Other Title Fights From Around The World

Today, boxing world title fights take place around the globe and are more accessible to watch than ever before. Sometimes, however, certain championship bouts do not receive as much attention and go underreported. Big Fight Weekend is committed to writing about boxing news, previews, and recaps. As such, the site now has a recurring segment on world title bouts from around the world from the past week. It will recap fights that have not already been covered by the site, with a specific focus on clashes ranging from atomweight to heavyweight that had the WBA, WBC, IBF, and/or WBO titles on the line.

Today’s edition of “Other Title Fights From Around The World” consists of two recaps. The first is of a heavyweight title defense that occurred not in Poland, but in New Zealand. Over in Xochitepec, Mexico, a super bantamweight championship bout took place. Big Fight Weekend brings you the details.

Daniels-Mohammed recap

IBF heavyweight champion Lani Daniels (9-2-2, 1 KO) made the first defense of her title over South African Razel Mohammad (3-1-2, 0 KOs). The bout took place at the Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand on August 26. Using her superior reach, Daniels dominated the clash, landing several clean punches to the head. This continued until round four as the referee stepped in to put a halt to the contest. For Daniels, this was her first ever knockout win in the professional ranks.

Daniels won the IBF title on May 27 earlier this year. At the time of writing, Daniels is among the few active heavyweights in women’s boxing. In fact, she is the only active heavyweight champion. (Hanna Gabriels is still shown as the WBC titleholder, but she was set to face Claressa Shields at middleweight before testing positive for a banned substance).

“It’s one thing to win a world title but it’s definitely another thing defending it and I didn’t know if I was going to walk out but it was lucky my whānau had my back because otherwise I would’ve stayed in the changing rooms!” said Daniels after the bout.

Mercado-Valenzuela recap

WBC super bantamweight champion Yamileth Mercado (22-3, 5 KOs) successfully defended her title for a sixth time against Paulette Valenzuela (16-3, 4 KOs). The fight took place at the Morelos Convention Center in Mexico on August 26. Mercado won the contest via unanimous decision with scores of 98-92 (x2) and 97-93.

Valenzuela put in a valiant effort but was unable to deal with the aggression and speed of Mercado. She also suffered a cut above the left eye which happened as a result of a right hand from Mercado. This occurred in round five and Mercado continued to exploit that area until the very end of the contest. Back in November 2019, Mercado first won her title and has been able to defend it with success up till now. She claimed post-fight that her next defense would be abroad but did not specify the location or whom she would be facing.