Natasha Jonas (right) Photo by Mark Robinson.
September will be a historic month for women’s boxing, even with the suspension of the Shields-Marshall Mayer-Baumgardner doubleheader. And things started very well with some interesting fights over the past weekend.
In the most notable, Natasha Jonas became unified junior middleweight champion with a win over Sweden’s undefeated champion Patricia Berghult and now has half the available belts. Despite weighing in at under 150 pounds in both of her fights at this weight, Jonas has been stellar at her job, with the panel almost unanimously promoting her to No. 2 from her previous position of No. 4, with Berghult being moved to No. 3.
“Natasha Jonas may have gotten off to a bit of a slow start, but she was on fire from the third round onwards. (She) was fit, strong and on point with a truly balanced performance,” said historian Malissa Smith, while columnist Mark Jones argued that “Jonas has carried his power since 130 and looks comfortable at 154. With the additions of Terri Harper, Mary Spencer and Jonas, super welterweight is suddenly interesting.”
The move also puts Jonas in position to challenge for the Ring junior middleweight title currently held by Claressa Shields, which will soon become vacant due to Shields’ inactivity at weight.
A few divisions down, Erika Cruz-Hernandez proved her first win over Jelena Mrdjenovich was no accident, convincingly defeating the former Canadian champion in a one-sided victory in Cruz-Hernandez’s native Mexico.
The win failed to move Cruz-Hernandez over featherweight giant Amanda Serrano, but it did cause Mrdjenovich to lose a position, trading places with Elina Tissen in a move that may prove only temporary once Serrano faces the No. 3 Sarah Mahfoud in early November and one of them ends up dropping out of the Top 5 to become the Ring’s inaugural featherweight champion.
“The fight between Cruz-Hernandez and Jelena was the reaffirmation of the generational change,” said the writer Yesica Palmetta. “Jelena did nothing wrong but Cruz already knew how to deal with her.” Lupi Gutiérrez-Beagle expanded by saying that “Hernandez was no fluke and once again it is a clear passing of the baton, or the title in this case,” and Smith added that “the always powerful and dangerous Mrdenovich had the deadliest weapon in she”. , her right hand, neutralized by Cruz-Hernandez all night. (Erika) would certainly give Serrano a competitive fight, but if he hopes to stand a chance, she will need to beef up his defense after throwing combinations.”
Also this week, a women’s card (almost, save one or two fights) took place in Japan, with no fewer than three of our atomweight-qualified female fighters seeing action.
In a series of upsets, Yuko Kuroki defeated No. 5 Nanae Suzuki, Mika Iwakawa defeated No. 3 Ayaka Miyao and No. 4 Eri Matsuda won her fight over Kaori Nagai by an eight-round decision. In this context, it became imperative to give the floor to our Japanese correspondent Yuriko Miyata for a more in-depth view of the situation.
“I would put Iwakawa over Kuroki as he secured victory in a much more difficult fight,” Miyata said. “Although Iwakawa was a bit too cautious, she has a good time on her right break and she must be called the best 102-pounder currently in Japan with that win. Former WBC minimum weight champion Kuroki showed her skill level in her game plan in busy side steps avoiding the Suzuki aggressor non-stop throughout the fight. The tall southpaw Matsuda, who scored a clear victory this time after two unsuccessful attempts at world titles, remains one of the main candidates to become our next champion.”
Yuriko’s motion was unanimously accepted and the ratings were rearranged accordingly.
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and other outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an electing member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest and is the moderator of The Ring’s women’s ratings panel. He served as editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com. Follow him on Twitter @MorillaBoxing
