She wore a black t-shirt with the
legend "The Killer Peach" emblazoned across the back; her
opponent, a blue-and-white mini skirt over dark blue boxers,
and, at the end (sobering accessory!) an ice bag pressed to the
face; but this was a fashion show with a difference: they were
"two lionesses" on the catwalk (said Boxeo Uruguayo) –
and neither in any temper to concede the right of way.
Caril "El Ratón" Herrera, the
Uruguayan who holds the WBC South American title at super
flyweight, had watched María Eugenia López training at the
gymnasium of the Argentinian Boxing Federation in Buenos Aires
and warned his compatriots that she was tough – far tougher than
anyone Christian Namús had faced as an amateur – and so she
is. Both fighters, according to Boxeo Uruguayo,
exhibited flaws that will need correcting – in Namús's case, a
posture that leaves her chin too exposed; in that of the
Argentinian, an exaggerated crouch – but the standard,
nonetheless, was far higher in the view of all commentators than
you would expect from two fighters making their debuts.
Namús opened the first round with
combinations of two, three or four punches, as the occasion
required, while the Argentinian relied on the classic one-two.
López was forced to clinch once or twice in the second round and
hurt near the end of the round by a tremendous straight left to
the jaw. Gathering confidence, Namús began to circle her
opponent like the Parthian cavalry – the ten thousand mounted
archers – that annihilated the seven legions of Crassus in the
desert sands at Carrhae; but here, there was no attempt to
negotiate. From her tight, crouching stance, the 23-year-old
Argentinian, struck back, with no thought of surrender, bruising
"The Killer Peach" with her right cross on several occasions as
the final round opened instead of tumbling from her perch like
Cock Robin, as the script demanded, a mortal arrow piercing her
breast.
There are two views of this fight
and there's no reconciling them. To the judges, who scored it
40-38, 40-38 and 40-36 in Namús's favour, as well as to Boxeo
Uruguayo,, for whom the 19-year-old came very close to
breaking her Argentinian rival with three-punch combinations in
the final minute, it was a clear victory for the Uruguayan. To
Jorge Savia, who covered the fight for Ovación Deportes,
it was a draw (39-39); and Alberto Zacarías, the trainer inter
alia of Sergio Acuña, was equally adamant: "It's a crying shame.
Very clearly the Uruguayan girl did not win. But there's
bound to be a return before too long, and I have no doubt, based
on what the two of them showed us here tonight, that next time
we see them in the ring together, they'll be disputing a major
title."
Photo links:
"The Killer Peach" - Christian Namús
in training
María Eugenia López
Chris "Bombón Asesino" Namús
Namús strikes
The Argentinian strikes back
Namús tries for the big finish
Namús reacts to the UD in her favour
Sources: Ovación Deportes (El País),
Boxeo Uruguayo
