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Mexican bantamweight Zulina "La Loba" Muñoz was born in San Vicente
Chicoloapan, México, and boxes out of México City. She began boxing
at age 16 when her father Fernando s took her to the gym where he coached
his son. In addition to her boxing career she works as a nurse, and she
is said to play the guitar
"beautifully and romantically".
She made her professional boxing debut on March 11, 2005 at Salon Super Estrella
in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México, scoring a first round knockout of Miriam
Serrano, who fell to 0-5 with the loss and has not fought professionally again.
On November 19, 2005 at Arena Azteca Budokan, Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina TKO'd Guadalupe "Diablita" Marroquin of Veracruz, México in the second
round of a scheduled six-rounder. Marroquin fell to 0-2 with this loss.
On December 10, 2005 at Salon Rojo in Toluca, México, Zulina faced Guadalupe
Marroquin again, this time knocking her out in the first round of another
scheduled six-rounder and dropping her record to 0-3. Marroquin has also not
fought again.
On December 19, 2005 at Crown Plaza in Tlalnepantla, México, Zulina (116¾ lbs)
won by a second round TKO over Sandra Hernandez (5'5", 116¾ lbs) who was making
her pro debut. Hernandez later dropped down to flyweight and became the
Mexican Flyweight champion in 2008.
On February 11, 2006 at Arena Azteca Budokan in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina knocked out debut fighter Patricia Contreras in the first round of a
scheduled eight-rounder. Contreras has not fought since.
On March 18, 2006 at Expo Deporte in Toluca, México, Zulina knocked out debuter
Beatriz Martinez in the first round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Martinez has
not fought since.
On April 28, 2006 at Arena Neza in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México, Zulina TKO'd Magdalena Leija
of Coahuila, Mexico at 0:54 in the second round of a scheduled
ten-rounder for the vacant NABF Bantamweight title. WBAN's correspondent reported
that "Considering that both
fighters had near-perfect records – according to the Mexican sports journal Esto:
7-0-0 for Muñoz and 4-0-0 for Leija (the only blemish in each case being a
single points win in a sequence of straight KOs) – that paper's assertion that
Muñoz started as 'clear favourite' must have stung Leija ... and when (Muñoz)
answered the bell for the first round, Magdalena Leija went for her throat.
Muñoz managed to dodge or block most of her best punches, using her jab, as best
she could, to keep her at bay, but Leija was apparently hell-bent on a first
round knockout ... Leija, the one throwing most of the leather, and Muñoz, the
one trying not to get hurt. As the round wore on, though, the storm began to
blow itself out; Zulina caught her once or twice in the face with counters that
seemed to have a chastening effect, as well as weakening her with powerful hooks
to the abdomen; and as Leija returned to her corner at the end of the first
round, Jesús López, covering the fight for Box Latino, sensed already that she
was 'diminished'. Whether through tiredness
or a moment of inattention, Leija left herself open as she resumed the attack in
the second, and Zulina hit her. It was a right cross – a very hard one – and
Leija was hurt. Muñoz needed no second invitation. Giving her opponent no chance
to recover – it was the density of blows, in the view of López, as much as their
power that sealed Leija's fate - Zulina buried her under a rockslide ... When
referee Lupe García stepped between them twenty seconds later, the woman from
Coahuila was slumped against the ropes with Zulina pounding her as though she
were a carpet."
On May 26, 2006 at Auditorio Enrique Batiz in
Cuatlitlán Izcalli, México, Zulina
defended her NABF title with a clear ten-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,98-92)
decision over Fredee González, a Mexican who fights out of Los Angeles,
California. WBAN
reported
that "After taking something of a hammering in
the first three rounds, in which she was caught frequently with solid straight
lefts and powerful right hooks to the head, and almost going to the canvas in
the fourth, González rallied bravely in the fifth, managing to frustrate the
19-year-old champion by fighting at short- to medium-range and denying her the
space to deliver either the left hook with which she knocked out Beatriz
Martínez in her penultimate encounter or the right cross that (effectively) won
her the title last month.". Gonzalez fell to 1-1-1 with the loss.
On July 15, 2006 at Explanada Mercado Benito Juarez in Toluca, México, Zulina
TKO'd Martha Leticia Arevalo of Guadalajara, México at 1:30 in the first round
of a scheduled ten-rounder for the NABF title. Arevalo fell to 1-8 with this
loss - her only win had been against the winless Elizabeth Ruiz in 2002.
