Women's Boxing: Jackie Nava Biography

On March 31, 2001 at the Jai Alai Sports Center in Tijuana, M�xico, , Jackie won a five-round unanimous decision over Sunshine Fettkether of Mesa, Arizona, who was making her professional kickboxing debut. Jackie says that this was her toughest fight because of Sunshine's strength and height (Fettkether outweighed her by 13 lbs). "I tried to move and keep out of her range", she says.

On May 29, 2001 in Honolulu, Hawaii Jackie won her pro boxing debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Vicky Cozy of Honolulu in a featherweight bout. Cozy fell to 1-1.

On September 14, 2001 in Tijuana Jackie TKO'd Elizabeth "Cubanita" Ruiz in the second round of a bantamweight bout. Ruiz fell to 0-3.

On April 1, 2002 in Tijuana Jackie knocked out debut fighter Leoncita Orantia in the second round.

Fighting Blanca Luna in Las Vegas (May 2003)

On June 1, 2002, Jackie won a split decision over Angela Rivera in a kickboxing bout.

On May 7, 2003 at The Cannery in Las Vegas, Nevada, 1,737 fans saw Blanca Luna (129� lbs) win a close (38-38,39-37,39-37) four-round majority decision over Jackie (130 lbs). In a highly competitive match Nava showed good hand speed and movement while Luna landed the bigger blows while showing her ability to take a punch. Luna improved her record to 4-1-0 (0 KO).

On November 21, 2003 at Club Ibiza in Whittier, California, Jackie

On February 20, 2004 at Hilton Convention Center, Burbank, California, Jackie won by a first-round TKO over Christina Avitia of Tucson, Arizona who fell to 1-3-0 (0 KO).

On March 15, 2004 at Baby Rock Disco in Tijuana, Jackie KO'd Silvia "Dinamita" Z��iga of Rio Colorado, M�xico in the first round. Z��iga fell to 1-1.

On April 2, 2004 at Gimnasio Municipal in Mexicali, M�xico, Jackie
(122 lbs) stopped Ofelia Dominguez (122 lbs), of Mexico by a TKO at 0:49 in the first round of a scheduled 10-rounder, winning the vacant Mexican Women's Super Bantamweight title, Dominguez fell to 1-6-1 (0 KO). With Nava having stopped her last thee opponents in the first round, the fight was not expected to last long, and indeed it took the Tijuanan fighter less than a minute, as El Imparcial put it, 'to knock the stuffing out of' Dom�nguez. Concentrating her attack almost entirely on her opponent's body, Nava used her weight of punch to devastating effect and the resistance of the woman from Sinaloa quickly collapsed. With the fight barely 47 second old and Dom�nguez clearly hurting from a painful body shot, Nava switched the point of attack, sending her to the canvas with a swift combination to the face. Seeing the state of Dom�nguez, referee Jacinto Ar�mbula decided to dispense with the count and signalled the knockout immediately, it being obvious that she would be unable to continue."

On April 24, 2004 at Palenque de Gallos in Tuxtla Guti�rrez, Chiapas, Jackie (118 lbs) won a six-round unanimous decision over Jazmin Rosita Rivas (116� lbs) of Durango, Mexico, who fell to 6-2. Despite the loss, the teenaged Rivas won the respect of the fans for her bravery. Jackie showed her speed and power from the outset, connecting with shots to Rivas's head and body, but Rivas also landed hard shots that drew applause from the fans. Until the third round, Jackie had little trouble pressuring Rivas and staggered her several times with combinations to the head, but the younger fighter soaked up the steady punishment to last the full six rounds. In a translated article from box-latino.com, writer Leopoldo Gonzalez reported that "Jackie demonstrated the speed and power of her fists from the outset, connecting with shots to both the head and body of Yazm�n, but it wasn�t all one-way traffic, as Rivas, too, managed to land a few impressive punches that drew applause from the spectators." Gonzalez reported that it was the best fight on the card. The fight was also seen on SKY TV.

Nava was apparently hampered in this fight by a nerve problem in her right hand that continued to plague her for the summer.

