Yulihan Luna Puts on Impressive Performance in Rematch with Jessica Gonzalez
On June 17, WBC bantamweight champion Yulihan “La Cobrita” Luna (24-3-1, 4KO) put the belt on the line against nemesis Jessica “Magnifica” Gonzalez (8-6-2, 1KO) in a rematch.
In this tale of two fighters, one went on to achieve success while the other has fallen off the radar. In 2014, a much younger Avila lost to the older Gonzalez via unanimous decision. Since then, Luna has recovered tremendously, and one of her biggest moments in boxing was defeating living legend Mariana Juarez for the WBC title. She is currently enjoying a seven-fight win streak
Gonzalez has struggled since losing two title fights against former WBA Super bantamweight champion Liliana Palmera and former WBA Super featherweight champion Hyun Mi Choi. She is 2-4-2 since defeating Avila.
AGGRESSION EARLY IN THE FIGHT
Gonzalez, feeling extremely confident, came into the fight applying the pressure on the champion. She stayed in Luna’s chest, and it was causing a lot of problems early in the fight. However, Luna came charging back after gaining her composure with the jab followed by the overhand right.
Luna neutralized her nemesis’s aggression by using her superior boxing skills and kept the fight at a mid-range distance. In round five, after being peppered by the jab and the right hand, Gonzalez shoved the shoulder in the face of Luna in the clinches. The referee wasted little time and immediately took away one point.
SWEET REVENGE
Luna started to pull away as the fight went on, landing at will by finding a home for the left hook and straight right hand. In round eight, she landed two brutal left hooks that knocked the sweat off of Gonzalez, whose face showed the effects of taking too many flush shots.
In the last two rounds, Luna kicked it up a notch by landing the straight right hand and followed up everything with the jab. Gonzalez continued to press forward and landed a good left hook but took two left hooks in return. At the sound of the final bell, Luna jumped up and down believing that she had finally gotten revenge.
After eight long years, Luna scored an impressive performance en route to retaining the title. With this monkey off her back, it is time for the champion to look toward unification.
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By: Garrisson Bland