 On September 2, 2006 in Acapulco, México, Zulina (116½ lbs) TKO'd Fredee
Gonzalez (115¾ lbs) at 0:15 in the seventh round of a ten-rounder for the NABF
title, dropping Gonzalez's record to 1-2-1. WBAN
reported that "Twenty-year-old Fredee
González's dreams of a world title lay in ruins last night after
Zulina Muñoz (one year younger and a whole lot more talented, it seems) beat her
for the second time in ten weeks; and this time — as she had promised — she did
so far more convincingly. Both women had made excuses for their performances
last time, with Muñoz saying she had been ill and González, that she had had
insufficient time to prepare, that she was in fact the stronger of the two, and
that she could knock Muñoz out. Not last night, she couldn't. According to
Sergio Abarca (Notimex), 'The She-Wolf', Muñoz, was far superior from the start,
punishing her challenger for the NABF bantamweight title with blows to both head
and body, and systematically undermining her resistance to the point where
referee Evaristo Cedillo was forced to intervene and put a stop to the unequal
contest. So the fight lasted just over twelve minutes; and the arguments — that
had become quite bitter — about which of the two Mexican youngsters was in fact
the better prospect can now, one assumes, be laid to rest."
On October 28, 2006 at Arena Azteca Budokan in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina knocked out debuter Jessica Trejo from
Querétero in the first round of a scheduled
eight-rounder. WBAN
reported
that "Box Noticias
speculates that she was in a hurry to get to bed. Fighting in her home state, in
front of her own supporters, Muñoz ... went flat out from the opening bell. The
struggle was brief but cathartic ... Zulina got through with a combination,
followed by a right cross that caught Trejo on the left eye. And that was it.
Her knees wobbled and La Loba ... went for the kill: a murderous flurry
culminating in an uppercut with the right hand and a precision left to the jaw.
Whereupon the girl from Querétero hit the canvas ...".
On December 22, 2006 at Arena Azteca Budokan in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina knocked out debuter Kristina Koderre in the first round of a scheduled
eight-rounder.
On February 3, 2007 at Estadio Carlos Serdan in Veracruz, Mexico, Zulina TKO'd
local star Irazema de la Fuente of Veracruz at 1:50 in the fourth round of a
scheduled eight-rounder. As
reported on
WBAN: "(Muñoz)
travelled to Veracruz to confront another of the rising stars of Mexican boxing,
16-year-old Irazema de la Fuente – at that time (unofficially) 8 and 0 – in her
home town. A delicate mission, as she acknowledged in an interview with the
local paper. 'I'm here for one reason,' she confessed to Miguel Scagno, 'which
is to knock your girl out. They're trying to line me up a world title fight and
I need a convincing result. I prepare 100% per cent for all my fights –
for each fight as though it were my last – but for this one, I've prepared even
harder because she's going to be fighting in front of her own people, and that
always provides extra motivation.' Irazema, a Rubenesque young beauty 'who looks
more like a model,' noted Scagno, 'than a boxer, such is the flawlessness of her
complexion,' hadn't analyzed videos of 'La Loba' but had watched her shadow box
'which gives you a pretty good idea,' she explained, 'of the way someone
fights'. 'I have tremendous mobility in the ring; I can take a punch; and I have
a powerful right hand. I also have good technique, but if ever I do have to slug
it out with someone, I can. No one's ever beaten me and I never stop coming
forward.' De la Fuente knew that if she beat Muñoz, doors would open. But
it was not to be."
On April 21, 2007 at Arena Azteca Budokan in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina knocked out Jessica Trejo in the fourth round of a scheduler
eight-rounder, dropping her to 0-2. WBAN
reported that
"Last time Jessica Trejo of Querétaro tangled
with NABF bantamweight champion Zulina Muñoz, she didn't last two minutes ... on Saturday evening
she fared slightly better, detaining 20-year-old Zulina for all of four rounds,
but the result was no different This brings Muñoz's official record to 14-0-0
with 13 KOs. The irony is that she isn't a slugger; at least, that's not the way
she thinks of herself. "I'm a disciplined fighter," she told Miguel Scagno of
Notiver, "and I try also to be a stylist in the ring". One of Muñoz's great
strengths is that her left hand is almost as good as her right. And her
finishing, as befits a nurse, is 'clinical'. "When I've softened up an opponent
and it's time to take her out," she told Notiver, "I like to finish with her
that instant – the faster the better."