On July 26, 2004 at Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Jackie (123� lbs) fought to a ten-round draw (96-94,94-96,95-95) with Mexican Bantamweight Champion Ivonne Mu�oz (125� lbs) of Mexico City. They were supposed to have fought for Nava's Super Bantamweight national title but Munoz came in 2 kg over the weight limit of 55.5 kg and couldn't make the required weight despite spending some time in a sauna in an attempt to do so.

In a fight report translated by WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte: "After trying to slug it out with her heavier opponent in the first round and coming off second best, Jackie Nava took control of the fight in the second with her superior movement and hand speed, almost finishing it in the third when she doubled Mu�oz up with a body shot and began unloading with both hands, but in the second half of the fight it was Mu�oz who gained the ascendancy, as Nava, perhaps suffering a recurrence of the nerve problem that has plagued her all summer, stopped throwing her right hand. It was a stubborn performance by Mu�oz, who though suffering a cut eyebrow in the sixth proved an effective counter-puncher with an awkward southpaw stance that has now frustrated the two most fancied fighters in Mexico. For Rub�n Casanova of Box Latino as well (naturally) as the crowd in her home town, Nava still did enough to win � he had her one point up going into the last round and winning it � but the judges were divided, one scoring the fight 96-94 for Mu�oz, another 96-94 for Nava, and the third even at 95-95. Neither fighter protested the result though both expressed their eagerness for a rematch."

Munoz had tried to rile Nava before the fight, prompting Nava to tell reporters �There�s only one way to shut that mouth of hers, and that�s to drop her.�

On February 28, 2005 at the Hip�dromo in Tijuana, Jackie
(117� lbs) TKO'd Martha Leticia Arevalo (118 lbs) of Guadalajara, Mexico at 0:59 in the eighth round of a scheduled ten-rounder to win the WBA Women's Bantamweight title. Arevalo fell to 1-6-0 (1 KO) with the loss.

On May 30, 2005 at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, Jackie (118 lbs) won a clear (100-88,100-88,100-89) ten-round unanimous decision over late replacement Leona Brown (118 lbs) of Pawling, New York to win the WBC Women's Bantamweight world title. According to ringside reports translated for WBAN by Ewan Whyte, "Brown came out fast with a flurry of head shots in the opening round but Nava put her down with a straight left. Everyone but Nava appears to have thought: 'This won't last long," but Brown has never been stopped and even though the referee was eyeing her pretty closely towards the end -- the left side of her face was badly swollen -- she made it through to the final bell. The pace actually picked up from the sixth onwards, with Nava going all out for the stoppage and Brown trying to get back into the fight." The ringside reports highlighted Nava's accuracy at midrange, hooks to the liver and straight rights and lefts to the face. Nava had her left fist (it was her right that she injured against the Jazmin Rivas) in ice after the fight. The fight was watched by Julio C�sar Ch�vez, Erik Morales, Antonio Margarito and Manuel Medina, among others.

Both fighters were full of praise for each other at the end. The local reporters felt that Nava was clearly superior, but Nava herself said: "When I knocked her down in the first round, I didn't become over-confident. I couldn't stop her because she is very experienced -- still, it was exciting for the fans." Nava, who improved her record to 10-1-1 (7 KOs) with the win, praised her opponent's courage and powers of resistance. Brown, the reigning WIBC Bantamweight and former IFBA Junior Featherweight world champion, called Jackie a "great champion". She also said that she wanted a rematch as she felt that with more time to prepare (she had taken the fight on about a week's notice) she could take Nava. Brown fell to 13-15-0 (5 KOs) with the loss.

On October 17, 2005 at Auditorio Municipal in Tijuana, Mexico,
Jackie (118 lbs) successfully defended her WBC World Super Bantamweight title against Susana V�zquez (118 lbs), of Toluca, Mexico. Nava won by a 10-round unanimous decision. According to Box Latino, V�squez, a former Mexican Golden Gloves champion in her second pro fight, proved a worthy opponent, keeping the pressure on Nava at all times, but by the sixth her face bore the traces of Nava's heavier punches, while both her nostrils were bleeding from the champion's jab. V�zquez fell to 1-1 as pro boxer.

