After a few weeks of little relevant action on the women’s boxing front, a few fights and other situations conspired to create some realignments in The Ring’s groundbreaking divisional women’s ratings.
First, a quick review of our junior middleweight ratings led to the question of whether our inaugural champion, Natasha Jonas, would remain active enough at the weight to renew her claim to her belt.
Jonas was found to be in breach of two rules of our championship rules:
1 –The Champion moves to another weight class (for more than one fight).
2 – The Champion does not schedule a fight at his/her championship weight for 18 months (even if he/she fights at a different weight).
Jonas’ last two fights were at welterweight, and she hasn’t fought at 154 in just over 18 months. On a private message about the situation, the champion herself stated that she is “now campaigning at Welter.”
That’s why The Ring’s junior middleweight belt is now up for grabs.
In other news, an interesting clash took place this past weekend in which Argentina’s Nazarena Romero finally got the credit she deserved with a last-round victory over Paulette Valenzuela in a scheduled 10-rounder in Buenos Aires.
Nazarena Romero (left) catches Paulette Valenzuela – Photo courtesy of Boxeo De Primera (TyC Sports)
Romero has gone 0-0-2 in her last two bouts, with those draws coming against Mayerlin Rivas (a technical draw after a head clash put the fight on the map earlier) and Erika Cruz-Hernandez (in a tight fight that many saw) Romero win, after which Cruz-Hernandez tested positive for a banned substance in a ruling she now disputes). But now she was able to stay on top of her game plan and laid down a steady battering of Mexico’s Valenzuela, who seemed overwhelmed by Romero’s sheer volume of punches along the way.
Despite having two rounds where she seemed disconnected from the fight, Romero looked very good,” said writer and editor Irene Deserti. “She even learned to manage that drive with greater intelligence to be even more effective,”
The awards kept coming for the explosive and flamboyant 30-year-old.
“I’ve been for Nazarena Romero to no. 3. Her body-to-head shots were sweet,” said Lupi Gutierrez-Beagle of Beautiful Brawlers. Malissa Smith added that “Romero is the no. 3rd place earned. She brings fun to the sport!” and Ring magazine senior writer Jake Donovan added that “she looked fantastic on Saturday and one of the best personalities in the sport, to boot,” with Japan’s Yuriko Miyata adding that “Romero continues to put in good performances. and deserves to take the number 3 spot.”
Diego M. Morilla has written for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a voter for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
