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Southpaw Galina Koleva Ivanova was born in Bourgas, Bulgaria on March 8, 1978.
Trained by Mikhael Simov and fighting out of
Sofia, Bulgaria, she has been one of the country's more
successful female boxers.
She made her debut on February 12, 1999 in Vienna, Austria against Austrian Krisztina Krek,
losing by a six-round unanimous decision. Krek advanced to 1-2 with the win.
On March 25, 1999 in Sofia, Bulgaria she won a six-round unanimous decision over
Tzvetanka Christova (a.k.a. Mirela Gueorguieva) of Bulgaria, who fell to 0-2.
On July 1, 1999 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, she won a four-round decision over debut fighter
Mirela Rousseva
On September 28, 2001 in Sofia, Bulgaria, she won a four-round decision over debut fighter
Radostina Petrova of Bulgaria.
On
July 6, 2002 in Vienna, Austria, Diana Szilágyi of Esztergom, Hungary won a six-round decision over Galina. Szilágyi advanced to
10-0-0 (4 KO) with the win.
November 9, 2002 at Trend Eventhotel Pyramid in Vösendorf, Vienna, Austria,
Diana Szilágyi (112¾ lbs) of Hungary won a ten-round unanimous decision over
Galina (112½ lbs)
in a bout for the Austrian international super
flyweight title. Szilágyi was now 12-0-0 (5 KO).
 March 7, 2003 at Foligno, Italy, Galina and unbeaten
defending champion Maria Moroni of Spoleto, Italy fought to a
ten-round (96-95 Ivanova,95-95,96-97 Moroni) draw for Moroni's
GBU European Featherweight Title. WBAN was told that Moroni had been
ill, and did not fight up to par, and that she wanted a
rematch in the near future. Ivanova was now
3-3-1 while Moroni was 7-0-2 (2 KO).
August 22, 2003 at Terni, Italy, Galina won the WIBF/GBU European Featherweight
title with a ten-round decision over defending champion
Maria Moroni of Spoleto, Italy. Ivanova progressed to
4-3-1 (0 KO)
while Moroni fell to 7-1-2 (2 KO).
On November 15, 2003 at Oberfrankenhalle in Bayreuth, Germany,
Galina (114ľ lbs) of Sofia, Bulgaria won the WIBF Super Flyweight (Junior Bantamweight) title
with a 10-round unanimous (96-94,99-91,97-93) decision over
Daisy Lang
(114ľ lbs), also of Bulgaria but based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Lang fell to 17-2-1 (6 KO) with her
first defeat in six years. Ivanova
had replaced Johanna Pena Alvarez on this card.
As
reported by Women's Boxing
Page correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Ivanova
took Daisy Lang apart ... it was hard to believe it was Ivanova that had the
speckled record and Lang that had not lost for six years. The only impressive
thing about Lang on Saturday evening was her entrance .... by the time Ivanova
had finished driving her backwards across the ring with a flurry of eight shots
to the face (only one of which she managed to block) in the ninth round, her
already aquiline nose had swollen to such proportions that she looked like a
flamingo in a wind tunnel ... Ivanova, who has a pleasant face and auburn hair,
is a marvel of lucidity. She doesn’t flinch. Even in the clinches, she keeps her
head up and watches calmly for an opening. Her gaze never strays from the target
area: her opponent’s eyes, nose and cheekbones. In the sixth, the slow motion
shows her catching Lang with a horrible right hook that scrapes across her face
as though calculated to take her nose off. As Lang’s mouth opens to emit a cry
of pain, Ivanova notes the effect and takes a smooth step backwards to steady
herself for the follow-up, which hits the temple and is perfectly timed."
vs. Bettina Csábi (at left) in Hungary, April 2004
Copyrighted photo courtesy
www.Profibox.hu
On
April 17, 2004 at a sold-out Fönix Sport Center in Debrecen, Hungary, which
is the second largest Sport Hall in Hungary, Bettina Csábi (114ľ lbs)
of Hungary won a
ten-round unanimous (96-95,97-93,98-93) decision over Galina (116Ľ lbs)
for the WIBF-GBU Bantamweight title.
The event was promoted by Hungarian promoter Felix Racz and billed
as 'The night of the Amazons'. It received a lot of attention with
live TV coverage on Hungarian network TV2.
