Belinda Laracuente
Belinda Laracuente (born 1980) Bridgeport, Connecticut is a women's boxing competitor who hails from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico where she lives since 1989. Her nickname is Brown Sugar.[1]
Laracuente's debut as a professional boxer came against Karen Nye, whom Laracuente beat. Soon, she would fight former world champion Cora Webber, but she lost that fight.
She got back into the winning track until, on October 10, 1999, she had to settle for a draw in four rounds with Jeanne Martinez. After winning her next fight, she went to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where she got arrested the night before the fight for gambling before reaching that state's legal age for that activity. She spent a night in jail, and to make matters worse, lost a decision in ten rounds to Denise Moraetes.
In her next bout, Belinda beat future world champion Daniela Somers by a unanimous eight round decision in Miami. After Somers went on to win the world title by beating Leah Melinger, Laracuente asked for a rematch but with the world title on the line, but was denied by Somers' management.
She went on to win three more bouts in a row, and then she faced Zulfia Koutdoussova, losing a ten round split decision to her.
Next came Belinda's first world title try. Faced with world champion Christy Martin at the Félix Trinidad-David Reid Pay Per View undercard, Laracuente lost a decision in eight rounds, in a bout that HBO Boxing commentator Jim Lampley said that he personally thought Laracuente should have won it by 78 to 74 on his unofficial score.
After losing one more fight, she retired, but in December 2002 she announced she had plans to return into the boxing ring, with hopes of getting a new world title chance.
On May 14, 2005, she finally returned, losing an eight round decision to Mary Jo Sanders, in Kinder, Louisiana.
On July 8, she fought Italian-American Missy Fiorentino on short notice, losing a six round unanimous decision to the unbeated prospect.
In 2008, she appeared as a defendant on The People's Court. She was sued by a one-time cornerman who claimed Belinda never paid him for his services. The cornerman had sued for $2500 of her $7000 purse, plus an additional $2500 for embarrassment and threats, but was awarded only $350 by judge Marilyn Milian.
She also appeared in an episode of MADE when a tennager named Wyatt was being Made into a boxer. She was in a boxing match in the episode but lost
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans