1983 in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic. She is managed by Valentin Contreras. [Top photo, and
first two photos taken by Mary Ann Owen].
She made her pro debut on June 29, 2000 in Santo Domingo with a second-round KO
of Natalie Lara, who was also making her debut; an July 30, 2000 in Santo Domingo she knocked out Claribel Ferreira in the
second round dropping Ferreira's record to 0-2.; on August 12, 2000 she knocked out Yesenia
Casanova in the second round; on September 13, 2000, she knocked out Rossy
Gonzalez in the first round; and on November 29, 2000 in Santo Domingo she knocked out Geraldina Morillo of the
Domincan Republic in
the first round.
Remaining very active in 2001, on March 8, 2001 in San Domingo,she won a four-round decision over Liliana
Martinez of the Dominican Republic, who fell to 0-2; on April 30, 2001 in San Domingo, she won a third-round TKO over Escarlyn
Fulgencio of the Dominican Republic, who was making her debut; on July 17, 2001 in San Domingo, she won a third-round TKO over Zuleida
Diaz, who was making her debut; on August 5, 2001 in San Domingo, she lost a six-round decision to Giselle
Salandy (a.k.a. Jizelle Joseph) of Siperai, Trinidad and Tobago, who improved
her record to 7-0 (4 KO); on September 1, 2001 in San Domingo, she won a first-round TKO over Zuleida Diaz, who fell to 0-2;
on
September 28, 2001 in San Domingo, she won a six round decision over Liliana
Martinez who fell to 1-3; and on
November 29, 2001 in Santo Domingo, she weighed in at 115 lbs and won a six-round decision over Angela Garcia (130 lbs)
of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic., who fell to 0-2.
On
September 22, 2002 at Teo Cruz Coliseum in Santo Domingo, Johanna (116 lbs) won
a six-round unanimous decision over Diane Garcia (118 lbs)
also of the Dominican Republic, who fell to 2-1.
On
November 7, 2002 at Teo Cruz Coliseum in Santo Domingo, Johanna (118 lbs) won by a third-round TKO over Zuleida DIaz
(117 lbs), who fell to 0-3 (all of her losses being to Peña Álvarez).
On
December 19, 2002 at Teo Cruz Coliseum in Santo Domingo, Johanna (118 lbs) won with a
one-punch KO over Angela Garcia (118 lbs) in the first round. Garcia who was reportedly out
cold on the canvas for five minutes, fell to 1-3-0 (0 KO).
Peña Álvarez now decided to move her boxing career to the world stage.
On
November 7, 2003 at Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona,
Elena Reid (114 lbs, 22 years old) of Phoenix, Arizona
fought Johanna (113 lbs, 20 years old) to an exciting four-round (39-37 Peña Álvarez, 39-37 Reid, 38-38) draw.
Reid landed the harder punches for most of the fight
but Peña Álvarez came on strong in the final round to make it a close call on
the scorecards. Reid progressed to 14-1-4 (4 KO). The bout was seen on
ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights".
On January 17, 2004 at dm-Arena in Karlsruhe, Germany,
Regina Halmich of Karlsruhe (110¾ lbs) won a convincing 10-round
decision over Johanna (112 lbs) for Hamich's WIBF
world Flyweight title.
On
March 19, 2004 at the International Ballroom Arena in Houston, Texas, Johanna
(112 lbs)
used her accurate left hand effectively to win a clear eight-round unanimous (80-72,79-73,78-74) decision
over WIBF Strawweight and WIBA Intercontinental Junior Flyweight champion
Anissa Zamarron (112 lbs)
of Austin, Texas for Zamarron’s Texas Junior Flyweight Championship. Zamarron fell to
16-11-2 (5 KO)
with the loss.
On May 15, 2004 at Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas,
Delia Gonzalez (110 lbs) of Chamberino, New Mexico fought
Johanna (111 lbs) to a six-round majority draw (57-57,57-57,59-55 for
Peña Álvarez). Neither was able to penetrate the other's defense to mount an
effective attack. Peña Álvarez was now 15-2-2 (10 KOs) while Gonzalez moved
her record to 13-9-5.
On July 23, 2004 at Agua Caliente Casino in Palm Springs, California, Melinda Cooper (114 lbs) of Las Vegas, Nevada won a
six-round unanimous (58-54,59-55,59-55) decision over Johanna (115 lbs).
WBAN's insider reported that
Peña Álvarez began the fight by landing a hard lead
left to Cooper who initially seemed content just to study Johanna's moves. Later
in the bout, Cooper began to pursue
Peña Álvarez, prompting her to do a lot of
holding.
Peña Álvarez was deducted a point for holding in the fifth and was nearly
stopped in the final round. “I wanted to knock
her out,” said Cooper, adding “I thought I could have done it a
couple of times but she kept holding. I thought she was a tough fighter so I was
really ready for it. I know I won easily but I didn’t look good against her.”
Cooper improved to 12-0-0 (7 KOs) while
Peña Álvarez fell to
15-3-2 (10 KOs).
Page last updated:
Tuesday April 02, 2024 |
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