French boxer Amina Zidani defeated Colombian Liliana Palmera by a seventh-round knockout on Saturday night to become the World Boxing Association super featherweight Intercontinental champion.
Zidani, 30, achieved her dream goal of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games last August when she triumphed at the 2023 European Games. There she had a competitive key in the 57 kg competing with outstanding pugilists of the old continent.
That great step is complemented today with the black and gold Intercontinental belt that elevates her in the division.
This was her fifth professional bout since her debut in 2021, making the decision to continue in the Olympic circuit as well.
As a child she practiced karate and then many years of basketball, but at the age of 18, when she saw Laila Ali for the first time, she was inspired to venture into boxing and by 2012 she won her first amateur championship title in France and earned her direct pass to the national team of which she is still a part.
Facing Liliana Palmeras was a great challenge for the French fighter, since the representative of the coffee country arrived in France with more experience collected; Palmeras not only has a great number of fights at 41 years old (31-15-3,17 kos) but she was also interim WBA super bantamweight champion from 2014 to 2017 and fought in the ring with great world champions.
By overcoming this challenge, Zidani extended her record to 5 wins with 2 knockouts to remain undefeated and on the rise.
Credit: WBA
