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5'4" bantamweight Ana María Torres was born on January 25 1980 in
Neza, México and fights out of México City. She is trained by
Jose Morales, the father of Erik Morales.
She made her pro debut on July 3, 1999 at La Arena México in México City,
with a four-round split (39-37, 39-38, 37-39)
decision over Mariana Juárez in a 49-kg (jr. flyweight) bout.
On September 15, 1999 at La Arena México in México City,
Ana María (119 lbs) won by a third-round TKO over Erika Juarez (118 lbs) of
México who fell to 1-1.
On December 11, 1999 at La Arena México in México City,
Ana María Torres and Mariana Juárez fought to a four-round
draw in a rematch of their fight on July 3 (which was on the first
women's card to be sanctioned since the City lifted its ban on women's boxing).
On February 12, 2000 in Mexico City, Mexico
Ana María won a third-round TKO over Maribel Zamora
in a scheduled four-round bantamweight contest. Zamora fell to 0-3 with the
loss.
On June 2, 2000 in Irapuato, Guanajuato, México,
Ana María won a four-round decision
over Berenice Chavez, who fell to 1-3-1.
On June 12, 2001 at Salon 21 in Polanco, México,
Ana María Torres moved to 5-0-1 (3 KO's) with a second round TKO over Miriam
Serrano who fell to 0-2.
On July 12, 2001 in Tijuana, México, Ana Maria TKO'd pro debuter Elizabeth Ruiz
in the second round of a bantamweight bout.
Ana María vs. Mariana Juárez in June 2002
On June 26, 2002 at Salon 21 in Polanco, México, 2000 fans saw Ana María win a
close ten-round unanimous decision in a rematch with Mariana Juárez who fell to 7-2-2 (5 KO).
This hard-fought bout for the vacant Mexican bantamweight title was the third
between Torres and Juárez.
“When I fought for the Mexican title the arena was full,” said Juarez,
"it was the most exciting fight I’ve ever fought but there was little
boxing.”
On February 22, 2003 at Plaza México, México City, México,
Ana María won a second-round TKO over Ofelia Dominguez, who fell
to 0-4-1.
On May 19, 2003 at Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, México,
Ana María won by an eighth round TKO in a bantamweight bout with Berenice Chavez
of México City, who fell to 1-7-2 (0 KO).
On November 13, 2003 at Fort Cheyenne Casino in North Las Vegas, Nevada, USA,
a scheduled non-title bout between
Ana María and then #1 ranked bantamweight Ada Velez of
Puerto Rico did not take place because of visa problems for Torres.
On February 13, 2004 at Auditorio Municipal in Mexicali, México, Ivonne Muñoz
Leon (116¾ lbs) of México City won a ten-round unanimous decision over Ana María
(114¾ lbs) for Torres's Mexican bantamweight title. Munoz was now 6-1-1 (2 KO).
Ana María vs. LaKeysha Williams in March 2004
© Copyrighted photograph by Mary Ann Owen
On March 26, 2004 at Fort Cheyenne Casino Event Center, North Las Vegas, Nevada, USA,
Ana María (120 lbs) TKO'd LaKeysha Williams (119 lbs) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
at 3:00 in the fourth round of a scheduled eight-rounder.
Torres started slowly using a slow jab, which Williams countered effectively
with wide rights. Williams was able to land on Torres in the early part of the second
with jabs followed by the looping right. However, Torres soon began to feint
before coming forward, to get Williams out of position for her counter shots.
Torres then began to find her way inside on a forward-leaning Williams with body shots, followed by big uppercuts
that forced Williams to tighten up her defense. Torres's body punching then
became the story of the fight as Torres gained confidence coming forward to
land hard hooks to the American's body. Williams, whose face began to redden and
swell from Torres' bombardment, was forced to begin holding Torres. Torres' body shots
still took their toll, however, and referee Kenny Bayless stopped
the bout at the end of the fourth with Williams clearly in trouble. Torres was now
10-1-1 (7 KO) while Williams fell to 7-6-2 (1 KO). (For more of Mary Ann Owen's
photos and video of this fight and its weigh-in see
WBAN Members Photo/MPEGS Gallery #156 and 158).