On Saturday, November 6, 2004 at the Velodrome in Amsterdam, Holland
Esther Schouten of Hoorn, Holland and Galina fought
to a 98-94 (Schouten), 97-95 (Ivanova), 95-95 draw over 10 rounds for Schouten's
WIBF Super Bantamweight Title. According to correspondent Marcel Niessen:
"Apparently it was not without controversy. The observers I talked to basically
all said the same ... the first half was very even with most of the second half
for Ivanova. They thought Ivanova pulled it off. This girl did extremely well
for fighting out of her weight class. Schouten fought back with a ton of heart,
but Ivanova landed the cleaner shots. They only showed a few rounds on TV here,
but it looked like an entertaining and clean fight. There should be a rematch."
Schouten was now 16-1-1 (7 KO's).
On September 10, 2005 at the Topsportcentrum in
Rotterdam, Holland, Galina defeated
Esther Schouten of Hoorn, Holland
by a six-round split decision in a non-title rematch of their controversial
November 2004 bout. Schouten fell to 17-2-1 (8 KO's).
On November 19, 2005 at Trend
Eventhotel Pyramid in Vienna, Vösendorf, Austria, Galina won a six-round
unanimous decision over Floarea Lihet in a bantamweight bout.
On February 24, 2006 at City Sporthall in Tápiószentmárton, Hungary, Reka Krempf
(113Ľ lbs) of Esztergom, Hungary won a ten-round unanimous (96-94,97-95,96-95)
decision over Galina (114ľ lbs) for the WIBF Junior Bantamweight title. Krempf
improved to 13-7-3 (5 KOs) with the win while Ivanova fell to 7-5-2 (0 KO's).
On May 16, 2008 at
Ballhaus Arena in Ashersleben,
Germany,
Ramona Kuehne (133 lbs) of Berlin, Germany won a ten-round split (93-97,96-94,96-95)
decision over Galina (129ľ
lbs) for the vacant WIBF Lightweight title. Kuehne improved her record to 11-0-0
(3 KO's) while Ivanova slipped to 8-6-2 (0 KO's).
On June 21, 2008 at
Brondby Hallen in Copenhagen,
Denmark,
Galina (117˝ lbs) won the
WBC, GBU and the vacant WBA Bantamweight titles by defeating
Anita Christensen (117Ľ
lbs) of Denmark by a convincing 98-91, 97-93 and 100-89 ten-round unanimous
decision. The previously unbeaten Christensen was knocked down in the fourth
round. Christensen fell to 24-1 with the loss.
On September 6, 2008 at the
Grand Hotel in Tijuana, Mexico Galina Ivanova (118 lbs) and Zulina Munoz (118
lbs) of Mexico City fought to a 10-round draw for the WBC Bantamweight title.
According to a report on
SDFights.com, "In round one, the southpaw Bulgarian seemed cool
and collected as she successfully boxed around the ring while Munoz over
anxiously stalked her opponent but failing to cut off the ring. Ivanova
finished off the round by scoring with a right/left combination that quickly
became her weapon of choice. In the second, the pace quickened as Ivanova
opened the stanza by landing a big counter left to the jaw of Munoz. Although
the Bulgarian continued to control the rhythm and pace of the bout, Munoz began
to close the gap and began to land lead left hooks to the head of the champion.
In the third, Ivanova began to increase her movement and effectively slip the
body attack of Munoz and in turn frustration began to show on the face of the
Mexican. Ivanova closes the round with another effective straight left that
shocks Munoz. The middle rounds were more of the same as Ivanova circled to her
left, away from the right hand of Munoz and effectively scored with right/left
straight punch combinations. By this point, it started to become apparent that
the frequent head bumps that were initiated by Ivanova were frustrating Munoz as
much as the fact that the Mexican was ineffective at cutting off the ring of her
quick footed rival. Zulina Munoz had her best round in the seventh as she landed
a straight right/left hook to the head of Ivanova that stun the champion and
allows her to trap Ivanova against the ropes and attack the body. Munoz opened
the eighth with a right hand but the quick right hand jab of Ivanova opened a
cut under the eye of the challenger. After the success of Munoz in the seventh,
Ivanova made it a point box her out classed opponent for the remainder of the
round. Although Munoz had success in cutting off the ring in the ninth, Ivanova
was still able to control the action with her straight punches to the head of
Munoz and finishing off the bout with an impressive display of quick footwork
and even quicker hands." Judge Roman Cruz scored it 96-94 for Ivanova,
judge Ramon Espinoza had it as a 95-95 draw while judge Alejandro Rochin Mapula
saw it 94-96 for Munoz. Ivanova is now 9-6-3 (0 KO's) while Munoz moved to
19-1-1 (16 KO's).
Other Galina Koleva Ivanova links
Page last updated:
Monday February 15, 2010 |
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