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Anne Sophie Mathis proved that
she is still one of the best
female boxers in the world, when
she beat Dominican Yahaira
Hernandez to win the vacant
World Boxing Federation World
Super Welterweight title on
Saturday night, June 1, at the
Salle Roger Boileau in Dombasle,
France.
After two straight losses to
Holly Holm, to whom she lost her
WBF World Welterweight title,
and Cecilia Braekhus, Mathis
returned at her new weight with
clear determination to show her
hometown fans that she is back
and on the hunt for a rematch
with Braekhus.
Yahaira Hernandez started the
fight fast, and seemed to
surprise Mathis with her
aggressiveness. The 25-year-old
from Santo Domingo was probably
winning the first round, until
Mathis countered her with a
well-timed uppercut to score a
knockdown.
From then on the fight was an
all-out war with both fighters
throwing bombs and the crowd
going wild. Mathis, however, was
the more accurate of the two and
thus won the rounds, but
Hernandez fought her heart out
in what was a competitive and
brutal bout.
In round three an accidental
clash of heads opened a nasty
cut above the right eye of
Hernandez, but she was allowed
to continue by referee Toni
Tiberi and the ringside doctor.
In round five, as they both
continued to slug away, Mathis
landed a massive shot to the
liver of Hernandez who turned
away in pain. She couldn’t
recover, and Tiberi counted her
out at 1:59 of the round.
With the impressive victory
Mathis improved her professional
record to 27-3 (23), and became
only the third woman boxer to
win a WBF World title in two
weight classes. Hernandez can
travel home to the Dominican
Republic proud of her
performance, and with a record
that now stands at 14-5 (8).
The fight was promoted by Mathis
long-time trainer and manager
René Cordier in cooperation with
co-manager and agent Christel
Aujoux.
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