Martha Salazar

Martha Salazar (born February 2, 1970, Ocotlán, Jalisco, Mexico) is a Mexican retired female boxer. Salazar, fought as a Heavyweight. She is former WBC world Heavyweight champion. Her nickname is "The Shadow". She hails from San Francisco, California. She was born in Ocotlan, Jalisco, Mexico (view the ESPN note at November 11;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>).

Salazar became the third Hispanic to become world Heavyweight champion in all of boxing's history, and the second one in women's boxing history. The first Hispanic to win a world Heavyweight championship in boxing was male boxer John Ruiz of Puerto Rico.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

Salazar debuted as a professional boxer on March 25, 2001, defeating Denise Callahan by a four round decision in Hayward, California. She followed that victory with two back to back wins over Carley Pesente, defeating Pesente twice by four round unanimous decisions, both times in Tacoma, Washington.Template:Citation needed

Salazar won two more fights, including a six round decision win on November 16, 2002, over Kisha Snow, who had six wins and only one loss coming into their fight.Template:Citation needed

On March 1, 2003, Salazar made her Las Vegas debut. She suffered her first career defeat that night, being beaten on points over four rounds by former NCAA basketball star Vonda Ward, who ran her record to 16 victories and no losses after beating Salazar.Template:Citation needed

Salazar rebounded with her first knockout win, however, when she beat Pesente in their third bout, held on May 24, in Vallejo, California. Salazar beat Pesente in the first round.Template:Citation needed

Salazar received her first world title shot after that win, attempting to win the IBA world Heavyweight title on June 11, 2003, when she lost by a ten round decision to Ward in their rematch, held at Canton, Ohio.<ref name="Manning">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On March 18, 2004, Salazar met Marsha Valley in California and she lost for the second time in a row, this time by a split six round decision.Template:Citation needed

On October 16, she and Valley met in a rematch, fighting in Oakland, for the World Boxing Empire's world super heavyweight title. The Super Heavyweight division is a division that is only recognized in amateur boxing and by a couple of women's boxing organizations. It is not recognized at all in men's boxing. Salazar avenged her earlier loss to Valley and, nevertheless, became a world champion for the first time, when she defeated Valley by an eight round unanimous decision.Template:Citation needed

Salazar went down in weight to compete for the world Heavyweight championship for the second time, when she was offered a chance to meet Pamela London for the WIBF's vacant world Heavyweight title.Template:Citation needed

On November 28, 2004, Salazar had her first fight abroad when she and London met in Guyana. With a weight of 240 pounds (109 kg) for that fight, Salazar became the WIBF world Heavyweight champion, by knocking London out in nine rounds.Template:Citation needed

On 10 February 2007, she fought Vonda Ward for the inaugural WBC female heavyweight title, losing by unanimous decision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

More than seven years later, on 8 November 2014, Salazar won the biggest title in her career, winning the WBC female heavyweight championship, defeating Tanzee Daniel by unanimous decision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She lost the title in March 2016 against Alejandra Jiménez in Mexico.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On March 14, 2017, Salazar announced her retirement from all combat fighting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Professional boxing titles

• WBE female super heavyweight title (237 Ibs)
• WIBF heavyweight title (240 Ibs)
• WBE female heavyweight title (236½ Ibs)
• WBC female heavyweight title (235 Ibs)

Combat record

Boxing

Template:BoxingRecordSummary <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Abbr	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
18	Template:No2Lose	13–5	Template:Flagicon Alejandra Jimenez	Template:Abbr	10	18 Mar 2016	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
17	Template:Yes2Win	13–4	Template:Flagicon Tanzee Daniel	Template:Abbr	10	8 Nov 2014	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
16	Template:Yes2Win	12–4	Template:Flagicon Sonya Lamonakis	Template:Abbr	6	13 Apr 2013	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
15	Template:No2Lose	11–4	Template:Flagicon Vonda Ward	Template:Abbr	10	10 Feb 2007	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
14	Template:Yes2Win	11–3	Template:Flagicon Marsha Valley	Template:Abbr	6	17 Nov 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
13	Template:Yes2Win	10–3	Template:Flagicon Marsha Valley	Template:Abbr	4 (6) Template:Small	21 Jul 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
12	Template:Yes2Win	9–3	Template:Flagicon Kathy Rivers	Template:Abbr	8	2 Apr 2005	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
11	Template:Yes2Win	8–3	Template:Flagicon Pamela London	Template:Abbr	9 (10) Template:Small	28 Nov 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
10	Template:Yes2Win	7–3	Template:Flagicon Marsha Valley	Template:Abbr	8	16 Oct 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
9	Template:No2Lose	6–3	Template:Flagicon Marsha Valley	Template:Abbr	6	18 Mar 2004	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
8	Template:No2Lose	6–2	Template:Flagicon Vonda Ward	Template:Abbr	10	11 Jul 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
7	Template:Yes2Win	6–1	Template:Flagicon Carley Pesente	Template:Abbr	1 (4) Template:Small	24 May 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
6	Template:No2Lose	5–1	Template:Flagicon Vonda Ward	Template:Abbr	4	1 Mar 2003	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
5	Template:Yes2Win	5–0	Template:Flagicon Kisha Snow	Template:Abbr	4	16 Nov 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small
4	Template:Yes2Win	4–0	Template:Flagicon Tanisha Dunn	Template:Abbr	4	20 Oct 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
3	Template:Yes2Win	3–0	Template:Flagicon Carley Pesente	Template:Abbr	4	21 Sep 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
2	Template:Yes2Win	2–0	Template:Flagicon Carley Pesente	Template:Abbr	4	22 Jun 2002	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small
1	Template:Yes2Win	1–0	Template:Flagicon Denise Callahan	Template:Abbr	4	25 Mar 2001	Template:Flagicon Template:Small	Template:Small

Mixed martial arts record

Template:MMArecordbox <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:MMA record start |- | Template:No2Lose | style="text-align:center;" | 0–1 | Template:Flagicon Lana Stefanac | Submission (Guillotine Choke) | Extreme Wars 3 - Bay Area Brawl | Template:Dts | style="text-align:center;" | 1 | style="text-align:center;" | 2:09 | Oakland, California, United States | |}