On June 29, 2007 at Deportivo Tlalli in Tlalnepantla, México, Zulina knocked
out Magdalena Leija in the seventh round of a ten-rounder for the NABF
Bantamweight title. With this loss, Leija fell to 0-2-1 in fights known to WBAN,
but Arturo Contreras at Notifight.com
gave her pre-fight record as 7-2-0 (5 KO's).
On July 13, 2007 at Auditorio Centenario in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico.
Zulina TKO'd debuter San Juana Castaneda in the second round of a scheduled
four-rounder.
Having built a stoppage-filled winning record in Mexico, Zulina Muñoz went for her first fight
abroad against a more formidable and experienced foe than before.
Alesia Graf (L) vs Zulina Muñoz in September 2007
On September 15, 2007 at Stadthalle in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany,
Alesia-Tamara Graf of Stuttgart, Germany defeated Zulina
by a ten-round unanimous
(97-92,96-93,97-92)
decision for the GBU Junior Bantamweight title.
After Muñoz
demanded a rematch, Graf stated,
"The Mexican can have a rematch if she likes to get hit so much. However,
then she'll get KO'd."
Muñoz fell to
16-1-0 (15 KOs) while the Belorussian-born
Graf improved her record to 18-1-0 (8 KO's).
Graf was ranked #4 in the world by WBAN going
into this fight, but Muñoz was unranked by us owing to the lower level of her
competition up to that point. The experience disparity did not faze Muñoz's manager
Mauro Ayala who had
stated that
"Alesia has been on the canvas a few times. One of those occasions was
to Alicia Ashley who does not hit very hard",
adding "we have studied the European style."
On February 23, 2008 at Auditorio de la Ciudad Deportiva in La Piedad,
Michoacán de Ocampo, México, Zulina returned to competition with a
third-round knockout of Jessica Trejo of Querétero, who fell to 0-3.
“Zulina finished her with a powerful
combination,”
reported
Esto, “a straight right followed by a left hook.” This scheduled
ten-rounder was Trejo's third loss to Muñoz.
On April 11, 2008 at Arena Azteca Budokan in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México,
Zulina again faced Fredee Gonzalez, this time winning a ten-round unanimous
decision. Gonzalez fell to 1-3-1.
On June 21, 2008 at Deportivo Benito Juárez, San Vicente Chicoloapan, México,
Zulina won a ten-round unanimous decision over Maria Elena
Villalobos for the vacant WBC International Bantamweight title. Villalobos fell
to 2-2 with this loss.
Zulina Muñoz vs Galina Ivanova in September 2008
On September 6, 2008
at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, México, Zulina (118 lbs) contested the WBC
Bantamweight title with Galina Koleva Ivanova (118
lbs) of Bulgaria, a well-traveled triple world champion whose international
experience included contests with Anita Christensen,
Esther Schouten, Bettina Csabi,
and Daisy Lang.
According to a report on
SDFights.com, "In round one, the southpaw Bulgarian seemed cool
and collected as she successfully boxed around the ring while Muñoz over
anxiously stalked her opponent but failing to cut off the ring. Ivanova
finished off the round by scoring with a right/left combination that quickly
became her weapon of choice. In the second, the pace quickened as Ivanova
opened the stanza by landing a big counter left to the jaw of Muñoz. Although
the Bulgarian continued to control the rhythm and pace of the bout, Muñoz began
to close the gap and began to land lead left hooks to the head of the champion.