On January 28, 2006 at Plaza de Toros in Canc�n, Mexico, Jackie (117� lbs) successfully defended her WBC Super Bantamweight title against Kelsey Jeffries (119� lbs) of Gilroy, California with a ten-round unanimous (98-91,96-94,96-93) decision. Jeffries was dropped to one knee by a right hook to the left side of her head in the fourth. She was up before the referee could start counting and she tried to get the referee to rule it a slip, but to no avail. This was a "great, technical, exciting, beautiful fight" according to former world champion Laura Serrano Garcia who told WBAN: "Kelsey began very strong, dominating Nava and dictating the fight, Kelsey was the aggressor in the first three rounds. She was connecting (on) Nava with a busy and very effective left hand. In the fourth round, Jackie was attacking more and connected Kelsey with a very strong right hand, Kelsey went down and Nava gained confidence. By the sixth and seventh Nava was fighting with speed and working, throwing to the head and especially to the body effectively and Kelsey was BOXING, moving her legs with nice and fine movements around the ring. In the eighth round, Nava got cut in the right eyebrow and Kelsey was imposing her pace and experience. By the last
round Kelsey was dominating and showing her skills, she was moving side to side and she was very busy. At the end of the fight Kelsey�s face was clean with some bruising. Jackie�s face appeared swollen, with black eyes, and the cut".

Kelsey told her local newspaper the Gilroy Dispatch about the knockdown "That was a changing moment in the fight, she hit me at the perfect time." Her manager Bruce Anderson added "The thing is, it was just traumatizing, it got her out of her focus." Both had praise for Nava, Jeffries saying "The girl had a chin of stone" and Anderson conceding that "(Nava) was tough, tough girl. When (Nava) won a round, she won big. Those were dramatic rounds and they're indelible. It was a great fight. There were people there, fighters who said that the girls could show the men how to fight." Kelsey Jeffries fell to 33-9-0 (2 KOs) with her first loss since June 2003.

On May 20, 2006 at Palenque del Hip�dromo, in Tijuana, Jackie (118� lbs) lost the WBC Junior Featherweight title when she was knocked out at 1:47 in the eighth round by Alejandra Oliveras (5'1", 118� lbs) of C�rdoba, Argentina. Nava had been sent to the canvas twice in the second round, but made a heroic effort to get back into the fight in the sixth and seventh with jabs and hooks to the liver that had Oliveras going backwards for the first time. Her attempt at a comeback was squelched late in the eighth when Nava apparently got over-anxious and left herself open for the knockout blow.

WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte wrote "Alejandra 'La Locomotora' Oliveras found the means last night � just when her own strength seemed to be failing and the champion (spurred on by chants of 'Mexico! Mexico!') seemed to be rallying in a last desperate attempt to recover lost ground � to wrest the WBC Super Bantamweight belt from the hands of Jackie 'The Aztec Princess' Nava: a devastating left hook that spun the champion through 180 degrees and sent her crashing to the canvas."

WIBA President Ryan Wissow reported that "Nava was down twice in the second round, but she seemed to regain control of the fight as the rounds went on against a tiring Olivares. Then in the eighth round as Nava was coming forward, Oliveras timed Nava with a perfect left hook as Nava was about to throw a right. Nava want down face first, and the ref stopped the fight without a count". The fight, which was the first ever women's match to headline a pay per view in Mexico, was retransmitted by Fox Sports en Espa�ol to the whole of South America. Oliveras improved to 7-0-1 (3 KOs) with the win while Nava fell to 13-2-1 (8 KOs).

"Tijuana se qued� sin su reina en el boxeo". (Tijuana has lost its boxing queen) lamented Daniel Antuna in Frontera Info after the loss.

