WBA Flyweight World Title Showdown Down Under – World Boxing Association
This April 25 in Queensland, Australia, veteran Argentine warrior MarÃa Magdalena Rivera steps into the ring to face Colombia’s hard-hitting Viviana Ruiz in a clash for the WBA Interim World Flyweight Championship.
Rivera, 44, brings a wealth of experience into the bout, sporting a professional record of 14 wins, 6 losses, and 3 draws. She’s riding momentum with four wins in her last five outings — all in her native Argentina — with her sole recent setback coming on the road in Germany against Phannarai Netisri.
Her most recent fight saw her edge out Jacqueline Calvo in a controversial contest. The bout was halted due to an apparent eye injury from repeated head clashes, but post-fight exams revealed no clear damage to Calvo’s eye — raising some eyebrows in the boxing community.
On the other side of the ring will be 42-year-old Colombian slugger Viviana Ruiz, who enters with a solid 9-2 record, including 5 wins by knockout. Ruiz, now based in Australia, will have the hometown edge fighting on familiar turf.
She’s coming off an emphatic knockout victory over Jittamat Phonta in Thailand, and has notched three stoppages in her last four wins — making her a serious threat in this high-stakes title bout.