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Marcela Eliana Acuña (born 16 October 1976) is an
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
and part-time politician. She has held multiple
super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanct ...
world titles, including the IBF title since 2018; the WBA title from 2006 to 2008; the WBC title twice between 2008 and 2010; the WBO title from 2013 to 2014; the IBF title from 2016 to 2018; and the WBA interim
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, ...
title in 2016.


Early life

Acuña enjoyed boxing from a very early age. At the age of seven, she visited a boxing gym for the first time. Her first trainer, Ramon Chaparro, would many years later become her husband. Marcela Acuña became an accomplished
martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...
fighter before she decided to box for money. At the age of twelve, she had earned a black belt and she became South America's champion in her division by the age of fourteen. She made sixteen successful title defenses. She had to retire from karate due to pregnancy. In 1995, she and Chaparro had their first son. After some time away from combat sports, Acuña decided that she would return, only this time, she would compete in boxing.


Professional boxing career

Acuña made her professional debut on 5 December 1997 against Christy Martin in
Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale and 36 miles north of Miami. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part ...
, on an undercard that was headlined by Johnny Tapia's world championship defense against
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
's Andy Agosto and which was shown nationally across the United States. Acuña was dropped in round ten, but she rose and finished the bout on her feet. Despite losing a unanimous decision by scores of 100-90 and 99-90 (twice), Acuña's performance was hailed by many fans and critics alike, considering that this was her first professional boxing bout. In just her second professional fight she met Lucia Rijker on 25 September 1998, at
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, for the vacant IBO
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. Acuña was knocked out in five rounds. After losing her first two fights, Acuña stepped away from boxing.


Return to boxing

Acuña returned to boxing in 2001, and she and her rival, Jamillia Lawrence of
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, made Argentine boxing history when they participated in the first ever women's boxing fight to be sanctioned by the Argentine boxing commission. Acuña got her first win, with a four-round split decision over the American at
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, on 12 February of that year. On 1 June, she obtained a six-round unanimous decision win over Luz Marina Sanabria Ledesma of
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, at Formosa. Twenty eight days later, she got her first
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, ...
win, when she defeated
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
's Andrea Pereyra in only two rounds. On 11 August, she returned to Buenos Aires, to defeat Yolanda Marrugo, dropping her twice, on her way to a six-round unanimous decision. On September 21, she fought at Carlos Monzón's birthplace, Santa Fe, when she was rematched with Pereyra. Acuña knocked out Pereyra in five rounds, and Pereyra required hospitalization after this fight. Acuña was awarded the "La Opinion's 80th anniversary" trophy that night. On 12 October she knocked out Ana Dos Santos in two rounds, for her last appearance of 2001. Her first fight of 2002 was preceded by much media hype. She was challenged by famous fitness instructor Patricia Quirico, who herself was making her professional debut when she boxed Acuña. If for nothing else, the fight was widely expected because Quirico was a well known personality with developed body strength, who helped fan interest for the fight develop when she began to threaten Acuña through the media. Although she was 40 years old already, she seemed to feel an authentic dislike towards Acuña, and fans across Argentina spoke about the fight on the weeks prior to the event. The fact Quirico had participated in twenty three exhibition matches, as well as in karate and baseball also helped fan interest grow. They met on 19 January 2002, at Buenos Aires. Acuña scored one of the quickest knockouts in boxing history, when she landed a right to Quirico's chin right after the first bell rang, and followed it with a left that sent Quirico to the floor. Quirico was counted out and Acuña officially won the fight at fourteen seconds of round one. The win earned her the Argentine Featherweight title. On 1 March she had to fight one of her closest friends, Carmen Montiel, to defend her Argentina title. Acuña outpointed Montiel over ten rounds. Next, she would have had her second world title try, on 6 April against
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's Damaris Pinock Ortega, for the vacant WIBA title. The 2002 Argentine economic crisis, however, forced for the fight to be postponed. On 29 June she and Montiel had a rematch, and Acuña again prevailed, by an eight-round unanimous decision.


World championships

Acuña then lost weight, going down all the way to the Super Bantamweight division to get her second try at becoming a world champion. In what was the first ever women's boxing world championship fight to be staged in Argentina, Acuña lost a split decision to champion Alicia Ashley. Acuña then decided to take another two-year lay-off, but she had also decided to stay around the Super Bantamweight division's weight limit, because she wanted to fight in that division from there on. And when she returned for the second time, on 21 February 2003, she knocked out former Regina Halmich challenger Lourdes Gonzalez in two rounds to win the Argentine Super Bantamweight title. On 10 May she fought in a place where boxing matches are rare:
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
, where she knocked out Ana Davila Ferreira in two rounds. Then came a rematch with Ashley. On her third world title try, Acuña lost to Ashley for the second time, this time by a ten-round unanimous decision, on 14 June. On 22 August she and her friend Carmen Montiel met for the third time, and Acuña again beat Montiel on points, this time in six rounds. This victory set up the stage for Acuña's fourth world title try. On 6 December, she and Panamanian Pinock Ortega finally got to meet, and Acuña became world champion when she knocked out Ortega in the sixth round for the vacant WIBA Super Bantamweight title. On 26 May 2004, she made her first world championship defense, knocking out Daysi Padilla in the first round. Padilla, who had former world champion Ricardo Cardona at her corner, also required a short stay at a hospital. On 11 September 2004, Acuña knocked out Ana Camilla Santos in the third round of a non-title bout. On 22 January 2005, she knocked out Maria Elena Miranda in three rounds to win the WIBA's vacant world Featherweight title, at Formosa. In May 2019 she fought former world champion Jackie Nava to a draw. In October 2023 she lost to former world champion Sarah Mahfoud, via unanimous decision.


Professional boxing record


Politics

In 2009 she was fourth on the Peronist list running for city council in Tres de Febrero Partido.


See also

*
List of female boxers This is a list of notable female Women's boxing, boxers. For a list of notable male boxers, see List of male boxers. A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z See also

{{Portal, Martial arts ...


References


External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Acuña, Marcela 1976 births Living people Argentine women boxers Sportspeople from Formosa, Argentina World super-bantamweight boxing champions World Boxing Organization champions World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Association champions International Boxing Federation champions Women's International Boxing Association champions Argentine female karateka