Julaton bows to young foe, derails bid for world title

MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Am Ana Julaton dropped a unanimous decision to a younger Celina Salazar in their 10-round super-bantamweight duel at the Plaza de Toros in Cancun, Mexico yesterday, thus losing her chance for a crack at a world title.

The setback sent the 33-year-old Julaton, now based in Las Vegas, down to 12-4-1 (win-loss-draw) record, including two KOs while the 24-year-old Salazar, who hails from San Antonio, Texas, improved to 6-1-2.

It was Julaton’s first fight since she carved out a stinging first round technical knockout of Abigail Ramos in Yucatan, Mexico in August last year and the loss dashed her hopes to get back to the top after winning the World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight championship a few years back.

The Julaton-Salazar bout served as one of the undercards of the World Boxing Council super-featherweight title showdown between reigning champion Takashi Miura and challenger Sergio Thompson. 

Miura likewise won via unanimous decision to keep the crown.

Nicknamed “The Hurricane,” Julaton was targetting a possible title crack against reigning IBF bantamweight champion Yazmin Rivas in the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Canelo Alvarez showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 15.