Righting a wrong: The WBC recognizes the champion caliber of retired boxer, Christina Fuentes

When it comes to boxing, one thing is certain, a win is a win is a win, even when it isn’t.

Sometimes the judges just get it wrong and call it what you will, it’s a fact of the game.

Most of those wrongs go unanswered, but thanks to Mauricio Sulaimán and Jill Diamond of the World Boxing Council, along with boxing manager David Selwyn, one such wrong was finally righted for Christina “Mandy” Fuentes, the opponent in an IFBA World Fly title fight against Selwyn’s own fighter, Eileen “The Hawaiian Mongoose” Olszewski.

Back on January 16, 2015, the reigning IFBA World Fly champion Olszewski (9-5-3) hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii, but based in New York City, was set to defend her title against Fuentes (3-6-5) boxing out of her hometown of Laredo, Texas. The match was billed as the main event at the Laredo Energy Arena with all the attendant excitement for Fuentes.

The pair had previously clashed at Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple on September 5, 2014, with the action overseen by the referee’s referee, Sparkle Lee. Fighting to a draw with the scores 78-74, 76-76, 75-77, they each took stanzas in a lightning-fast back and forth eight-round war that lived up to its main event billing.

Fuentes, 22, had already fought Heather Hardy to a razor-thin split-decision loss and was looking to make her name in the sport. She had begun fighting in 2010, and like Olszewski, had a career that spanned the pre- and post-2012 London Olympic Games. Olszewski, who turned 46 shortly after her first outing with Fuentes, began fighting in the amateurs in 2000 before turning pro in 2006. Olszewski was also an amateur and professional champion, having won her first titles in the hard scrapple pre-Games era. Prior to boxing professionally, she had studied ballet and had been a New York Knicks “City Dancer.”

In the run-up to their ten-round World title bout, IFBA President Judy Kulis said, “These two fighters have styles that match up and will put on a show for the fans in attendance. This is one you don’t want to miss.”[i]

Fight night in the Laredo Arena was electric. Coming in for her ring walk, Fuentes brought the crowd to its feet, their cheers sending a warm embrace to their hometown warrior along with a sense of excitement and destiny.

From the onset, Fuentes did not want to disappoint. She fought ferociously and despite coming out of the first round at a 10-8 deficit due to a flash knock down from a left hook, she took the momentum of the fight from that point on. Contemporaneous reports generally had Fuentes leading the battle with her speed, crisper combinations, aggression, and ring generalship—with Olszewski using her veteran skills to rabbit around the ring and pot shot her opponent.

Destiny, however, shined on Olszewski when the scorecards were read out giving her the unanimous decision win, 95-94, 96-93, 95-94, to the consternation of the crowd, and even surprising Olszewski herself. It also surprised her manager, David Selwyn, who not only felt that she had lost, but that it might be time for her to retire from the ring. As it was, he resigned as her manager the following year after she lost a fight for the WBC Silver Fly title in Mexico.

Still, the judging failure Fuentes suffered haunted Selwyn over the years. In his estimation the issue stemmed from an inexplicable action taken by the fight’s promoter. According to Selwyn, even though Fuentes was the hometown fighter, the local promoter placed Olszewski in the promoter’s corner – along with all of the other Texas fighters. As he said, “[T]he Promoter in Laredo made a mistake and put Eileen in the promoter[‘]s corner. The Judges saw that and that the Promoter wanted Eileen to win and judged the rounds accordingly.”[ii]

While that certainly does not say a lot about boxing and about the fairness of boxing judging when it comes to the opponent – it’s certainly a fact of boxing life whether it is officially acknowledged or not.

Fuentes had begun as a fighter with promise who fought the likes of Seniesa Estrada and Christina Ruiz throughout her journeywoman’s career, retiring at 29 due to her husband’s serious illness. Despite these efforts, a boxing championship had eluded her, something Selwyn felt strongly should be righted. With the IFBA sanctioning body having shut down, it seemed that the issue would never be resolved.

With a fighter’s heart of his own, Selwyn did not give up, and reaching out to WBC Co-Chair, Women’s Champions, Jill Diamond and with support from WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán, Selwyn presented Fuentes with a WBC plaque commemorating Fuentes as an uncrowned champion. Selwyn presented the award to Fuentes on January 3, 2024, almost nine years to the day of her loss during an interview together on the Truth + Company Boxing Podcast.

Receiving the award, Fuentes said,  “I truly would want to thank you all for everything … I recognize that I’m not just a fighter in the ring, but I’m a fighter out of the ring in life. When … my own people here in town come up to me and they ask me if I am the boxer, best believe that that’s treasure to me because I know that I left something behind not just for my people but for the youth, for the female fighters so I know I did something great.”[iii]

[i] “Tonight: Current champion Eileen Olszewski for the IFBA World Flyweight title to Defend her Title!” WBAN, Womensboxing.com, January 16, 2015.

[ii], “Eileen Olszewski retains her IFBA Flyweight World Title against Christina “Mandy” Fuentes by unanimous decision.” IFBA Boxing, Facebook, January 17, 2015, comment, David Selwyn.

[iii] “David Selwyn & Mandy Fuentes with Truth & Company podcast,” Boxing With The Truth, youtube.com, January 3, 2024.