Rucker upsets Mahfood!

by Byron Spurlock

In a shocker Saturday night at Knockouts at Coushatta XIII in Kinder, LA, Veronica Rucker defeated Valerie Mahfood in a super middleweight bout that, to everyone’s surprise, wasn’t even close. 

Rucker, coming into the fight having won but three in her last ten, used her quickness and steady jab to warn off Mahfood and win a decisive fight that had many wondering if it’s time for Mahfood hang up the gloves.

Rucker used a quick jab to disrupt any type of rhythm that Mahfood tried to gain. At times in the bout, Mahfood looked like she was aging, round by round until, in the later rounds, may ringsiders thought Rucker stood a chance to knock out the former champ. Mahfood did not convincingly win a single round in the six scheduled.

Still,  Mahfood managed to make it to the final bell, only to lose by unanimous decision with scores of 58-56, 59-55, and 59-55.

Rucker improved her record to 4-6-1 (1).

“I’m disappointed in the loss here, but one thing people have to not pay attention to so much is Rucker’s record—she is a good fighter,” Mahfood, now 19-12-3 (9 KOs), said in the ring.

“I’ve lost to fighters with losing records before, because fights are so hard to get … at times the lady’s record doesn’t mean so much. 

“As for why I lost the fight? I think she was more of a boxer than me. I consider myself more of a brawler, and she was able to catch my punches, and I was not able to get off too much. I felt that she was the quicker, fighter tonight. I dropped down in weight and she came in a little heavier … I’m used to fighters standing right there and wanting to brawl, but that what’s she didn’t do tonight.”

Mahfood says there are no plans to hang up the gloves just yet.

“As I continue to like the sport and it remains fun to me, I plan on fighting,” she said. “I don’t care about my record—as long as I’m having fun and people are cheering me on, I will continue to fight.”

On the undercard, Dominga Olivo (2-0) defeated Tiffany Junot (1-1) in a tough four-round fight that had both fighters eating each other’s punches in the bout. 

Olivo imposed her will at times and appeared to overpower Junot, keeping her punches strong despite battling a cold, to come away with a unanimous decision with scores of 39-73 and 40-36 twice.

“I looked bad tonight because I have a cold, but I know that I can do better,” Olivo said afterward.

“My plan is to be a world champion”