In the third, Ivanova began to increase her movement and effectively slip the
body attack of Muñoz and in turn frustration began to show on the face of the
Mexican. Ivanova closes the round with another effective straight left that
shocks Muñoz. The middle rounds were more of the same as Ivanova circled to her
left, away from the right hand of Muñoz and effectively scored with right/left
straight punch combinations. By this point, it started to become apparent that
the frequent head bumps that were initiated by Ivanova were frustrating Muñoz as
much as the fact that the Mexican was ineffective at cutting off the ring of her
quick-footed rival. Zulina Muñoz had her best round in the seventh as she landed
a straight right/left hook to the head of Ivanova that stunned the champion and
allowed her to trap Ivanova against the ropes and attack the body. Muñoz opened
the eighth with a right hand but the quick right hand jab of Ivanova opened a
cut under the eye of the challenger. After the success of Muñoz in the seventh, Ivanova made it a point to box her outclassed opponent for the remainder of the
round. Although Muñoz had success in cutting off the ring in the ninth, Ivanova
was still able to control the action with her straight punches to the head of
Muñoz and finished off the bout with an impressive display of quick footwork
and even quicker hands." Judge Roman Cruz scored it 96-94 for Ivanova,
judge Ramon Espinoza had it as a 95-95 draw while judge Alejandro Rochin Mapula
saw it 96-94 for Muñoz. Ivanova moved her record to 9-6-3 (0 KO's).
Muñoz had returned to Germany for 25 days to prepare for her fight with Ivanova
at the invitation of
promoter Peter Kohl of Universum Boxing.
On April 18, 2009 at Gimansio Alexis Arguello in Managua, Nicaragua, Zulina
(122½ lbs) won an eight-round unanimous (80-72 x 3) deision over Paola Rojas
(122¾ lbs) of Cartagena, Colombia, who fell to 3-8-1 (1 KO).
On February 19, 2010 at Centro de Convenciones in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico,
Zulina (118lbs) won the vacant Mexican Bantamweight title with a first-round TKO
over Yolanda Segura (116¾ lbs) of Tampico, Mexico, who fell to 5-2 (4 KO's) with
the loss.
 On March 27, 2010 at Deportivo Trabajadores del Metro in Iztacalco, Distrito
Federal, Mexico, Zulina (116¾ lbs) won a hard-fought ten-round unanimous
(97-93,97-93,96-94) decision over Yazmin Rivas (115¾ lbs) of Torreon, Mexico for
the vacant WBC Youth Bantamweight title. According to local news reports,
Rivas won the first three rounds handily as
Muñoz initially had problems
defending her left hand, feints, and head movement, but Munoz rallied in the
later rounds to outscore Rivas with combinations. "Being world champion is
something indescribable, but I thank my family, my team, my manager and my agent
who gave me the support to defeat an opponent who was fighting as hard as I was"
said
Muñoz, who finished the bout with a swollen face and a split lip. Rivas
fell to 20-7-0 (8 KO's).
On May 15, 2010 at
Unidad
Deportivo Benito Juárez in San Vicente Chicoloapan,
México, Zulina (116¾ lbs) won a 10-round
unanimous (100-88 x 3) decision over Salma Canales (116¾
lbs) of Guadalajara,
México for
the WBC Youth Bantamweight title.
Zulina overcame an early
cut to her left eye that was caused by a clash of heads. Canales was deducted
two points, first for a head butt in the second round and then for holding in
the third.
The overmatched Canales fell to 0-3.
Zulina
Muñoz tested hard by Mayerlin Rivas in July 2010
On July 9, 2010 at the Gran Forúm in Mexico
City, Zulina (117 lbs) retained the
WBC Youth Bantamweight title with a majority (93-93-93-93,92-93)
draw against the feisty Mayerlin Rivas (116¾ lbs) of
Maracaibo, Venezuela. Rivas sent
Muñoz to the canvas in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.
The knockdown in the fifth came more from a push than a punch, but in the sixth
Muñoz was dropped by a clean one-two combination. However,
Rivas faded in the last three rounds of the fight while Munoz piled
on the pressure and squared the scorecards with some help from a point that was
deducted from Rivas in the ninth round.
Muñoz progressed to
23-1-2 (17 KO's) while Rivas's record moved to 6-1-1 (5
KO's). The
close result sparked controversy and Rivas' attorney Orangel "Memin" Ramos asked
WBC for an immediate rematch between the two boxers.
Other Zulina Muñoz links
-
Thirteen
Down
Ewan Whyte, WBAN, Apr 24 2007
-
Muñoz "unstoppable"
Ewan Whyte, WBAN, Nov 3 2006
-
Ready, Freedee? KO!
Ewan Whyte, WBAN, Sep 3 2008
-
Keeping the Wolf from the Jaw
Ewan Whyte, WBAN, May 28 2006 -
Muñoz
crushes Leija
Ewan Whyte, WBAN, May 1 2006
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, July 11, 2010 |
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