SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – After two years out of the ring for Ebanie Bridges, Alexis Araiza Mones was a bridge too far.
Former National Golden Gloves champion Araiza, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, scored the biggest victory of her pro career here at Coliseo Roberto Clemente on Saturday, dominating former IBF bantamweight titleholder Bridges in an upset unanimous decision.
The fight, which Mones won by scores of 80-72 on one card and 78-74 on the other two, opened the main portion of the Amanda Serrano-Reina Tellez card on DAZN.
“I did really good in the amateurs and I’ve had a pretty rough start in the pros,” said Mones, now 4-2-1 (1 KO).
“I finally got the win on the best platform that I could have gotten it. It means everything to get the opportunity and then to shine. It feels amazing.”
Araiza, 35, used her superior boxing skills to keep the aggressive Bridges, 9-3 (4 KOs), off balance. After boxing well early on, Araiza began to put power punches together in the third round, rocking Bridges with an overhand right that stopped her in her tracks.
Bridges, who was fighting for the first time since becoming a first-time mother last March, brushed off the power shots in the fourth, pressing forward but having to walk through combinations to do so.
With the outcome already sealed, Araiza did not step off the gas pedal in the eighth round, meeting Bridges at mid-ring and trading punches, to the delight of the crowd.
Araiza, a mother of two herself, said the win was even sweeter because it came at bantamweight (when her true weight is really three pounds south at 115lbs). She hopes that the victory will give her career the momentum needed to get a world title opportunity.
Bridges, 39, was fighting for the first time since signing with women’s boxing powerhouse Most Valuable Promotions, and hadn’t been in the ring since losing her world title by unanimous decision to Miyo Yoshida in December 2023.
Also on the card, Krystal Rosado, 8-1 (2 KOs), rebounded from her first pro defeat, outpointing tough Canadian Tania Walters by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 60-54. Rosado, 23, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, last fought in October, losing to former champion Shurretta Metcalf by unanimous decision.
Walters dropped to 7-4 (2 KOs), snapping a three-fight winning streak.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
