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5'1" junior flyweight Anissa The Assassin" Zamarron from Austin, Texas is a rugged competitor who
has given the world's best female boxers in her weight class some great fights
and has never been knocked out. Born on October 24, 1970, Zamarron began boxing at age 22 in 1993,
to stay in shape and lose weight. She admits that the sport had been something
of a mystery to her until then and that she was surprised to see women boxing
in the gym she visited in Austin. Anissa is a skillful counter-puncher with
the stamina to handle championship-length fights and the willingness to take
on the best opponents out there.
Anissa made her pro debut on April 21, 1995 in Melville, New York, winning a
four-round unanimous decision over Andra Gorman, who fell to 1-1.
On June 2, 1995 she TKO'd New York's Golden Gloves champion Jill Matthews on a cut in the second round in
the "Zion Lion"'s pro debut.
On July 13, 1995 in Brownsville, Texas, Anissa (111 lbs) lost a six-round decision to Delia Gonzalez
(115 lbs) of
Chamberino, New Mexico. Gonzalez was 7-1-1 after this win.
On August 25, 1995 in Austin, Texas, Anissa won a four-round decision over Tara
Walsh of Lynchburg, Virginia, who fell to 0-2.
On October 25, 1995 in Annapolis, Maryland, Anissa won a rematch with Andra
Gorman, again by a four-round unanimous decision.
On December 2,1995 Anissa fought in Karlsruhe, Germany in an unsuccessful challenge to
hometown fighter Regina Halmich for the WIBF Junior Flyweight title, losing by
a ten-round unanimous decision. Halmich advanced to 13-1 with this win.
Back home in Texas, Anissa rebounded from this loss with
first-round TKO's over Stephanie Poole on April 12, 1996 and Mireya
Contreras on May 17, 1996. She then lost back-to-back four-rounders
by decision to Christine Sullivan of Austin, in Houston on June 23, 1996 and in Kenner,
Louisiana on July 21, 1996.
On August 30, 1996 in Pharr, Texas, Anissa lost a 10-round decision to Delia Gonzalez
in a rematch of her 1995 loss to the New Mexico boxer, who advanced to 8-1-2
with the win.
On January 24, 1997 in Austin, she knocked out debut fighter Patty Stickler in the first round.
On March 3, 1997 in Austin, Texas, Anissa lost a 4-round unanimous decision to Eva Jones-Young of South Bend, Indiana. Jones-Yong
improved her record to 2-0-1 with the win.
On August 2, 1997 at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, Anissa made
her debut in the IFBA with a hard-fought eight-round majority decision over Brenda Rouse
of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, who is trained by Tommy Morrison and had a 7-1-1
record.
On October 24, 1997 at the Lady Luck Casino in Lula, Mississippi, Anissa dropped
a surprisingly one-sided ten-round decision to Jolene
Blackshear of Rohnert Park, California in a war that was easily the best
fight on the card. Zamarron's nose was broken but she gave the aggressive
Blackshear all she could handle and both fighters received a standing ovation at
the end of the bout.
On January 10, 1998 at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, Anissa (108 lbs) battled Jill Matthews (07 lbs) to an exciting majority draw for
the IWBF Junior Flyweight title.
On March 11, 1998 again at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, Anissa (107 lbs) lost to Jill Matthews (105 lbs) by unanimous 10-round decision for
the IFBA and IWBF Junior Flyweight titles. In this second rematch, Jill had Anissa almost out on her feet at the end of the ninth.
On June 14, 1998 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Anissa
(108 lbs)
bounced back by using her ring experience to hand Patricia Martinez (109 lbs)
of Miami, Florida her first pro loss with a unanimous
58-56 decision over six rounds. Martinez took the fight to Zamarron in the
first two rounds but the more experienced Texan fought effectively while
backing up, and began to take charge in the third as Martinez faded. As
Martinez's punches got wilder, Zamarron kept herself in range to pound at
Martinez's head with a steady stream of lefts and rights, and came on stronger
every round after turning the bout her way in the third. ESPN2's punch count
was 546 thrown and 274 landed (43%) by Zamarron, 476 thrown and 150 landed
(35%) by Martinez.
