Mariana Juarez Moves through Terumi Nuki to Retain her WBC Gold

From WBC:

BARBY DERBY!

Mariana ‘Barby’ Juarez transformed a tutorial into a masterclass, punishingly demonstrating she’s ruler, in the first defense of her World Boxing Council female bantamweight belt, comprehensively defeating powerful yet plodding Japanese challenger Terumi Nuki, by UD, in the Auditorio Benito Juárez of Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.

Despite a nine year age difference, it was 37 year old, magnificently conditioned Mariana, who showed all the zip and the zap. Yet…she started cautiously, aware of the clobber capacity of the Japanese fighter, who’d audaciously promised to halt her.

Mariana’s sterling left jab and her smart footwork effectively held Terumi Nuki at bay. And when frustrated Nuki, lunged, she was invariably and correctively stung by accurate counters, particularly the left hook. Early in the fight Nuki was focusing on body punching, but Mariana moved out of range and away from the intended ribcage trap. As her boxing became more ragged Nuki got tagged more regularly, and heads clashed more often.

Mariana was comfortably ahead on two of the three scorecards after four rounds, and pulled further ahead after eight. The longer it went, the more dominant she became. In the final round Mariana dropped her hands and provocatively stuck out her chin. Not the wisest move against a fledgling fighter, who none the less can bang. But a weary Nuki, who’s legs aren’t as sturdy as her fists, was too spent to capitalize.

After ten fast paced rounds, which seemed to flash by, the Judges scores were 98-92, all in favor of Mariana Jurarez. Easy it wasn’t, but flawless she made it seem!