Irma García Beats Nataly Delgado To Unify Super Flyweight Titles

Irma García added Nataly Delgado’s WBA super flyweight title to her own IBF championship at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, 8 November. The Mexican southpaw won a unanimous decision over ten rounds of two minutes, with all three judges scoring it 97 to 92. García put Delgado down in the sixth and shook her again near the final bell. In between, Delgado kept pressing and working the body, but it was García who found room for the cleaner punches.

García, 45, had held the IBF title since beating Stephanie Silva in November 2023. A former WBA champion at bantamweight, she had defended the IBF belt against Gloria Gallardo and then stopped Emma Dolan in three rounds in London in April. Delgado, 32, came from Santiago de Veraguas in Panama and was making her first defence of the full WBA title. She had held the interim belt and defended it twice before outpointing the previously unbeaten Jasmine Artiga in June. Victory here would have made her Panama’s first female unified world champion. García weighed 114 pounds and Delgado 114.6, both inside the 115-pound limit.

Delgado started by going downstairs. She dug in left hands and an uppercut to the body in the opening round, while García used her lead right to keep some distance and brought the left into play as the exchanges opened up. Both landed rights in the second. Delgado got an overhand through and put punches together when she came close enough, but García was already showing that she could give a little ground and still be in position to answer. There was little between them in the opening exchanges.

García began to find the straight left more regularly in the third. Delgado could still get to the body and come up to the head, but García was getting her punches off from farther out and putting them together more often. In the fourth, García was quick to resume with straight punches after the women clinched. Delgado continued to look for the torso, then tried the right upstairs. García was making her cross the same ground again each time the exchange broke up.

The fifth was a good example of how misleading a spell on the front foot could be. Delgado backed García up with a right and did some of her best body work, but she missed with another right late in the round, and García hurt her with a counter. García stepped after her before they tied up and had to be separated. CompuBox credited García with 25 connects in the round, 21 of them power punches. Delgado landed seven. It was García’s most productive round of the fight, even with Delgado making her work for the space.

They were trading to the body again in the sixth, and Delgado got through with several rights before García sent her to the canvas late in the round. Delgado was up quickly and took the mandatory count of eight. She indicated that she thought she had tripped, but the knockdown stood. She came back with an overhand once they resumed. It was the only knockdown of the contest, and Delgado was still willing to exchange when she came out for the seventh.

García found the straight left and put a three-punch combination together in the seventh after Delgado missed with a wide hook. Delgado had some success with straight combinations and a right to the body in the eighth. She kept at the body in the ninth, too, and landed an overhand right, but García caught her with a straight combination upstairs and followed with hard lefts. Delgado was still getting in with the right in the tenth and mixed in body shots as they traded. The last telling punch was García’s, a heavy left that shook Delgado in the closing seconds. Delgado made it to the bell on her feet.

CompuBox counted 141 punches landed from 439 thrown by García and 87 from 335 by Delgado. García landed 31 jabs to Delgado’s 14 and put 64 punches into the body to Delgado’s 39. She also landed 110 power punches from 231 attempts, about 48 per cent, to Delgado’s 73 from 217, about 34 per cent. The margin in body punches was particularly telling given how often Delgado had set out to fight there.

The contest was part of the Most Valuable Promotions card shown on ESPN. Ramla Ali won the vacant IBF and WBO super bantamweight titles by split decision over Mikiah Kreps, and Skye Nicolson retained the WBC belt at the same weight against Miyo Yoshida. In the main event, Alycia Baumgardner took the IBF lightweight title from Elif Nur Turhan by unanimous decision.

García went from 26 wins, five defeats and a draw to 27 wins, with six knockouts. Delgado came in with 21 wins, seven defeats and two draws and leaves with an eighth defeat. Five of her wins have come inside the distance. “Dreams do come true,” García said afterwards. She spoke of seeking another unification fight.

Well, I got this one wrong. I thought Nataly Delgado might have a little too much wherewithal for Irma García. I’d seen how well Delgado cut the ring off against Jasmine Artiga and how quickly she went to the ribs once she got close. I gave her too much credit for what she could do at that distance and gave García too little for how well she could keep her out.

Watch García’s lead hand. The right jab makes Delgado show her hand on the way in, then the straight left catches her while she’s still coming forward. That’s timing. García was close enough to land her own shots and still made Delgado reach for hers. Delgado did get to the body in the fifth and made García give ground. The moment she missed with the right, though, García was set to counter. That was the difference for me. Delgado could get inside, but she struggled to stay there long enough to build on her work.

The knockdown in the sixth made the gap clearer, and I liked that García kept her shape afterwards. Delgado got up, came back at her and kept working the body. García stayed patient and was still sharp enough to catch her with a big left near the final bell. I thought the decision was clear. I’d picked Delgado to dictate where they fought. García nailed that job herself.