The third time was a charm for Nazarena Romero.
A dominant performance by the handed Argentine led to her first title win. Romero powered her way to a tenth-round stoppage of Paulette Valenzuela Cuesta in their vacant WBA 122-pound title fight.
Enough power shots forced the stoppage at 0:18 of the tenth round Saturday at Casino Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Romero immediately broke into her customary in-ring dance, with hugs all around to celebrate the occasion.
Romero (14-0-2, 8 KOs) fought to back-to-back draws against Mayerlin Rivas and Erika Cruz in separate WBA title bids. Cruz was stripped of the belt after their match on May 11 due to a positive drug test for Stanozolol. The WBA initially ordered a Romero-Rivas rematch, but it was Valenzuela Cuesta who entered the equation for the vacant title fight.
Fittingly, it landed on the two-day annual WBA KO Drug Festival.
Romero never succumbed in their scheduled ten-round bout. Her incredible engine and power shots were too much for Valenzuela Cuesta to resist. Romero landed power shots in the middle and from wide angles throughout their fight.
The wear and tear was evident when Valenzuela Cuesta’s left eye was cut and bruised. Nor did Romero spare the body. A left hook set up a series of right hands along the ropes late in round eight.
Romero moved in to end the show in the ninth. A left hook to the body left Valenzuela Cuesta in excruciating pain just before the bell, but made it out of the round.
Her luck would run out the moment the bell rang to start the tenth and final round.
Another left hook underneath forced Valenzuela Cuesta’s back leg to kick out. She managed to stay on her feet, but Romero immediately followed up the attack. A flurry along the ropes was enough to force referee Roberto Ramirez to stop the match.
Valenzuela Cuesta (17-4, 4 KOs) is now 0-2 in major title fights. She previously suffered a decision loss to Segolene Lefebvre in their November 2021 WBO 122-pound title fight.
The celebration began immediately for the happy Romero. She danced to the tune of La Bouche’s “Be My Lover” blaring over her head while the belt was fastened around her waist.
Romero’s last four wins have all ended inside the distance, marking her first past the fourth round.
In the headliner, Jose Aguero (12-0, 7 KOs) claimed a fifth-round knockout of Jorge Luis Martinez (17-4-1, 11 KOs). A flurry of punches left Martinez defenseless to force the stoppage at 2:56 of round five in their regional junior lightweight title fight.
Also on the card, Ruben Nestor Neri Muñoz (16-2, 12 KOs) has a career-best tenth-round knockout of undefeated Chann Thonson. Muñoz knocked Thonson (16-1, 13 KOs) twice in the ninth and forced a stoppage at 0:35 of the tenth and final round in their lightweight bout.
Jaquan Carty (7-0, 5 KOs) outpointed local prospect Brian Matias Perez (5-1, 2 KOs). Scores were 77-75, 77-75 and 79-73 for Carty, a Toronto-born middleweight based in Atlanta
The show took place as part of the WBA’s 31st annual KO Drugs Festival, an event that dates back to 1991 in Venezuela. The event is a way to combat the flood of drugs and their influence on unsuspecting youth across South America. Boxing became part of the program in 1993.