On July 24, 1998 in Austin, Anissa won a unanimous four-round decision
over Natasha Wilburn of Atlanta. Zamarron spent most of this fight trying to free herself
from Wilburn's clinches. Wilburn fell to 0-8 with the loss. On October 3, 1998 at the Prinz-Garden-Halle in Augsburg, Germany,
she again challenged Regina Halmich (108 lbs)
of Karlsruhe, Germany for the WIBF world
Flyweight title. Zamarron, who is often a counter-puncher but has been in her
share of wars, pressured Halmich throughout, but Regina was equal to the task
needed to retain her title over 10 rounds by
unanimous (96-95, 97-92, 98-96) decision. Anissa suffered a broken finger and
heavy facial swelling as Halmich found a home for her jab and two-fisted
combinations throughout the fight.
On January 29, 1999 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas,
in her sixth attempt at capturing a world championship,
Anissa won the vacant WIBF Junior Flyweight title
in front of her home fans with a ten-round unanimous
(98-92, 97-94, 99-95) decision over Italy's
Francesca Lupo (104 lbs). Lupo put up a good fight in a losing
cause and ended the fight bleeding heavily from the nose after a furious
exchange early in the final round.
On February 25, 2000 at the Music Hall in Austin, Texas,
Anissa (106 lbs) fought Wendy Rodriguez (105¾ lbs)
of Los Angeles, California to a ten-round draw (97-94,94-96,95-95) for the IBA junior flyweight title,
which remained vacant.
Zamarron said she was "really shocked"
by the decision ... "I felt like I was doing everything I needed
to win, I was catching all her punches and she didn't hurt me at all."
Rodriguez moved her pro record to 2-1-1.
Anissa returned to the ring on May 17, 2002 in Austin, Texas, to fight two two-round exhibition bouts against San
Antonio fighters Isabel Manyseng and Maribel Zurita.
On October 24, 2002 at Tejano Saloon in Mercedes, Texas, Anissa won a four-round split (39-37,39-37,37-39) decision over
Andrea Benitez of México. The win moved Zamarron to 13-10-2 (4 KO) while Benitez fell to 6-3-2 (2 KO's). This was
Zamarron's first competitive bout in two and a half years while Benitez was 0-3 since resuming her own pro career in 2002.
On November 22, 2002 at Guam University Field House in Agana, Guam, Anissa
won a fifth-round TKO over Yvonne Caples in a bout for the WIBA
Junior Flyweight title. Zamarron landed a right hook that cut Caples over her left eye about 90 seconds into the fifth
round, and the bout was stopped at 1:50 in the same round after Zamarron had landed several more right hooks to the injured
eye. "I feel good, really good," said Zamarron after the bout. "I was the aggressor in the fight. (Caples) was running
around the ring, but I stayed on her. It's real easy when I have a target." Richard Lord, Zamarron's trainer since 1993
said that Caples was a very capable southpaw so Zamarron trained with southpaws and with bigger fighters to prepare for
this bout. Caples fell to 6-5-1 (1 KO).
On February 20, 2003 at Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas, Anissa won a six-round split decision over #19 ranked
flyweight Maribel Zurita of San Antonio, Texas. Zamarron advanced to 15-10-2 (5 KO) with
the win while Zurita fell to 4-4-1 (0 KO).
On August 15, 2003 at
the Convention Center in Austin, Texas, 4,100 fans saw Anissa (108½ lbs) win a six-round
unanimous decision over Stephanie Dobbs (106 lbs) of Moore, Oklahoma, who had substituted for Maribel Zurita
on the card. Dobbs fell to 8-9-2 (5 KO).
On February 12, 2004 in Austin, Texas, Anissa (108 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Maribel Zurita (5'0", 108 lbs) of San Antonio, Texas for the Texas Junior Flyweight title.
Zurita fell to 5-5-1 (0 KO).
On March 19, 2004 at International Ballroom Arena in Houston, Texas,
Johanna Peña Álvarez (112 lbs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic used her accurate left hand
effectively to win an eight-round unanimous (80-72,79-73,78-74) decision over Anissa
(112 lbs) for her Texas Junior Flyweight title.
