By Emmerson Campbell
Despite a two-year absence from the ring Guyana’s and Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight champion Shondell “Mystery Lady” Alfred is brimming with confidence ahead of her world title bout with Mexican Zulina Munoz.
Alfred, 31, who will take on Munoz for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight title in Mexico City on November 24, told this publication that she was confident of victory as she is ‘pushing herself’, training three times per day.
“I am pushing myself to the limit for this fight,” Alfred said during an interview yesterday.
”I am training three times a day and hired a fitness coach to get me into prime shape. I was always in the gym training despite not having fights but I have been training hard for this specific fight, training for almost a month now.”
Alfred added:“In the mornings I’m up at four training until six at the Eve Leary ground. I do a lot of sprints and condition training. In the mid days we train again doing some high altitude training and then in the afternoons I do pad work, spar and other conditioning work.”
Alfred, whose record reads 13 wins (four KO’s) and five losses, said that her conditioning was almost where she wants it to be but stated that she has to lose some weight.
“We are almost where we want to be but we are having some problems with the weight because I have to come down to 115 (pounds) but it is mostly water weight and it is coming down fast so we will be ok.”
When quizzed on her thoughts about fighting the 25-year-old Munoz, who has a record of 35 wins (24 KO’s) a solitary loss and two draws in her home country, Alfred replied:“I just know I have to go there and beat her convincingly; I have to win convincingly so if the knockout presents itself I will be going for it. I made up my mind to go 10 rounds. That is what we are preparing for, that is the main focus.”
The WIBA bantamweight champion said that she would have liked to have a warm up bout to shake off some of her ring rust but noted that as a professional boxer she has to take advantage of opportunities whenever they are presented.
”As a professional boxer in a country like this we don’t get a lot of opportunities. I haven’t defended my title for two years because I’m not getting opponents so you have to take fights whenever you have the chance.”
Alfred also said that she has been sparring with the likes of her coach Joseph Murray and active boxers Simeon Hardy and Dexter Marques.
Munoz, who is known as La Loba (The She-Wolf), lives in Mexico City but hails from San Vincente, Chicoloapan in Mexico.
Munoz has held the WBC female bantamweight title since June last year and also won the WBC female super flyweight title last month.
She is a seasoned and tough campaigner.
The title was made vacant after Anna Maria Torres stepped aside to start a family. Torres, widely acknowledged as one of the best female boxers of this era, is revered in her native Mexico.
She has ruled the division since 2006 as the WBC super flyweight champion, successfully defending her title 11 times.
