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With an unmatched charisma, evident talent and skills that keep
improving fight after fight, ultra popular Mexican flyweight Kenia Enriquez has her eyes set on
the prize as she takes the first steps towards a world title.
Born on October 21, 1993, in the border city of Tijuana, Baja
California, Mexico, the oldest daughter of four siblings, Enriquez
first stepped into a gym at age 13. She was inspired by watching an old
scratched video of her fighting father, Gustavo Enriquez, having his
hand raised after one of his few professional wins. Under the watchful
eye of her dad, Enriquez fought in her first amateur bout a mere ten
days after starting her training. Her father wanted to see if she was
really committed to the sport and matched her against a much more
experienced and bigger fighter. Needless to say, Kenia lost her first
bout by stoppage.
Not be discouraged, Enriquez trained for
two months before jumping into the ring again. She won her second match
up and that paved the way for one of the most successful female amateur
careers in Tijuana. With a little over seventy bouts fought, Enriquez
amassed a 64-8 record in the unpaid ranks, participating in the city’s
Golden Gloves tournament in 2009, 2010 and in 2011. The culmination of
her amateur career came in 2011 when she brought home from Yucatan a
bronze medal in the Mexican National Championships. Enriquez lost in
the semi-final stage of the tournament against Silvia Torres, the
younger sister of multi-time world champion Ana Maria Torres. In an
all-action match in which many saw Enriquez win, Kenia bloodied the
nose of Torres who had to be checked by the ringside doctor multiple
times. Torres went on to beat Angelica “Maravilla” Dominguez to win the
gold, a fighter who Enriquez later beat in her second professional
fight.
Promoted by veteran local promoter
Guillermo “Memo” Mayen, Enriquez has become a darling of the knowing
Tijuana fight crowd with her early fights staged at the new home for
Tijuana club fights, Las Pulgas nightclub.
Sparring with mostly male fighters in
various gyms throughout the city, the 5’3” tall Enriquez had developed
an aggressive style in where she boxes when needed with a knowing jab,
quick combinations and quick footwork as wells as bangs when it suits
her with hard power punches to the head and body along with a deadly
right hand.
Enriquez made her pro debut at Las Pulgas
in Tijuana on July 6, 2012, against the grossly over matched Guadalupe
Valdez of Aguaprieta, Sonora, Mexico. Kenia only needed 46 seconds of
the first round to completely devour the also first timer. Valdez did
not score one punch and quickly went down from a devastating right hand
to the chin.
Her second professional fight, at Las
Pulgas on August 8, 2012 matched her against the 2011 Mexican National
Championship flyweight silver medalist, the aforementioned Angelica
“Maravilla” Dominguez of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Enriquez
dominated early when she found a home for her overhand right after
suffering a cut on her right cheek. Kenia kept landing the punch as she
added upper cuts and hooks to the body. By the third it was evident
that the Dominguez, in her pro debut, was way over her head as Enriquez
began to score almost at will. In the last round Dominguez tried to
make it a brawl but Enriquez was able to counter punch everything that
came on her way to a unanimous decision with all three judges seeing it
40-36.
Enriquez scored her second win by knock out
on October 25, 2012, as part of a historical night for female boxing
when the Guinness Book of World Record deemed the all-female fight
card, from judges to doctors, ring announcer, chief seconds and
honorary boxing commissioner for the night Jackie Nava, as the first in
recorded history.
One of the featured fights of the night,
Enriquez (110¼ lbs) stopped Carol Castro Madrid (112½ lbs) of Ciudad
Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. After a first round of study, Enriquez brought
out her best weapon, the right hand, and scored with it near the end of
the second to hurt Castro Madrid. Castro Madrid was able to stay on her
feet but was in bad shape. Female referee Elizabeth Burciaga called
time and after asking the hurt fighter a series of questions, decided
to stop the flyweight contest. Castro Madrid fell to 1-2 (1 KO)
with the loss.
With her popularity growing, Enriquez was
slated in the semi-main event fight of the night for her fourth
professional bout at Las Pulgas on 12 December 2012. This time,
Enriquez beat one of Tijuana’s own, Brenda Flores (1-1), earning a
unanimous decision in four rounds. No strangers to each other, they
faced each other in the amateur ranks, splitting wins but this time
there was no question who won the contest. Despite Flores being game,
Enriquez was just too much as she controlled every minute of the fight,
punishing Flores to the body and in the last round going for the kill
with hard over hand rights to the chin but to no avail since Flores was
able to survive. Flores had her best round in the third when she made
it somewhat uncomfortable for Enriquez by clinching and scoring once or
twice to the body but it wasn’t nearly enough to deter the Tijuana
favorite. Flores was able to win the round in one of the three judges’
score cards but at the end all of them had it for Enriquez with scores
of 40-36 twice and 39-37.
