Anahí Ester Sánchez (born 21 July 1991) is an Argentine

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. She is a three-weight world champion, having held the IBF female

super-featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...

title in 2016; the WBA female

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

title in 2017; and the WBA female

super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title in 2019. She also held the WBA interim female

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

title in 2015 and the WBA interim female

super-lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

title from 2018 to 2019, and challenged for the WBC and IBF female super-featherweight, and WBC female super-lightweight titles between 2016 and 2019.

Professional career

Sánchez made her professional debut on 15 November 2013, scoring a first-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) victory against Lorena Noemi Gomez at the Gimnasio Municipal in

Pergamino Pergamino () is an Argentine city in the Buenos Aires Province, Province of Buenos Aires. It has a population of about 104,985 inhabitants as per the and is the administrative seat of its county, Pergamino Partido. Its UN/LOCODE is ARPGO. Histor ...

, Argentina. After compiling a record of 6–0 (2 KOs) she faced Maria Soledad Capriolo for the vacant South American

super featherweight Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and . The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New ...

title on 15 May 2015, at the Gimnasio Municipal. Sánchez defeated Capriolo via first-round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

(KO) to capture her first professional title.

Featherweight

After three more wins, one by stoppage, she faced former IBF female featherweight and reigning WBA interim female featherweight champion Dahiana Santana on 14 August 2015 at the Club Comunaciones in Pergamino. Sánchez captured her first title from a major sanctioning body, albeit an interim version, after defeating Santana by a wide

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD) over ten rounds. One judge scored the bout 99–91 while the other two scored it 97–93.

Super featherweight

She successfully defended her interim title with a third-round TKO against Ana Maria Lozano in November, before facing Areti Mastrodouka for the vacant IBF female super featherweight title on 19 March 2016 at the Club Comunicaciones. Sánchez captured her first full world title, scoring a fifth-round stoppage victory via

corner retirement A corner retirement (also known as a corner stoppage) is a term in boxing used to describe a fight ending when a boxer refuses to continue or their corner team pulls them out during the rest period between rounds. This results in the referee sto ...

(RTD) after Mastrodouka informed her corner that she no longer wished to continue at the end of the round. After defending her IBF title with a

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

(MD) victory against Tamara Marianela Nuñez in July, Sánchez was stripped of the title after it was revealed the promoter of the fight failed to obtain the necessary licences. In her next fight she challenged WBC female super featherweight champion Eva Wahlström on 17 December 2016 at the

Hartwall Arena Helsinki Halli, or Helsinki Arena (formerly Hartwall Arena), is a large multi-functional indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. It was opened in April 1997. The arena is convertible for various events. The total seated capacity during ice ...

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, Finland. Sánchez suffered the first defeat of her professional career, losing by UD with judges' scorecards reading 98–92 and 97–94 twice. She bounced back from defeat with a first-round TKO victory against Verena Crespo in March 2017, before attempting to regain the IBF title, she was stripped of, facing reigning champion Maïva Hamadouche on 18 May at the

Cirque d'hiver The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles du Calvaire and rue Amelot, Paris 11th arrondissement of Paris, 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musica ...

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, France. Sánchez failed in her attempt, losing by fourth-round TKO.

Lightweight

Following her second professional defeat she moved up a division to

, defeating Maria Carina Brito via first-round

(KO). Sánchez' second fight at her new weight came against Cecilia Sofia Mena for the vacant WBA female lightweight title on 9 September 2017 at the Club Defensores de Villa Lujan in

San Miguel de Tucumán San Miguel de Tucumán (), usually called simply Tucumán, is the capital and largest city of Tucumán Province, located in northern Argentina from Buenos Aires. It is the fifth-largest city of Argentina after Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Argentin ...

, Argentina. Sánchez defeated Mena via sixth-round TKO, capturing the WBA title to become a two-weight world champion. Two days after capturing the WBA title, British promoter

Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter and the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvar ...

announced that a deal had been made for Sánchez to face 2012 Olympic gold medalist

Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She was the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, and has held the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight ...

on 28 October 2017 at the Principality Stadium in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales, live on Sky Sports Box Office as part of the

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for Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev (Pulev was later replaced by Carlos Takam). Before the fight, Sánchez was stripped of her title for failing to weigh in under the lightweight limit, meaning the WBA title would only be on the line of Taylor. In a fight which saw Sánchez dropped to the canvas from a left hand to the ribs in the second round, she went on to suffer her third professional defeat, losing by a wide UD with all three judges scoring the bout 99–90.

Super lightweight

Following the defeat to Taylor, Sánchez once again moved up in weight to the

division. Her first fight at the weight was a fifth-round KO victory against Ruth Stephanie Aquino in February 2018. Sánchez next fought former world title challenger Diana Ayala for the vacant WBA interim female super lightweight title on 20 April at the Club Comunicaciones. Sánchez defeated Ayala via first-round KO to capture a title in a third division. After being elevated from interim to full WBA female super lightweight champion, Sánchez faced WBC champion Jessica McCaskill in a

unification Unification or unification theory may refer to: Computer science * Unification (computer science), the act of identifying two terms with a suitable substitution * Unification (graph theory), the computation of the most general graph that subs ...

bout on 25 May 2019 at the

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Oxon Hill, Maryland Oxon Hill is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a close suburb of Washington, located southeast of the downtown district and east of Alexandria, Virgin ...

. After having success in the first half of the fight, Sánchez went on to lose by a wide UD, with the judges' scorecards reading 98–91, 98–92, and 96–94. Her next fight was a WBC final eliminator—with the winner securing a shot at former conqueror Jessica McCaskill—against former IBO female lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron on 9 November 2019 at the

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 and it is most famous as an international boxing venue with the first nights o ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. Sánchez suffered a knockdown in the ninth round en route to a wide UD defeat, with two judges scoring the bout 100–89 and the third scoring it 99–90.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Anahi Ester Living people 1991 births Boxers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine women boxers Featherweight boxers Super-featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers World super-featherweight boxing champions World lightweight boxing champions World light-welterweight boxing champions World Boxing Association champions International Boxing Federation champions Sportspeople from Pergamino