RAMA, ONT.?As heavyweights Neven Pajkic and Greg Kielsa trudged through their post-fight news conference Maria Elena Villalobos, loser of Wednesday?s co-feature, sat in the back row, munching on popcorn.
Minutes later Ana ?Hurricane? Julaton strolled into the room and parked next to the dais, flanked by trainer Freddie Roach and sporting a pair of shades that covered her swollen left eye.
Julaton, who hopes to combine fashion-model looks with championship talent to become women?s boxing?s next crossover superstar, claimed a split decision over Villalobos to win the WBO Women?s 122-pound title.
But the pretty girl won ugly, and the fans at Casino Rama let her know it.
While Julaton (7-2-1,1KO) prevailed on two of the three judges? scorecards, many fans felt Villalobos, the more aggressive fighter through all 10 rounds deserved the decision.
?I feel like a champion without a crown,? said Mexico City?s Villalobos. ?The public saw me win.?
When the ring announcer read the scores many fans groaned, and when Julaton tried to conduct a post-fight interview in the ring they booed loudly.
And they had a point.
Three months ago Julaton swooped into Casino Rama with a groundswell of hype ? ESPN had filmed a feature on her for their magazine show E:60 ? but then lost a lopsided decision, to Toronto?s Lisa Brown.
After that fight she reunited with Freddie Roach, the trainer who helped make Manny Pacquiao into the world?s top fighter and who guided Julaton through the first three years of her pro career.
And early in Wednesday night?s fight Julaton, 29, appeared more composed and assertive than she had against Brown. As Villalobos plodded forward blunted her momentum with stiff left jabs.
But Villalobos (6-4, 3KO) kept pressing forward, clubbing at Julaton?s ribcage with lefts and rights.
In the third round Villalobos wobbled Julaton with a combination of roundhouse shots, and briefly Julaton?s gloves hit the canvas. The referee could have ruled the sequence a knockdown, a call that likely would have earned Villalobos an extra point on the judges? scorecards.
Instead he told the two women to keep fight.
As the rounds wore on the fight assumed a familiar pattern ? Julaton winning early with jabs and movement, Villalobos taking over with a withering body attack and overhand rights that crashed into Julaton?s face.
The more punches Villalobos landed, the more Julaton wanted to rumble, which was just what Roach didn?t want.
?I thought we could win the fight easy if she used the jab correctly.? Roach said. ?She used it OK. . . . She wants to be a tough girl. I wanted her to box.
By the fight?s midway point Julaton?s left eye had swollen shut and turned purple, but Villalobos refused to turn down the pressure.
?If you?re a boxer you?ve got to expect that,? Julaton said. ?Obviously it?s going to cause a distraction but I felt like I dealt with it well.?
Two of the fight?s official judges scored the fight 96-94 for Julaton, while a third scored it 97-94 for Villalobos.
The Star scored the fight 98-92 for Villalobos.
In the co-main event, Pajkic retained the Canadian heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Kielsa, a Polish Olympian who lives in Brampton. The win extends Pajkic?s record to 13-0 (5KO), while the loss is the second straight for Kielsa, who dropped the Canadian title to Pajkic in March.
On the undercard, former Maple Leaf enforcer Nathan Perrott met transplanted Russian Artem Lipanov, and learned a brief and brutal lesson in the fine points of fighting on dry land.
Lipanov dropped Perrott twice and bloodied his nose before the referee stopped the bout at the end of the first round.
