Jackie Nava Batters Mayra Gomez Into Submission
By Jake Donovan
Rosarito, BC, Mexico--The ageless Jackie Nava cruised to her eighth straight win following a one-sided six-round beatdown of Mayra Gomez in their super bantamweight title fight Saturday evening in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico.
Nava isn't generally known for her knockout power, but found her opponent's leaky defense all too inviting. Round after round saw the local favorite pile up points and push Gomez closer to the brink.
No knockdowns came of the evening, but the final sequence of the night saw Nava scoring with a series of head shots. Gomez was near defenseless with her back up against the ropes when referee Rocky Burke recognized a beaten fighter, thus stopping the contest.
The official time was 1:22 of round six.
Nava cruises to 32-4-1 (14KOs), making the sixth consecutive defense of at least one alphabet title and her second straight unified title defense.
The bout headlined live on beIN Sport Español.
UNDERCARD
Luis Nery remains perfect through 18 fights, as the Tijuana southpaw forced Jether Oliva to quit after four rounds of action in the bantamweight division.
The flow of traffic was established early. Nery proved his dominance whether boxing or planting his feet and trading, with Oliva offering little more than what would be gained from any given sparring session.
A combination had Oliva (22-3-2, 10KOs) hurt late in round four, with a clean-up right hook putting him on the canvas. The visiting Filipino beat the count and survived the round, but was encouraged to remain on his stool prior to the start of round five.
Nery advances to 16-0 (10KOs) with the win, having now picked up stoppages in five of his past six contests.
Melissa McMorrow (10-5-3, 1KO) pulled off a major upset in outpointing previously unbeaten Kenia Enriquez (13-1, 6KOs) over 10 rounds. The American flyweight was a bit too much for the local favorite, and managed to escape with a well-earned split decision win to claim a flyweight title in the process.
Angel Rodriguez (11-1, 5KOs) earned his third consecutive win following a six-round unanimous decision over Orestes Pereyra (13-3, 10KO). Scores were 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56 in their chief support.
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
