(AUG 9) Last night, the main event on the Roy Jones Jr. card at Legends Casino in Toppenish, Washington was a battle to determine who would wear the Middleweight WBA Interim Female Championship Title belt. Natasha Spence, 157.1,  (8-8-2 6KO) faced Maricela Cornejo, 157.9,  (19-7 7KO) in the six round fight that proved to be a contest featuring a puncher against a boxer.

Both women threw a lot of scoring shots in the opening round. Spence was able to land the heavier punches and many of those came because she was able to pressure Cornejo and create angles that allowed Spence to land body shots. Through the round Cornejo looked to keep some distance and connect with punches coming off her reach advantage. Cornejo did catch Spence stepping in a few times, and though those punches landed, they did not stop Spence from coming forward.

Spence was the aggressor in the second round as she pinned Cornejo on the ropes early, backing her into the corner and landing a number of short combinations to the taller Cornejo’s body. Much of the round saw the women standing close, and while in close they exchanged body shots. Spence’s were short and landed hard, while Cornejo tried to shoot her right at Spence’s head.

Spence landed a number of wide looping rights in the third round, and that kept Cornejo on the move. Those punches provided an opening for Cornejo to throw shots up the middle, and she was able to land some, but again not enough to keep Spence from coming forward. As the round drew to a close, Spence pinned Cornejo on the ropes and landed scoring punches to Cornejo’s body.

The fourth round got a little scrappy at the midpoint as the two momentarily threw out the idea of boxing and simply threw wild and angry punches at each other. Spence’s right was controlling the last minute of the round until Cornejo threw a series of right hands that caught Spence’s head as the round ended.
 

Spence barreled forward in the opening moments of the fifth round and as she did, there was a clash of heads. Referee Joel Scobie called time to warn Spence about coming forward with her head, then took a look at Cornejo’s left eye. Cornejo was deemed ok and she closed the round throwing combinations to try to counter Spence’s power.

The sixth round was the culmination of Spence fighting as the solid puncher while Cornejo, who boxed, could not land enough punches to counter Spence’s power. Much of the round was fought in close causing the referee to step in and break them apart.

After six rounds the judges scored the fight 60-54; 59-55; and 58-54 all in favor of Natasha Spence who would wear the championship belt.

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