Results from South Padre Island where Lourdes Juarez Defeated Yesica Nery Plata

In a battle between two of Mexico’s best, Lourdes “Little Lulu” Juarez pulled out the victory by majority decision over former champion Yesica Nery Plata to retain the WBC light flyweight world title on Saturday at the South Padre Island Convention Center in Texas.

Most Valuable Promotions brought a stacked fight card to Texas.

The tactical battle, fought inside and out, saw Juarez (39-4, 5 KOs) switch often from southpaw to conventional to offset the nonstop pressure of Nery Plata (30-3, 3 KOs) who hadn’t previously lost in a title fight and was trying to regain the title she vacated.

Nery Plata had not fought since December 2023 when she defeated Sarah Bormann in Germany in defense of the WBC light flyweight title she took from Canada’s Kim Clavel.

Juarez did not feel sorry for Nery Plata and opened up the fight with her unique switching boxing style that utilizes her in-and-out movements. Nery Plata adjusted but took a little too long. In the third round the action fired up.

Both Mexican fighters have tremendous fighting technique with Nery Plata concentrating on the body while Juarez used combinations to the body and head and repeatedly scored with uppercuts.

The judges saw the punches clearly.

Juarez had her sister Mariana “Barbie” Juarez in her corner as they discussed strategy between every round. Both also trained together in Southern California for several years and their experience with different fighting styles has always paid off.

Nery Plata had not suffered a loss in seven years when she was defeated by another Mexican great Kenia Enriquez in 2017. But her nonstop style of pressure fighting had allowed her to defeat Clavel and Argentina’s boxing great Yesica Bopp.

Even though Nery Plata needed a few rounds to shake off the dust, she proved that her stamina was not a problem as she out-punched Juarez overall during the fight. But Juarez had the better defense and was tougher to hit. That was the small difference in the fight.

Both fighters were very respectful of each other’s talent and nodded to each other when a big punch landed.

Juarez, never predictable, attacked from angles and targeted the head and body. But it was her combination punching, especially her use of the uppercuts, that stood out. After 10 rounds one judge saw it a draw 95-95, but two others saw it 96-94 for Juarez.

“Thank you to everyone screaming my name,” said Juarez after the win. “I knew she is a strong woman and we did a good fight tonight.”

Other Bouts

Texan Omar Juarez (20-2, 7 KOs) over-powered Puerto Rico’s Omar Rosario (14-3, 4 KOs) to win the battle of super lightweights named Omar after 10 rounds. A persistent body attack sapped the energy from Rosario who was able to survive the body assault.

All three judges scored for Juarez who hails from nearby Brownsville, Texas by scores 99-89 twice and 97-91.

“Boxing is a mind game,” said Juarez crediting his trainer Bob Santos.

Middleweight world champion Desley Robinson (11-3, 4 KOs) traveled halfway across the world to defend the IBF and WBO titles against Logan Holler (11-4-1) but needed less than two rounds to end the fight by knockout.

Robinson was the busier fighter and caught Holler with a crips left hook that sent her reeling against the ropes early in the second round. Holler was stunned and Robinson chased her across the ring and unloaded five punches that forced the referee to jump in between them and stop the fight at 1:08 of the second round.

“Everybody back home I think it’s time to go undisputed,” said Australia’s Robinson who seeks to unify the middleweight division.

Shurretta Metcalf (15-5-1) used her reach and experience to offset the aggressive charges of young Krystal Rosado (7-1) and win by unanimous decision in a close eight-round bantamweight battle.

Metcalf, a former bantamweight champion, lost her last fight by phantom knockout, and came prepared for another strong bantam in Rosado who is managed by the great Amanda Serrano.

Rosado immediately found trouble trying to avoid Metcalf’s long jab and accurate counter rights. When she charged forward Metcalf tied her up and both fought in the clinches. The referee warned both about punches behind the head. After they resumed, Metcalf connected cleanly with a right. Rosado nodded it was a good blow. That was the theme of the fight as Metcalf used her experience to score when the openings came.

The young Puerto Rican fighter never quit but flurried with rapid blows that did not connect or were not effective. Meanwhile, Metcalf connected often with flush rights and lefts that caught the judge’s attention.

It was a good learning experience for Rosado who will be back.

After eight rounds all three judges saw Metcalf the winner by 77-75, 78-74 twice.

Miranda Reyes (8-3-1) found her moment in upsetting former world title challenger Yolanda Vega to win by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a lightweight bout.

Reyes, who had lost to world champions Stephanie Han and Caroline DuBois, used that experience to take advantage of Vega injuring her shoulder during an exchange of punches. Whether it was a dislocation or muscle pull, Vega was not able to use the left hand with any effectiveness.

Vega, a southpaw, tried switching to orthodox to stave off Reyes attacks that came in waves. Reyes began to charge in with both hands pumping blows and Vega tried to keep up but was out-punched from the second round on.

Though Reyes dominated most of the fight she tired in the seventh and eighth round but the one-armed Vega could not take advantage. After eight rounds all three judges saw Reyes the winner 79-73 and 80-72 twice.

Alexis “Chop, Chop” Chaparro (6-0, 6 KOs) survived an early onslaught from Mexico’s David Gutierrez (4-1, 2 KOs) and rallied to knock out the Juarez fighter at 26 seconds of the sixth round.

Chaparro was caught early in the second round and was stunned by Gutierrez. He was able to hold and parry Gutierrez’s big blows and his wide punches. In the fifth round Chaparro connected with a perfect right to the chin and that stunned the Mexican fighter badly. He survived until the sixth round but his corner should not have allowed him to continue.

“It was not a great performance but these are the steps you have to take,” said Chaparro. “He was awkward.”

Cuba’s Ronny Alvarez (5-0, 4 KOs) defeated Bruno Pola (10-4, 9 KOs) by technical knockout in the fifth round of the super middleweight fight.

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