Maribel Zurita
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Maribel "Little Thunder" Zurita (born January 14, 1979) is the WIBA Light Flyweight World Champion and former IFBA Flyweight World Champion in women's boxing. She fights out of San Antonio, Texas and is trained by Tony Ayala Sr.
Zurita made her pro boxing debut on July 31, 2001 at Sunset Station in San Antonio, Texas, easily winning a four-round decision over debut fighter Anna Mora. According to a ringside report from Esteban Erik Stipnieks, "Maribel quickly won over the fans and dominated the fight. It was four rounds of Maribel flaunting her amateur background. Mora made it interesting by holding on and making an occasional counter but this fight was made for Zurita."
On October 26, 2001 at Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, WIBF Americas Junior Flyweight champion Juana (Jay) Vega of Austin won a four-round unanimous decision over Zurita in a flyweight bout. Vega improved to 5-0 (2 KO) while Zurita slipped to 1-1 after a tough second match.
On January 25, 2002 at Randy's Ballroom in San Antonio, Zurita and debut fighter Gracie Olivarez of Houston fought to a majority draw over four rounds.
On January 31, 2002 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, Minnesota, Zurita won a four-round unanimous decision over Shannon Brown of Bull Head, South Dakota, who fell to 1-3.
On May 3, 2002 at Randy's Ballroom in San Antonio, Zurita won a unanimous four-round decision over Gracie Olivarez in a closely-fought bout carried live on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights. Zurita kept moving forward to work inside the taller Olivarez's reach advantage but Olivarez appeared to be solving her aggressive style better as the fight went on.
On June 21, 2002 at Sunset Station in San Antonio, a standing-room-only crowd of about 2,000 saw WIBF Americas Junior Flyweight champion Juana (Jay) Vega advance to 6-1-0 (1 KO) with a six-round unanimous decision over Zurita.
On August 16, 2002 at Sunset Station in San Antonio, Zurita won a four-round unanimous decision over Terri Moss of Athens, Georgia. Moss gave Zurita all she could handle for one round but Zurita adapted and was able to work her way inside successfully on the taller fighter for the next three rounds. Zurita asserted control in the second round and ended it with a five-punch flurry, then went to her corner waving her right fist in the air. Zurita had Moss hurt repeatedly in the later rounds as she pressed her attack with a left hook and straight right.
On November 14, 2002 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Patricia Martinez of Miami won a unanimous (40-36) four-round decision over Zurita in a flyweight bout. Both had their moments in this fight but Martinez thrived on trading with Zurita, bloodied her nose in the opening round and continued to control the fight with her aggression and accurate punching. The fans loudly appreciated the effort and sportsmanship displayed by both contestants. Martinez advanced to 9-1-0 (3 KO) with the win while dropping Zurita's record to 4-3-1 (0 KO).
On February 20, 2003 at Renaissance Hotel in Austin, Texas, Anissa Zamarron won a six-round split decision over Maribel. Zamarron improved to 15-10-2 (5 KO).
On May 16, 2003 at Sunset Station in San Antonio, Zurita won a six-round unanimous decision over Juana (Jay) Vega of Austin, reversing their previous result at this location. Vega fell to 6-2-0 (1 KO).
On February 12, 2004 in Austin, Texas, Anissa Zamarron won a controversial 8-round unanimous decision over Zurita for the Texas State Junior Flyweight title. Zamarron was now 16-10-2 (5 KO).
On September 18, 2004 at Jinseon Girls' High School in Seoul, Korea, 1000 fans saw Maribel Zurita win a ten-round unanimous (96-95 96-94 97-96) decision over Korea's Shin Hee Choi for the vacant IFBA Flyweight title. Zurita finished the fight with a big final round to make sure of the decision. Choi fell to 4-1 (1 KO) with this loss while Zurita improved to 6-5-1 (0 KO).
On March 30, 2005 at Sunrise International Ballroom in Shenyang, China, Zurita lost the IFBA Flyweight title in a rematch with Shin Hee Choi of South Korea by a badly split decision under controversial circumstances. Referee Byungk Kim of South Korea, stopped the bout in the eighth round when Choi was badly cut by what was ruled as a head-butt. The bout went to the scorecards where South Koreans Kwang Woo Kim and Jaebung Kim had both scored it 68-65 for Choi while American judge Bruce Anderson had scored it 70-64 for Zurita, giving Zurita every round on his scorecard. Many reports said that both the stoppage and the scoring were questionable and that Zurita deserved to win the fight. Maribel's manager and trainer Tony Ayala Sr. filed a protest with the IFBA to review the stoppage. The IFBA agreed to review the result but awarded the title to Shin Hee Choi.
On August 19, 2005 at the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas, Zurita won the vacant WIBA Light Flyweight World Title with a 10 round unanimous (98-92 98-92 99-91) decision over Sachiyo Shibata of Japan. This fight was a war from start to finish, with Shibata forcing the action with her relentless, non-stop style. Zurita fought her in spots, and troubled Shibata with angles and counterpunching. San Antonio reporter John Whisler called the bout "San Antonio's Fight of the Year." Zurita raised her record to 7-6-1 with 1 KO. Shibata fell to 9-2 with 7 KOs.
