(DEC 10) This month thus far has been a very exciting time for two top female boxers who are in our WBAN's Top Ten Rankings in the sport who took on tough opposition in December.

First off-----I personally had a great opportunity to see  Anne-Sophie Mathis of France, in person, and in "action" for what many believed would determine the best Pound-for-Pound in the welterweight division in women's boxing.

Mathis did soundly settle that question when she fought Holly Holm and KO'd Holm in the seventh round on December 2nd, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Photo by SteveSnowden.com

I had the privilege of placing the highly coveted WBAN belt on Mathis after she won the fight. [Mathis ranked #1 Welterweight with WBAN, and Holm ranked #1 Junior Welterweight].

During my time in New Mexico----Mathis needed to make use of an interpreter who spoke French to communicate anything that she had to say at the press conference, interviews, etc. Through all of that difficulty, I never saw Mathis waver in any manner, and she appeared to be very focused any time when answering to the public about the fight.

Courtesy photo by Team Gerula  - at weigh-in

In another great fight that took place last night in Edmonton, Canada----Jelena Mrdjenovich stopped her opponent, Olivia Gerula in the ninth round. Mrdjenovich had previously fought Gerula in 2009, losing to her in a 10-round unanimous decision. Both Mrdjenovich and Gerula are from Canada.

Courtesy photo by Team Mrdjenovich
Photograph by: Guhdar Photography
Story on: Edmontonsun.com

As we say so often in the sport of women's boxing: "You've come a long way, Baby!" And with that said, Mrdjenovich has indeed come a long way....

Just recently, Mrdjenovich became our "WBAN October 2011 Fighter of the Month", when she went into foreign territory in September, in Tokyo, Japan, and defeated their "hometown queen" Fujin Raika, in a 10-round unanimous decision for the WBC super featherweight eliminator contest.

Mrdjenovich, the newly-crowned WIBA super featherweight champion from last night's fight, told WBAN, "Just gotta keep my head down and keep trying to get better. I went back to basics and loving boxing."

"The fight went awesome, we did open scoring, all three judges had me ahead 39-37 after fourth, and 78-74 after 8. I kept her at range, worked her with my jab and body shots. after the score was announced in the 9th, she knew she needed a KO to win. She came into the 9th busy. I used my footwork, moved to the side---Oliva slipped my right hand and I came back with a tight left hook that landed on the button. Oliva was out for several minutes on the canvas... It was a picture perfect performance! Finishing with my signature left hook", added Mrdjenovich. [Mrdjenovich is rated #6 with WBAN, and Gerula is rated #5].

WBAN congratulates both Mathis and Mrdjenovich, for their stellar performances in the ring with top ten WBAN boxers.

 

Honorable mention: On December 3, 2011, in Helsinki, Finland, we had WBAN's rated #2 welterweight Cecilia Braekhus, defending her WBC-WBA-WBO welterweight titles. She stopped Kuulei Kupihea, 7-2-0, in the 10th round. Kupihea is not in WBAN's top ten ratings.

A special thanks to photographer, Steve Snowden who sent in the winning shots of Mathis and I.