Bernice Ferreira won the women’s World Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight title in Atlanta on Saturday night when champion Caroline Veyre was disqualified for holding in the eighth round.
Unbeaten Ferreira, whose marginal International Boxing Organisation belt was also on the line in this unification bout, improved her record to 11 wins (4 KOs), while France-born Canadian Veyre dropped to 11-2.
Veyre had already been deducted two points for holding — once in the fourth and again in the seventh — and she was warned on several other occasions during the contest, yet she was still competitive.
Ferreira, who started the first round boxing on the back foot and using her jab well, pressed the attack for much of the fight, living up to her moniker, “The Badger”.
Veyre, who was deducted two points in her previous fight, was found wanting on the inside.
Her holding wasn’t the result of fatigue — as is often the case — but rather a technical inability to box at close quarters.
On the outside she handled herself well, at times landing accurate combinations that forced Ferreira to retreat.
The ending was a little anti-climactic, with no celebrations coming from the new champion’s cornermen, Bernie Pailman and Colin Nathan.
The victory makes Ferreira South Africa’s first female WBC titleholder and fifth overall, after Sugar Boy Malinga, Dingaan Thobela, Kevin Lerena and Siyakholwa Kuse. - TimesLIVE