Former Uruguayan boxer Cecila “La Reina” Comunales became the first woman to train at the Teiken Promotion gym in Tokyo, Japan. The former World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion took advantage of the trip to the land of the rising sun and on Monday, September 9, trained under the supervision of trainer Carlos Linares, brother of former world champion Jorge Linares, along with other fighters from the gym.

“It was a unique experience to train in one of the most critical places in Japanese and world boxing. It is an honor for me to be the first woman to train in this gym and I am sure that more boxers will come soon as women’s boxing grows worldwide,” Comunales said, adding: “I would also like to thank Mr. Akihiko Honda for giving me this experience and Carlos Linares for guiding my training, keeping me connected to boxing is one of the coolest things I can do in my retirement.

During her trip to the Japanese capital, Comunales took the opportunity to attend the Naoya Inoue fight, as well as other boxing nights and visits with the commission. Part of her intentions on the trip is to learn the country’s training method, to apply it to her daily life and, why not, to start a coaching career, using her experience in the ring that led her to become WBA world champion.

Mary Spencer became the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Naomi Mannes on Thursday at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Canada.

The judges scored the bout 96-93, 96-93 and 96-93, all identical in favour of the home competitor, who claimed a stunning victory and defended her black and gold crown.

The Canadian didn’t have an uncomplicated challenge, but she was able to impose herself with her tools and decipher the complicated opponent, to finally win on the scorecards. The German gave it her all in the ring and tried to hurt the local competitor, but ultimately she didn’t succeed.

With the win, the 39-year-old now has nine wins in her career, along with two losses and six knockouts. Mannes, on the other hand, has a record of seven wins, three losses, one draw and four knockouts.

The second KO Drugs Day took place on Saturday at the Casino de Buenos Aires, and one of the highlights was the announcement of local Nazarene “Capricho” Romero as the absolute World Boxing Association champion in the 122-pound weight class, defeating Mexican Pailette Valenzuela Cuesta by technical knockout.

It was a fight that was met with great applause from the full house at Saturday’s Adrenaline. Nazarena Romero, the girlfriend of “Capricho”, was the interim WBA super bantamweight champion in 2020, but because she became a mother for the third time, she was unable to defend the belt.

Then in June 2023 she drew in Buenos Aires with Venezuelan Mayerlin Rivas for the same belt, but absolute, and in May of this year she went to Mexico to face Erika Cruz, who until now had owned the crown after defeating Rivas in November 2023. There, Romero drew again.

However, as sport has its revenge, the girl born in the province of Catamarca, who grew up experiencing the blows of life that taught her to never give up, entered the ring of the Casino de Buenos Aires last Saturday with iron determination and surgical precision to decide the fight with the Mexican boxer by technical knockout in the tenth round and finally take the crown, ensuring absolute dominance in the WBA super bantamweight division.

The title remained vacant following Romero’s draw with Cruz because the Aztec fighter tested positive for doping.

The Romero-Valenzuela Cuesta fight was a thrilling one from start to finish. Cuesta was close to hitting the boards on more than one occasion, but her iron nature kept her on her feet until the final round, when the Argentine’s punishment overwhelmed her will and the referee had to intervene.

Romero remains undefeated with 14 wins and 2 draws, as well as the coveted coronation, and celebrated with tears of joy and a huge celebration of the effort that brought her to her goal.