 Ana María
was scheduled to fight Anita Christensen of
Denmark in October 2004 for the Dane's WIBF World Bantamweight
title, but the bout fell through when Christensen
cancelled at the last minute.
On December 10, 2004 in front of a packed house at Salón Marbet Plus in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl,
México,
Ana María (116½ lbs) won by a TKO when Golden Gloves champion Yadira Rosales (115¾
lbs) of México City,
who was making her pro debut, failed to answer the
bell for the sixth round. With an animated home crowd urging her on in the card's Main Event, Torres got on top of Rosales at the start and never let up, using her skill and greater experience to wicked
effect. As was the case in March 2005 when she stopped Lakeysha Williams in the
fourth, it was her opponent’s face that got the worst of it. By the time she retired between the fifth and six rounds,
Rosales’s mouth was a mess and had begun to hemorrhage.
On
December 21, 2005 at
Deportivo de la
Nueva Atzacoalco in México City, in front of over 1,000
boxing fans, Ana Maria (117¼ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous decision
over Susana Vazquez (115¾ lbs) of Toluca, México
for the vacant Mexican Female Bantamweight title. There were reports that
this was the best fight of the night on this card. Vazquez's pro record fell to 1-2-0 (0 KOs).
On May 13, 2006 at the Deportivo de
la Nueva Atzacoalco in Mexico City, Mexico, Ana María Torres (114½
lbs) was more than 34-year-old grandmother Gloría "Dinamita" Ríos (112½
lbs) could handle in their top-of-the-bill clash for the vacant NABF Super
Flyweight, and Torres's Mexican Bantamweight title. Referee Laurentino Ramírez
stopped the fight 1:15 into the sixth to spare Ríos further punishment. Rios
fell to 3-5-1 (0 KOs).
On June 7, 2006 in Kosung, North Korea, Ana Maria Torres (117 lbs) lost a
ten-round split decision to Kwang Ok Kim (116¾ lbs) of North Korea for the WBC
Bantamweight title. Kim improved to 5-0-0 (4 KOs) with the win.
On October 7, 2006 in Xalapa, Mexico Ana Maria
Torres (115 lbs ) TKO'd Mayela Pérez (114½
lbs) of Saltillo, Mexico at 1:50 in the sixth round. Torres improved to
14-2-1 (10 KOs) while Perez fell to 7-5-1 (6
KOs).
On April 16, 2007 at Coliseo Cruz in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic, Ana Maria Torres won a 10-round unanimous
(98-92,98-92,97-95) decision for the WBC Super Flyweight Title over Dahianna
Santana of the Dominican Republic. According
to WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Spurred on by more than 7,000 of her
compatriots, who never stopped shouting, Santana tried to box from a distance.
Nevertheless, the strength, determination and superb physical condition of the
champion allowed her to maintain a comfortable dominance throughout the ten
rounds." Torres improved to 15-2-1 (10 KOs) while Sanatana fell to
8-4-0 (2 KOs).
On October 19, 2007 in Gaeseong City, North Korea, Myung Ok Ryu (115 lbs) of
North Korea won a 10-round split (96-93,95-94,93-96) decision over Ana Maria
Torres (113¼ lbs) for the WBC Female Junior Bantamweight title. Ryu used
clinches to negate the aggressive style of Torres, and Torres was badly cut over
her left eye in the seventh round. The ring doctor ruled that the cut had been
caused by Ryu's head, but no point was deducted. Torres protested that
the ninth and tenth rounds had been cut short by the timer. Referee Bruce McTavish
reportedly said he was surprised that Ryu was awarded the decision.
On April 26, 2008 at the Plaza
de Toros Juriquilla in Queretaro, Mexico, Torres (114 lbs) and Myung Ok Ryu
(114½ lbs) fought to a 10-round majority draw (95-95,95-95,97-93 for Torres) in
a rematch of their hotly disputed bout in North Korea.
