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5'6" welterweight Duda "The Cameleon" Yankovich was born Deusica
Yankovich on September 27, 1976 in the small city of Jagodina, Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro),
Duda was interested in sports and got involved with Martial Arts at
an early age. She trained in Karate (Shotokan-ITKF) from age 11 to 18, competing
at both the junior and adult levels while still a junior. She earned her Black
Belt at age 14, becoming the youngest
Black Belt in Serbia. Between the ages of 16 and 18,, Duda was part of the National female team. In April
1994, She competed in the European Championship in the City of Prague, Czech Republic,
taking second place and
winning a silver medal. In May of the same year, Duda took third place and won
the bronze metal in the Junior World Championship in Zakopane, Poland.
Duda began taking kickboxing training (WAKO Federation), and quickly became a national
champion at 135 lbs., for the first time in 1996 and again in 1997, 1998, and 1999.
During that time, Duda also competed in the 1996 European championships in Yugoslavia,
the 1997 world championships in Poland, the 1998 European championships in Germany), and
the 1999 world championships in Italy. In April 1998, Duda became the Mediterranean Champion and a month later, champion of Balkans
in Kickboxing/Full Contact.
 1999 brought war to Belgrade.
After 77 days of war, the situation in the country was not good for sports,
so Duda decided - after almost a year of waiting - to move out of her
native country. She had won two fights in Brazil in January 1998, and had made some contacts there.
Duda decided to move to Brazil, and became the Brazilian kickboxing champion in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
She won the gold medal in the 2000 Pan-American open amateur kickboxiing championship, and gold medals in the South American Amateur Kickboxing Championship in
both 2001 and 2003.
Duda got involved in amateur boxing in 2003. A coach from one
of the Brazilian national male teams saw her in an exhibition match and invited her to train
as a boxer. Duda went on to become the
Brazilian 140-lb amateur boxing champion for the first time in 2002, then
repeated her success in 2003 and 2004.
As Duda did not have many opportunities to fight as a kickboxer, she decided to
switch her focus to boxing, and gradually stopped kickboxing. She was the only female athlete
approved to spend ten months training in the Brazilian men's training camp. She
also spent four months with the team of ex-world
junior lightweight and lightweight boxing champion
Acelino Freitas.
In March of 2005, Duda represented Brazil in the First Pan-American female boxing amateur
championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She took third place and a bronze medal
in the 138-lb division, losing in the semi-final by 24-11 to Canadian champion, and also world champion, Katie "Silence" Dunn.
After this, Duda accepted an invitation to turn professional.
 She
made her pro debut on July 23, 2005
at Gimnásio Municipal, Embú das Artes in São Paulo, Brazil, against Guillermina
"La Amazona" Fernandez of
Buenos Aires, Argentina. Duda won by a KO in the fourth round of a scheduled four-rounder.
Fernandez, who was returning to the ring after a 5-year absence, fell to 0-2. On October 29, 2005, in
São Paulo, Brazil, Yankovich (141 lbs) stopped Sandra Santos (139 lbs)
at 0:42 into the first round of a scheduled four-rounder. Santos was making her pro debut.
On May 13, 2006, at Conjunto Desportivo Baby Barione in São
Paulo, Brazil, on the undercard,
Yankovich (139¼ lbs) won by KO over Angie Paola Rocha (136½ lbs) of
Colombia at 0:42 seconds in the fourth round. Rocha fell to 3-3-1 (0 KO's) with
the loss.
 On August 11, 2006 in Brazil, Yankovich won the 63.5-kg national Brazilian professional title when
she TKO'd Leticia Rojo at 1:12 in the fifth round. The fight was scheduled
for six rounds. On August 26, 2006, in Santo Andre, Brazil, Yankovich
(141 lbs) improved her chances of obtaining a world title fight when she stopped
unbeaten Gabriela Marcela “La Aventurera" (The Mercenary) Zapata (141 lbs) of
Capitán Bermúdez, Argentina in
the second round. According to Brazilian sources, the fight, which was dominated by Yankovich, was stopped by referee Denis Sponton
with the Argentinian bleeding profusely from her nose. Zapata fell to 4–1 (3
KO's) with the loss.
On September 30, 2006 at Companhia Athletica Brooklin in São
Paulo, Brazil, Yankovich won by a six-round majority
(59-57,58-58,59-56) decision over
Silvia Zacarias, who was making her pro debut.
On November 25, 2006 at Companhia Athletica Brooklin in São Paulo, Brazil, Yankovich (138 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous
(100-89,100-90,100-88) decision over Darys Pardo (139 lbs) of Barranquilla, Colombia, becoming the WIBA
Junior Welterweight world champion. According to
WIBA President Ryan Wissow, the fight was a brawl from start to finish, with Yankovich edging Pardo early on with her speed and
skills, and pouring it on late with her strength and punching power. Pardo fell
to 17-4-3 (3 KO's) while Duda improved her pro record to 7-0 (5 KO's). (Fight
photo gallery)
On March 17, 2007 at Companhia Athletica Brooklin in São Paulo, Brazil, Yankovich
(137 lbs) successfully defended her WIBA Junior
Welterweight title against Belinda Laracuente
(136¼ lbs) of Puerto Rico and New York by a 10-round unanimous decision. The
final judges' scores were 98-95, 97-94, and 98-95.
Laracuente fell to 22-18-3 (9 KOs) in
what many observers felt was a home-town decision.
On June 16, 2007 at Maksoud Plaza Hotel in São
Paulo, Brazil,
in the main event, Duda (139 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (100-91,99-91,100-92) decision over
Paola Rojas (137½ lbs) of Cartagena, Colombia for the WIBA Junior Welterweight title.
Rojas fell to 3-5-1 (1 KO) with the loss.
On September 15, 2007 at Campo Grande, Mato Grosso
do Sul, Brazil, Duda (137¾ lbs) won a 10-round unanimous decision over Liliana
Palmera (135½ lbs) of Colombia ro retain her WIBA Junior Welterweight title.
Palmera fell to 13-4-2 (9 KOs).
On April 19, 2008 at Companhia
Athletica Brooklin, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Duda Yankovich remained undefeated
with an eight-round unanimous decision over Darys Pardo, of Colombia in a
rematch of their November 2006 bout. Yankovich was now 11-0-0 (5 KO's) and
Pardo 19-5-3 (15 KO's).
 Duda is also involved in other sports, including snow-boarding, diving, para-gliding,
roller street skating, climbing, and surfing. Even though she has experienced
physical injuries, i.e., two-time broken nose, two broken ribs, a broken tibia
bone, and a broken hand, these have never stopped her.
Duda likes the
challenge!
Other Duda Yankovich links
For more photos of Duda
Yankovich by Otavio Dias, see WBAN
MPEG/Photo Gallery #406 on the WBAN Records Member Site.
Page last updated:
Tuesday, 03 June 2008 |
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