Nicola Adams Happy to Fight for Her Title!
For a number of reasons Nicola “The Lioness” Adams is eager to defend her WBO world flyweight title on September 27 against Maria “Polvorita” Salinas (21-7-3, 7 KO’s). In all actuality it will be the first time that she defends, or even fights for, the WBO strap.
Adams and Salinas will collide at Royal Albert Hall, located in Kensington, London on the undercard of Daniel DuBois v Ebenezer Tetteh. Both prizefights will air live on ESPN+.
BUZZKILL TITLE TRANSFER
Originally, Adams was scheduled to face Arely “Ametralladora” Mucino (28-3-2, 10 KO’s) for the belt. Mucino would withdraw from the contest due to injury. When that fight was contracted, Muncio was the actual WBO flyweight champion while Adams was the interim champion. The bout would have marked Mucino’s fourth defense of her title.
In an interview with Boxing Social, the champ gives her take on the situation.
“It’s been a long time waiting and then to receive the title and not have to fight for it was, you know, kind of a love hate thing. I was happy I won, but I did all that training just to fight for the title.
“So now it feels like on Friday night in the Royal Albert Hall, I’ll be crowned the real champion. It’ll feel like it’s a real world title to me then.”
Unfortunately, Mucino was involved in a car accident and suffered a number of injuries that prevented her from competing. Due to the situation, the Lioness was elevated to the full champion. When Mucino is ready to compete again, she is guaranteed a direct shot at her former title.
ANOTHER SHOT AT THE WBO
Outside of the odd events surrounding her acquisition of the title, Adams has not fought since October of 2018. So, not only is the Yorkshire fighter anxious to defend her title, she is restless to simply get back in the ring and compete period! The two-time gold medalist understands that she, like all fighters, will only remain sharp if she remains active.
“Yeah, there might be a little bit of ring rust, but I’ve done some really good sparring in the gym. I’ve been sparring Kid Galahad. As you know, he’s hard to hit and a smooth operator, so if I can catch him in the ring I can catch anybody.”
Ironically, Salinas suffered her last loss when challenging the aforementioned Arely Mucino forthe same title. In fact, Salinas has lost, or drew, in all her attempts at titles. On Friday, the hard-charging Mexican boxer hopes to change her luck in these step-up bouts. Needless to say, Adams will not be in the business of making that attempt any easier.
“She’s [Salinas] a come forward fighter, in your face, very aggressive, which suits me down to a tee. She tries to box, I’ve got a game plan for that. I just feel like I’ll be too big, too strong and my arms are too long.
“[…] I’d love to be able to put on a great performance, first round knockout ‘BAM,’ it’s over! You know, I’d love that. If that happens, you know great. That’d be ideal, but I’m just going to take my time, you know, don’t rush anything and if the knockout happens, it happens.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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