5'9" lightweight Cecilia Comunales was born on
December 4 1988 in Paysandú, the fourth largest city in Uruguay.
At age seven she won a
beauty contest during the cosmopolitan city's annual "Beer Week", and
has since
been known as "La Reina", i.e. "The Queen".
Initially inspired by the Clint
Eastwood women's boxing movie "Million Dollar Baby", Comunales began
her boxing training at age 16. She compiled a 14-4-2 record as an
amateur, competing mostly in Argentina.
Before taking up contact sports, Comunales
had practiced skating and gymnastics. She has said that her mother did
not
want her to get into boxing after she saw "Million Dollar Baby", so she
first told her that she
was training in gymnastics.
She made her professional debut on January
10 2009 at Hotel Las Dunas in Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay. She
weighed in for the four-round contest at 133 lbs and won by a TKO at
1:34 in the first round over Lorena Nancy Lopez (5'9", 135 lbs) of
Areguá, Paraguay, also making her pro debut.
On February 23 2009 at Club Los Titanes in
Las Tunas, Canelones, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales (135¼ lbs) TKO'd
Silvia Beatriz Lescano (139 lbs) of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil at
1:33 in the first round of a scheduled four-rounder. Lescano fell
to 6-3 (4 KO's) with the loss.
On April 3 2009 at Complejo Habitacional
Paycap in Paysandú, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales (131¼ lbs) won a
four-round unanimous decision over Roxana Peralta (133½ lbs) of
Lambare, Paraguay who fell to 1-1 (1 KO).
On April 20 2009 at Estadio Luna Park in
Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal, Argentina, Cecilia Comunales (134 lbs)
won a four-round unanimous decision in a rematch with Roxana Peralta
(140 lbs) who fell to 1-2 (1 KO).
On June 18 2009 at Estadio Cr. Gaston
Guelfi / Palacio Peñarol in Montevideo, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales (131
lbs) TKO'd Lorena Paola De Mello (126¾ lbs) of Alba Posse, Misiones,
Argentina at 1:02 of the first round of a scheduled four. De Mello fell
to 1-1 (1 KO).
On November 6 2009 at Estadio Cr. Gaston
Guelfi / Palacio Peñarol in Montevideo, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales (135
lbs) knocked out pro debuter Elizabeth Bastos (134¼ lbs) of Santana do
Livramento, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil at 1:44 in the first round of a
scheduled four.
On February 15 2010 at Club Los Titanes in
La Tuna, Canelones, Uruguay, Victoriana Britez (5'6", 133 lbs) of
Lambare, Paraguay won a four-round unanimous (40-35,39-36,40-34)
decision over Cecilia Comunales (135 lbs) after knocking Comunales down
in each of the first three rounds.
Comunales has said
that she considered quitting boxing after this loss, but resumed her
training after a few months of reflection.
On January 9 2011 at Hotel & Casino
Conrad in Punta del Este, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales (134¾ lbs) knocked
out Halanna Dos Santos (131½ lbs) of Sao Felipe, Bahia, Brazil at 1:20
in the sixth round of a scheduled ten for the vacant UBO Lightweight
title. The knockdown came from a hard right in a three punch
combination immediately after a break in the action called by the
referee. Dos Santos fell to 13-4 (8 KO's) with the loss.
On April 19 2011 at Anfiteatro del Río
Uruguay in her home town of Paysandú, Cecilia Comunales defended
the UBO title with a ten-round unanimous (99-94,96-93,98-92) decision
over Alicia Alegre of Uruguaiana, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil who fell to
7-5 (7 KO's) with the loss.
On March 30 2012 at Arena Roberto Duran in
Panama City, Panama, Cecilia Comunales won by a TKO over
Maribel Santana of La Romana, Dominican Republic for the WBA
Lightweight title. Santana, who had fought aggressively in the first
round, did not come out for the second due to a right shoulder injury
and fell to 11-10-1 (4 KO's).
According to press reports
Comunales was welcomed home by a huge crowd. "South America is not like North America,"
explained promoter Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing. "Boxers over here, especially champions,
are like movie stars. Cecilia was greeted by the mayor and a huge
crowd. She is now one of the most famous people in all of Uruguay."
Her return to Uruguay was not without some controversy,
however. The Uruguayan Boxing Federation later suspended Comunales from
competing for six months because she had fought outside the country
while under a preventive suspension. The world title fight in Panama
had taken place while the Uruguayan federation looked into media
reports of allegations
by veteran Brazilian junior welterweight Adriana Salles she had been
offered
a bribe to lose to Comunales. (At the time Comunales was promoted
by Sergio Marquez, who she married in August 2012.) No
formal charge was made and Comunales did not fight Salles, who had lost
world title fights to Chris Namus, Alejandra Oliveras, Ina
Menzer and Marcela Acuna.
On November 3, 2012 at Club La Unión in
Colon, Entre Rios, Argentina, Simone Da
Silva Duarte (135 lbs)
of Sao Paolo, Brazil lost a ten-round unanimous (100-90,99-92,99-91)
decision to Cecilia
Comunales (134½ lbs) for the
WBA Lightweight title. Comunales took the initiative and
controlled a slow paced fight while Da Silva Duarte appeared
content to box defensively. Comunales
improved to 10-1 (6 KO's).
On July 20 2013 at Salon de Fiestas Egeo in
Paysandú, Uruguay, Cecilia Comunales TKO'd Marisol Reyes of Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic at 1:48 in the first round of a scheduled
ten for the WBA Lightweight title. Comunales had knocked Reyes
down with a right earlier in the round and the referee stopped the
fight when Reyes went reeling into a corner following another barrage
from Comunales.
Cecilia Comunales has trained in Argentina
with the boxing team of world champion Marcela
Acuna. She has said
that she hopes
to fight WBC champion Erica Farias of
Argentina, stating that “Erica is a
great boxer. I admire her a
lot, I think that she is the best Argentina has. The truth is that she is
the strongest opponent that is in my category."
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last updated: Monday, 14 April 2014
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