According
to the report by WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, "After
the first eight minutes, one judge had Torres two rounds up, another judge had
her two rounds down, whilst the third made it a draw. (Why not just toss a
coin?) If the Mexican reports are to be believed, the change of venue
didn’t at all force Ryu to adopt a cleaner style of fighting, as Torres had
fondly supposed it would; exactly as in the first fight, (it is claimed) she
resorted to clinching or attacked with the head whenever she felt threatened,
despite warnings from the referee. Torres, whose nose was bleeding as early as
the third round, seemed more preoccupied with how to avoid being hit by her
opponent’s head than with hitting it. In the two final rounds, which one judge
had her winning and the others judged even, the challenger went all out for the
knockout, allowing Ryu to respond with combinations to the head, but time ran
out before either woman could press home an advantage."
Ryu retained the WBC Junior
Bantamweight title with this result.
Ryu was now 5-0-1 (3 KOs).
On August 30, 2008 at Arena
Monterrey in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, Ana Maria Torres (115 lbs) won a
10-round unanimous decision over Esmeralda Moreno (114½ lbs) for the Interim WBC
Super Flyweight title. The judges' scores were 99-91, 98-92, 99-91. Moreno
fell to 9-4 (3 KO's).
On March 1, 2009 at Auditorio Guelaguetza in Oaxaca, Mexico, Ana María Torres
(114½ lbs) regained the WBC Junior Bantamweight title with a TKO at 0:57 in the
fourth round over an overmatched Paulina Cardona (113½ lbs) of Barranquilla,
Colombia.
Torres dominated the light-punching Cardona during the first three rounds with a
strong attack to the head. The end came when Torres cornered Cardona and landed
a barrage of punches that persuaded Canadian referee
Len Koivisito
to call a halt to the one-sided affair. Cardona fell to 13-5-3 (6 KO's).
On June 13, 2009 at Centro Banamex in Mexico City,
Mexico
Ana María Torres (115 lbs) retained her WBC Junior Bantamweight title with a
ten-round unanimous (95-94,98-92,96-94) decision over previously undefeated
Usanakorn Kokietgym (115 lbs) of Thailand. According to Notifight.com, The Thai
boxer started well, making good use of her advantages of height and reach and,
above all, her southpaw stance to take control of the fight in the early rounds.
But little by little Ana María took the measure of her awkward opponent, landing
her best punches in the second half of the fight to obtain a unanimous decision.
Kokietgym fell to 4-1
(4 KO's).
On August 29, 2009 at Ciudad Deportiva in
Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, Ana Maria Torres
(115 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (97-94,96-94,99-91) decision over previously
undefeated Ava Knight (115 lbs) of Chico, California
for the WBC Junior Bantamweight title. A local report opined that Torres was
'much superior' and 'used her reach advantage to good effect' but Knight moved
well and made for a difficult target. She also gave Torres a bloody nose which
'only made her more determined'. Knight fell to 5-1-2 (2 KO's) with
the loss.
Video of
fight without audio
On October 31, 2009 at Gimnasio Del Imcufide, in Toluca, México,
Ana María Torres (115 lbs) won by a TKO at 1:34 of the
third round over Stephaney George of Georgetown, Guyana in a scheduled
10-rounder. Torres was defending her WBC Junior Bantamweight title. Torres
improved to 19-3-2 (12 KO's) while George fell to 5-8-0 (0 KO's) with her
sixth straight professional loss.
 Ana María
Torres is that relative rarity, a female who has learned to box in. textbook
style. She holds her hands up and elbows tucked in, throws straight punches,
moves her feet well, and can hit hard to the body to wear her opponent down and
to open the way for punishing shots to the head.
To check out fight reports, complete up-to-date boxing records, with huge digital photos you can go to
the WBAN Records Member Site
Page last updated:
Sunday, 08 November 2009 |
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