Pena Alvarez improved to 15-2-1 (10 KO).
On May 22, 2004 at Grand Casino Coushatta, in Kinder, Louisiana,
Wendy Rodriguez (106 lbs) won a ten-round unanimous
(98-92,96-94,97-93) decision over
Anissa (108 lbs) of Austin, Texas for the vacant NABA Junior Flyweight title.
Rodriguez was busier and outworked Zamarron, although the action went back and forth in a hard fought
bout. Zamarron started well and had Rodriguez looking confused in the opening round but Rodriguez began to
find the mark in the second and third rounds with hard short hooks.
Rodriguez won the middle rounds with an effective stick and move style, landing effective
combinations when she was in close. Zamarron caught Rodriguez against the ropes at times
but Wendy finished stronger in the late going.
Wendy improved to 13-2-3 (2 KO) with the win while Zamarron fell to 16-12-2 (5
KO).
On January 14, 2005 at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California, Melinda Cooper (110½ lbs) of Las Vegas, Nevada TKO'd
Anissa (110½ lbs) at 0:39 in the ninth round of a scheduled 10-rounder to win
the IBA Flyweight Title. Cooper overwhelmed Zamarron with a non-stop attack and
a stinging left jab. Cooper, now 14-0 (9 KOs) controlled Zamarron with her speed
and aggression but the Texan stayed on her feet and survived until the late
rounds despite absorbing some very hard punches. The second round was
furious with hard exchanges, but Cooper outworked Zamarron.
Zamarron gained some advantage when the pace slowed in the early part of the
third, but Cooper turned on the high-speed combinations to back Zamarron into a
corner at the end of the round. Zamarron found the mark with her right in the
fifth as Cooper seemed to be tiring from her own effort, but Cooper picked up
the pace again in the later rounds and her relentless barrage of accurate
high-speed combinations eventually overwhelmed Zamarron.
Zamarron was pinned in Cooper's corner in the eighth and tried to fight her way
out, but her blows weren't landing while Cooper's were accurate and effective.
Cooper remained unbeaten at
14-0 (8 KOs).
"She was really tough," said Cooper, who had repeatedly stunned Zamarron
with her combinations. "After the first few rounds I thought the referee was
going to stop it. But he let it go.
I was never hurt with any of her punches."
On March 12, 2005 at the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, Louisiana,
Wendy Rodriguez of Los Angeles retained her NABAW
Junior Flyweight world title with a ten-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,99-91)
decision over Anissa. Rodriguez consistenty beat Zamarron to the punch and
landed heavy right counters for which Zamarron had no answer. Rodriguez had
Zamarron in trouble in the fifth with a series of solid rights to the head, then
delivered a hard right to her nose and a rugged right-left combination with
Zamarron against the ropes. "My plan was to go in and rush her,"
Rodriguez said. "Once I got pressure on her, she couldn't do anything."
Zamarron ended the bout red-faced and bruised while Rodriguez was apparently
fresh and unmarked. Rodriguez improved her record to 15-2-3 (2 KO) with the win
while Zamarron fell to
16-14-2 (5 KO).
On November 18, 2005
at Roseland Ballroom in San Antonio,
1000 fans saw Anissa (107 lbs) defeat Maribel Zurita (108 lbs) of San Antonio by a ten-round
split split decision for Zurita's WIBA Junior Flyweight title. The judges'
scores were 97-93 for Zurita, 97-93 for Zamarron and 96-94 for Zamarron.
Both fighters threw punches practically non-stop for
10 rounds with no knockdowns. Zamarron tagged Zurita with a hard right that sent
her careening backward in the fourth but Zurita kept her balance and
battled on. The scoring was
controversial and the contract reportedly contained a rematch clause.
"I thought it could have gone either way,"
said Zamarron, adding "I have so much respect for her. After it was over, I
told her, 'Let's do it again.' She deserves another chance."
Zamarron improved to
17-14-2 (5 KO) with this win while Zurita fell to 7-7-1 (0 KO).
Page last updated:
Wednesday February 07, 2024 |
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