Anahí Ester Sánchez (born 21 July 1991) is an Argentine

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. She is a three-weight world champion, having held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

female

super-featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New Yo ...

title in 2016; the WBA female

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title in 2017; and the WBA female

super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title in 2019. She also held the WBA

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

female

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

title in 2015 and the WBA interim female

super-lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title from 2018 to 2019, and challenged for the WBC and IBF female super-featherweight, and WBC female super-lightweight titles between 2016 and 2019.

Professional career

Sánchez made her professional debut on 15 November 2013, scoring a first-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) victory against Lorena Noemi Gomez at the Gimnasio Municipal in

Pergamino Pergamino () is an Argentine city in the Buenos Aires Province, Province of Buenos Aires. It has a population of about 104,985 inhabitants as per the and is the administrative seat of its county, Pergamino Partido. Its UN/LOCODE is ARPGO. History ...

, Argentina. After compiling a record of 6–0 (2 KOs) she faced Maria Soledad Capriolo for the vacant South American

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title on 15 May 2015, at the Gimnasio Municipal. Sánchez defeated Capriolo via first-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(KO) to capture her first professional title.

Featherweight

After three more wins, one by stoppage, she faced former IBF female featherweight and reigning WBA

female featherweight champion Dahiana Santana on 14 August 2015 at the Club Comunaciones in Pergamino. Sánchez captured her first title from a major sanctioning body, albeit an interim version, after defeating Santana by a wide

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(UD) over ten rounds. One judge scored the bout 99–91 while the other two scored it 97–93.

Super featherweight

She successfully defended her interim title with a third-round TKO against Ana Maria Lozano in November, before facing Areti Mastrodouka for the vacant IBF female super featherweight title on 19 March 2016 at the Club Comunicaciones. Sánchez captured her first full world title, scoring a fifth-round stoppage victory via

corner retirement A corner retirement or corner stoppage – abbreviated "RTD (Retired)" by BoxRec – are terms used in boxing to describe a fight that ends when, during any rest period between rounds, a boxer refuses to continue or their corner pulls them out, t ...

(RTD) after Mastrodouka informed her

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that she no longer wished to continue at the end of the round. After defending her IBF title with a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and others sports involving striking. In a majority decision, two of the three judges agree on which ...

(MD) victory against Tamara Marianela Nuñez in July, Sánchez was stripped of the title after it was revealed the promoter of the fight failed to obtain the necessary licences. In her next fight she challenged WBC female super featherweight champion

Eva Wahlström Eva Ulrika Birgitta Räsänen ( Wahlström; born 30 October 1980) is a Finnish former professional boxer who competed from 2010 to 2020. She held the WBC female super-featherweight title from 2015 to 2020 and at regional level the European femal ...

on 17 December 2016 at the

Hartwall Arena Helsinki Halli (formerly Hartwall Arena) is a large multi-functional indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. It was opened in April 1997. The arena is convertible for various events. The total seated capacity during ice hockey games is 13,34 ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. Sánchez suffered the first defeat of her professional career, losing by UD with judges' scorecards reading 98–92 and 97–94 twice. She bounced back from defeat with a first-round TKO victory against Verena Crespo in March 2017, before attempting to regain the IBF title, she was stripped of, facing reigning champion

Maïva Hamadouche Maïva Hamadouche (born 4 November 1989) is a French professional boxer and police officer who held the IBF female super-featherweight title from 2016 to November 2021. At regional level, she held the French female lightweight title in 2014 and ...

on 18 May at the

Cirque d'hiver The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles Calvaires and rue Amelot, Paris 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, i ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France. Sánchez failed in her attempt, losing by fourth-round TKO.

Lightweight

Following her second professional defeat she moved up a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

, defeating Maria Carina Brito via first-round

(KO). Sánchez' second fight at her new weight came against Cecilia Sofia Mena for the vacant WBA female lightweight title on 9 September 2017 at the Club Defensores de Villa Lujan in

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (; usually called simply Tucumán) is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario an ...

, Argentina. Sánchez defeated Mena via sixth-round TKO, capturing the WBA title to become a two-weight world champion. Two days after capturing the WBA title, British promoter

Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter who is chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn is the son of promoter Barry Hearn, the founder of Matchroom Sport. Education Hearn was a student a ...

announced that a deal had been made for Sánchez to face 2012 Olympic gold medalist

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the ...

on 28 October 2017 at the

Principality Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales, live on

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as part of the

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for

Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between defending unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO world champion Anthony Joshua and IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. The event took place on 12 ...

(Pulev was later replaced by Carlos Takam). Before the fight, Sánchez was stripped of her title for failing to weigh in under the lightweight limit, meaning the WBA title would only be on the line of Taylor. In a fight which saw Sánchez dropped to the canvas from a left hand to the ribs in the second round, she went on to suffer her third professional defeat, losing by a wide UD with all three judges scoring the bout 99–90.

Super lightweight

Following the defeat to Taylor, Sánchez once again moved up in weight to the

division. Her first fight at the weight was a fifth-round KO victory against Ruth Stephanie Aquino in February 2018. Sánchez next fought former world title challenger Diana Ayala for the vacant WBA interim female super lightweight title on 20 April at the Club Comunicaciones. Sánchez defeated Ayala via first-round KO to capture a title in a third division. After being elevated from interim to full WBA female super lightweight champion, Sánchez faced WBC champion

Jessica McCaskill Jessica McCaskill (born September 8, 1984) is an American professional boxer. She is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the undisputed, IBO, and ''Ring'' female welterweight titles since 2020; the WBC female super lightweight t ...

in a unification bout on 25 May 2019 at the

MGM National Harbor MGM National Harbor is a casino hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. It opened on December 8, 2016, constructed at a cost of $1.4 billion. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International. ...

Oxon Hill, Maryland Oxon Hill is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, located southeast of the dow ...

. After having success in the first half of the fight, Sánchez went on to lose by a wide UD, with the judges' scorecards reading 98–91, 98–92, and 96–94. Her next fight was a WBC final eliminator—with the winner securing a shot at former conqueror Jessica McCaskill—against former IBO female lightweight champion

Chantelle Cameron Chantelle Cameron (born 14 May 1991) is a British professional boxer. She is a world champion in two weight classes and the current undisputed light-welterweight champion, having held the WBC title since 2020; the IBF and ''Ring'' magazine tit ...

on 9 November 2019 at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. Sánchez suffered a knockdown in the ninth round en route to a wide UD defeat, with two judges scoring the bout 100–89 and the third scoring it 99–90.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Anahi Ester Living people 1991 births Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine women boxers Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers World super-featherweight boxing champions World lightweight boxing champions World light-welterweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions International Boxing Federation champions People from Pergamino