Clara Lescurat successfully defends WBA 115-pound title in Paris

WBA women's junior bantamweight titlist Clara Lescurat (right) and Daniela De Jesus Aguilar. Photo courtesy of Diego Valenzuela

May

by Anson Wainwright |

Clara Lescurat successfully defended her WBA junior bantamweight title with an eighth round stoppage over Daniela De Jesus Aguilar inside the famous ballroom at the opulent Intercontinental Hotel, Paris, France, on Wednesday.

Hotel Intercontinental, Paris, France. Photo credit: Anson Wainwright

Lescurat, who turned 35 five days ago, dominated her Brazilian opponent from the onset. The Argentine had too much know-how and ring smarts and bounced right hands off Aguilar. Ultimately Lescurat forced the referee to jump in to save her opponent, who wasn’t fighting back at all.

WBA women’s junior bantamweight titlist Clara Lescurat (right) nails Daniela De Jesus Aguilar with a right hand during their bout in Paris, France, on May 17, 2023. Photo credit: Diego Valenzuela.

Lescurat joins celebrated countrymen Carlos Monzon, Juan Coggi and Omar Narvaez in defending a world title on French soil. She moves to 9-0 with 4 knockouts, while Aguilar drops to 7-2 with 5 KOs.

Cuban cruiserweight Lenar Perez took seven rounds to get rid of Julio César Calimeno on his return after a 15-month hiatus from boxing.

Perez (11-0, 11 KOs) took his time to shake off the ring rust but, as the fight got to the later stages, he began to zero in on keeping his perfect knockout record. It came midway through the seventh round when he dropped Calimeno (6-3, 5 KOs).

The Colombian was bleeding from the mouth and had enough, as the referee waived off the bout.

Perez, who had a strong amateur background, is a work in progress but, at 25, he has time to work his way into the cruiserweight division with many of the top fighters now on the wrong side of 30.

Russian-born lightweight Yurik Mamedov (17-2-1, 7 KOs) won a controversial 10-round split decision over Argentine import Facundo Arce (15-11-2, 7 KOs). Arce rocked and backed up Mamedov in the second round and continued to be the aggressor. Round 5 was also a good round for the visitor, who got Mamedov’s attention with several right hands. Arce looked like a worthy winner at the end of the fight; however one judge scored the fight 96-94 but was outvoted 97-93 and 96-94.

In middleweight action, Bilel Jkitou (16-2, 7 KOs) snapped a two-fight losing streak by scoring a fifth round stoppage over Panama’s Omir Rodriguez (13-7-1, 6 KOs).

Lightweight Khalil El Hadri (15-2, 8 KOs) kicked off the action winning a six-round unanimous decision over journeyman Sylvain Chappelle (18-35-2).