On January 29, 2007 at Hip�dromo in Tijuana, Mexico, Jackie Nava (122� lbs) won by a fifth round KO (0:55 into the round) over winless Elizabeth Ruiz (5'2", 118 lbs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. According to a report from WBAN's Ewan Whyte "Giving away almost two kilos (at 53.5 kg to her opponent's 55.4), 'La Cubanita' turned out to be a muscular young woman with a shaved head and a fearsome scowl that belied her appalling record (0-10-0 going into this fight); but although Nava found her repeatedly in the course of the first two rounds with her left hand � now to the head, now to the body � she might as well have been fighting Oddjob for all the impact the blows seemed to have. In the third, though, the former WBC champion began dusting off her combinations, and in the fifth, her hooks; and to these the Sinaloan had no resistance. She'd already visited the canvas twice when Nava unleashed the nastiest of all � her trademark hook to the liver � fifteen seconds from the end of the round. The effect � on Ruiz, as on a number of her earlier opponents � was devastating; in fact, of Nava's fourteen wins, nine have come inside the distance, with a crippling hook to the liver the most frequently cited cause. Nava sometimes follows with a combination or a straight right to the jaw, but this was neither necessary nor possible in this case. "The hook alone was sufficient. It stopped her dead in her tracks," wrote Christian Espinosa in El Sol de Tijuana, "As soon as she felt it, the woman from Sinaloa fell, her face a mask of pain." And a mask of pain it remained, even after the referee, Juan Jos� Ram�rez, had completed the count. Ruiz fell to 0-11.

On March 3, 2007 at the Orfeo Superdome in C�rdoba, central Argentina, Alejandra Oliveras (121� lbs) fought to a 10-round draw with Jackie (121� lbs) in a rematch for the WBC Junior Featherweight title. According to WBAN correspondent Ewan Whyte, "Twenty minutes weren't enough to separate challenger Jackie Nava of Mexico and WBC champion Alejandra Oliveras of Argentina and the judges couldn't either, so the local girl keeps the title. As was the case in their previous meeting when she fought for six rounds with a broken hand, Oliveras again displayed fantastic courage against an opponent with superior technique; this time the handicap was a swelling that left her unable for much of the fight to see out of her right eye and especially vulnerable therefore to left hooks." Oliveras moved to 9-0-2 (3 KOs) with the win while Nava's record moved to 14-2-2 (9 KOs).

Jackie Nava vs. Donna Biggers, September 2007
� Copyrighted photograph by Mary Ann Owen

On September 16, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jackie (122 lbs) won a 10-round unanimous (100-90) decision over Donna Biggers (122 lbs) of Boiling Springs, South Carolina, for the WBC Super Bantamweight title. According to photojournalist and WBAN contributor Mary Ann Owen, "Nava 's combinations were explosive and precise landing hard blows to Bigger's face and body. In the middle rounds Bigger's was rocked, at one point I thought the referee Robert Byrd was going to stop the fight, Biggers (left) eye was black and the right side of her head was very swollen. The middle and later rounds Biggers was in a survival mode, with Nava continuing to hammer Biggers, landing body and head shots. Biggers has a lot of heart and hung in the ten rounds, she definitely came to fight." Biggers fell to 19-7-1 (15 KO's). Go here for more of Mary Ann Owen's photos of this fight.

On November 24, 2007 in Veracruz, Mexico, Jackie (120 lbs) won a ten-round unanimous decision over Lina Ram�rez (5'4", 123 lbs) of Guasave (Sinaloa) in a non-title bout. According to David Kaufman of Box Noticias, Nava delivered a tremendous performance, dominating her opponent and connecting with powerful shots throughout the fight. It was only due to Ram�rez's great fortitude, in the view of the same writer, that she didn't go down. Nava improved to 16-2-2 (10 KOs) while Ramirez fell to 6-11-1 (2 KOs).

Nava's most dangerous weapon, in her own view, is her right hand: most of her victims have succumbed, she tells us, to "a straight right to the chin or hooks to the liver."

Nava has a degree in architecture from the Instituto Tecnol�gico de Tijuana and works for an office of architects specializing in urban design. Her late father, Rodolfo, did not live long enough to see her boxing, but he introduced her to karate at age 13 and always supported her career as a kickboxer. Jackie dedicates all her fights to his memory. She is always supported by her mother, Jacqueline Mouett, her sisters Michaelle, Melissa and Stephanie, as well as by triple world champion Erik "Terrible" Morales who also comes from Tijuana.

She is managed by Eric E. Delfierro, who can be reached at phone (619)-990-2551, FAX (619)-434-5771 or email to fighters_only@yahoo.com.

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