(Photo by Rolando Villegas, El Deber)
"The Bolivian Queen" Jennifer Salinas won a 10-round unanimous decision over "La Diablita" Yolis Marrugo Franco of Colombia Saturday to capture the WBF (World Boxing Federation) Super Bantamweight title at Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, in Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia.
The bout was a homecoming for Salinas, who was born in Virginia but raised in Bolivia. The fans came out in droves, according to the internet site El Deber who reported that more than 10,000 people were at the contest.
Salinas won by scores of 99-90 (twice) and 99-91. It's Salinas's first title and it raises her record to 15-3, four KO's. Franco falls to 15-9-3, seven KO's. By the way, the bout was contested in 10 three-minute rounds instead of two-minute rounds.
In the week leading up to the contest, there was a minor controversy as to whether the WBF title was, in fact, a recognized "world title." BATB will consider it as such unless others more involved in the women's division say otherwise.
What this would mean that in my almost 30 years of covering Beltway Boxing, I have reported on 15 world champions from the area. Four of those titilists -- Hasim Rahman, Lamont Peterson, Tori Nelson and Salinas -- won their titles during the BATB era.
We have found the footage of the bout as it was shown live throughout South America -- the commentary is in Spanish.
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