She is back! On May 24 at the Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana, Mexico, Jackie “La Princesa Azteca” Nava, 122, returned to the ring after a 21-month layoff (childbirth) and became a super bantamweight champion for the fifth time winning the WBA version with a seventh round knockout of Alys “La China” Sánchez, 122.
It was the first stoppage loss for the 27-year-old Sánchez (12-2-1, 4 KOs) Maracay, Venezuela, who in 2012, held the WBA super bantamweight title on an interim basis.
Whatever rust the 34-year-old Nava (29-4-3, 13 KOs) failed to work off in training, was shaken off when she tasted the canvas after absorbing a long, clubbing right cross from Sánchez. The flash knockdown did more to awaken a sleeping giant that did it lend confidence to the fighter that scored the blow. After the knockdown, Nava relentlessly and with bad intentions, pursued her outgunned opponent with a two-fisted attack landing often to the body and head.
Nava, successful in stalking and cutting down the ring, forced Sánchez into enough exchanges that she scored two knock-downs with the right hand in the fourth; and was pulverizing Sánchez so badly that she was out on her feet as the bell echoed the end of the round. Sánchez hit the deck twice more in the sixth although the assigned referee generously ruled one trip a slip nullifying a knockdown. In the seventh, a Nava combination opens a cut on the left eyelid of Sánchez, who kneeled in a corner causing a referee stoppage and a knockout win for the 34-year-old Nava.
With the win, Nava looks to have regained the form that allowed her to twice compete on an even basis with all-time great Ana Maria Torres (D-10, L-10). Her return makes for some interesting match making possibilities at super bantamweight with Yesica Patricia Marcos, Alicia Ashley, and Marcela Eilana Acuna.
Top 5 super bantamweights:
1- Marcela Eilana Acuna (Argentina)
2- Jackie Nava (Mexico)
3- Yesica Patricia Marcos (Argentina)
4- Alicia Ashley (USA)
5- Yazmin Rivas (Mexico)
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