2009 Women's Continental Championships

2009 Women’s Continental Championships Action Begins in Ecuador

The 2009 Women's Continental Championships opened first round action on Monday at the Abel Jimenez Parra Coliseum in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The day began with the tournament draw, setting the schedule for all of the competitors in the event. The tournament, which will run through Thursday, showcases over 70 boxers from a record 13 countries in north, central and south America.

Lightweight Patricia Manuel (Gardena, Calif.) was the only U.S. boxer to compete in the opening day of action and she began the tournament in victorious fashion, winning a 17-15 decision over Celeste Peralta of Argentina. Manuel fell behind early in the bout, but chipped away at her deficit throughout the bout before taking her first lead in the final round. She held on to her advantage to win the 17-15 final decision.  Manuel will return to the ring on Wednesday for a bout with Kiria Tapia of Puerto Rico. 

Bantamweight Seniesa Estrada (Los Angeles, Calif.) and featherweight Liz Leddy (Portland, Maine) will both compete in Tuesday's action, boxing against Yanina Benavides of Argentina and Vivian Londono of Colombia respectively. 

Five United States team members will take the ring in Wednesday's action as light flyweight Laura Ramirez (Bronx, N.Y.) battles Trinidad, flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) faces Thais Pagan of Brazil, light welterweight Queen Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) takes on the Dominican Republic, welterweight Andrecia Wasson (Center Line, Mich.) challenges Canada and middleweight Alyssa DeFazio (Peoria, Ariz.) boxes against Ecuador. Light heavyweight Tika Hemingway (Pittsburgh, Pa.) will compete in the final opening bout, taking on Canada.

The team elected veteran Underwood as their Team Captain for the event, which is the first for the United States since the IOC announced the Olympic inclusion of women's boxing in August. While the male boxers compete in three-three minute rounds, the women box four-two minute rounds.

USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States' member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It is responsible for the selection and management of the United States Olympic Boxing Team, and for the governance and oversight of USA Boxing's national organization of 38,000 members, 1,400 individual boxing clubs, and 1,600 sanctioned events annually.