In her first fight of 2013, Kenia Enriquez took on the most experienced
fighter of her career, Riverside, CA’s Blanca Raymundo (1-7) at Las
Pulgas on February 27th, 2013. Originally scheduled for her first six
rounder, it was shortened to four the night of the event even though it
was the main event of the evening. Nineteen year old Enriquez remained
undefeated as she cruised to a unanimous (40-36x3) decision over
Raymundo who had taken on the likes of Amaris Quintana and Sindy Amador
twice and owned a win over Katarina De La Cruz. Enriquez fought
intelligently as she used precise punching to land the cleaner punches
and demonstrated excellent lateral movement to control the game
Raymundo. Raymundo tried to make it into a brawl but fell to the more
talented Tijuana fighter.
In her sixth fight, Enriquez again took a
step in the right direction by facing off against undefeated fighter
Rosa “Vaquerita” Diaz (114¾ lbs) of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico’s in a
six round main event at Las Pulgas on April 10 2013. Despite Diaz's
unbeaten record coming into this fight it was soon clear that Enriquez
was by far the more skilled boxer. Enriquez calmly walked to the center
of the ring and scored first with a lead right hand and then proceeded
to fiercely trade leather with Diaz in the opening seconds of the
fight. Soon Enriquez took control of the distance and began to land her
heavy right hand almost at will.
Diaz tried to put up a fight but Enriquez was just too quick and strong
for the seventeen year old fighter. Halfway through the first round,
Enriquez landed her hardest right hand yet to the nose of Diaz who
immediately dropped her hands. Enriquez paused for a second but quickly
continued to batter her opponent until referee Juan Jose Ramirez jumped
in to stop the fight at 1:09 of the first round. Diaz fell to 4-1
(3 KO's).
On June 19 2013 at Las Pulgas, Kenia (111¼
lbs) won by a TKO at 1:36 in the fourth round over Gloria Salas (112
lbs) of Palm Springs, California, in a scheduled six-rounder.
Salas fell to 3-8-1 (1 KO) with the loss.
On October 23, 2013 at Las Pulgas Kenia
(109¼
lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Karely Lopez (105¾ lbs) of
Los Mochis, SInaloa, Mexico who fell to 5-5-1 (1 KO).
On January 31 2014 at Caliente Racetrack in
Tijuana, Kenia (111¼ lbs) TKO'd Selene Lopez (111¼ lbs) of Los Mochis,
SInaloa, Mexico at 1:16 in the first round of a scheduled
six. Lopez fell to 3-1-3 (1 KO) with her first pro loss.
On February 29 2014 at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in San Diego, California, USA, Kenia (112 lbs) won a six-round
unanimous (60-53,59-54,60-53) decision over previously undefeated Noemi
Bosques (112 lbs) of St Petersburg, Florida, USA. Bosques fell to
4-1-2 (1 KO).
On April 4 2014 at the Four Points Sheraton
Hotel in San Diego, California, USA, Kenia (107½ lbs) won the vacant
NABF Junior Flyweight title when she TKO'd veteran Jolene Blackshear
(107 lbs) of San Diego at
1:26 in the seventh round of a scheduled eight. Enriquez used her
jab well to keep Blackshear at a distance in the early going while
using
every opportunity to land countering combinations. Enriquez became more
aggressive in the second half of the fight and her nose was bloodied in
the fifth by one of Blackshear's hard rights. The sixth and
seventh were harder fought and Enriquez won with a decisive flurry of
left
hooks in the seventh to earn the stoppage. Blackshear, who
had won the IFBA Flyweight title in October 1997, retired in 2000 and
returned to win the WIBA interim Junior Flyweight title in July 2013,
fell to 8-5 (3 KO's). Kenia Enriquez improved her record to a
perfect 11-0 (6 KO's) with this win.
Multiples, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, in a fight considered a
five-star bout on Boxrec,
Kenia Enriquez, 107¾, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, won a
ten-round unanimous decision over Jessica Nery Plata, 107¾, of
Mexico City, Mexico. The two fought for the interim WBC Light
Flyweight title. Kenia was also named WBAN's December 2017
Fighter of the Month.
On September 10, 2023 - La Paz, in Baja California
Sur Mexico
Flyweight Kenia Enriquez of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, won a
unanimous decision over Ibeth Zamora. The two were fighting for the
Interim WBC Flyweight world title. According to news sources,
Enriquez defeated Zamora soundly in the ten round bout. Enriquez
improved her record to 26-1-0 (11KO), with only one defeat by our
2023 IWBHF Inductee Melissa McMorrow when they fought in 2015.
Zamora is now 33-8-0 (13KO).
For October 2023, Kenia was nominated as WBAN's October 2023 Fighter
of the month.
Page
last updated, Tuesday April 8, 2014
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