On the night of February 17, 2017, there was a boxing event promoted in the city of El Paso, Texas titled Dynamic Duo. It should have been called Dynamic Zero. The two boxers headlining the fight card in the co-main events were International Boxing Federation (IBF) female featherweight champion Jennifer Han and lightweight Jose Felix Jr. Felix Jr. was knocked down five times and lost his bout against Jonathan Maicelo. Maicelo won by unanimous decision. Han won her bout against Olivia Gerula, but it was a decision that was so obviously biased that it is one of the worst decisions in the history of women's boxing. The event was televised by UniMas which is a Spanish language television network, so I assumed that both co-main events would be televised. However, only the men's co-main event was televised. If Han was Mexican, I think that UniMas would have televised her fight. Han is Korean, but she has a large following in her home city of El Paso. Han is the first boxing world champion to be born and raised in El Paso.
The female featherweight division is one of the most competitive weight classes in women's boxing. One reason is because of the amount of professional female boxers who are featherweights. The flyweight division is the only weight class to have more pro female boxers than the featherweight division. There are a few female boxers who are currently world champions in the featherweight division. The world champion is supposed to mean first place, but that is not necessarily true in boxing because there are several sanctioning bodies that sanction world title fights. Han is the world champion of the IBF in the female featherweight division. Prior to her fight against Gerula, Han has won and defended the title against boxers who are not world-class. Han won the vacant IBF female featherweight title by defeating Helen Joseph of Nigeria by unanimous decision. Despite being knocked down in round three, Han won the fight and the title by scores of 98-91, 98-92, and 97-92. Joseph is currently rated No. 31 in the world by BoxRec in the female featherweight division. Han's first title defense was against Calixta Silgado of Colombia. Han won by unanimous decision and the judges' scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 100-90. Silgado is currently rated No. 32 by BoxRec. Han's second title defense was against Liliana Martinez of the Dominican Republic. Han won by unanimous decision by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92. Martinez is currently rated No. 36 by BoxRec. Even though Han is considered to be a world champion, she had not been required to fight any legitimate top ten contenders to win the title or defend it prior to facing Gerula.
Elina Tissen of Germany is the female featherweight champion of the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) and Global Boxing Union (GBU). Tissen has not fought a legitimate contender in more than five years. Tissen also benefits from biased judging in Germany which is where she fights. Tissen's opponents have usually been mediocre throughout her entire pro career. The record of Tissen's opponents at the time she fought them is 114-114-16 which is a 50% winning percentage. Cindy Serrano of Puerto Rico recently won the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) female featherweight title by majority decision over Calixta Silgado. One judge scored it a draw at 95-95, but that score was overruled by the other two scores of 99-91 and 96-94. Silgado also lost to Han in an IBF world title fight. The record of Serrano's opponents at the time she fought them is 280-258-29 which is approximately a 52% winning percentage. The record of Han's opponents at the time she fought them is 146-134-19 which is also about a 52% winning percentage. Jelena Mrdjenovich of Canada holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) female featherweight titles. The record of Mrdjenovich's opponents is 566-324-65 which is about a 64% winning percentage. Mrdjenovich has by far fought the better opposition compared to the other women who hold world titles in this weight class. Mrdjenovich's most recent title defense was last year against Gaelle Amand of France. Amand was undefeated at 14-0, but got the first loss of her pro career against Mrdjenovich. It was a very close fight. One judge scored it 96-95 in favor of Amand, but the other two judges scored it 97-93 and 97-93 in favor of Mrdjenovich. Therefore, Mrdjenovich won by split decision.
Han's third title defense was against Gerula. Gerula loses nearly as much as she wins and has a record of 18-17-2, 3 KOs after her fight against Han. In spite of her record, Gerula is a legitimate top ten contender. She has fought mostly world-class opposition and often in her opponent's home country. In 2016, Gerula won by split decision over fellow featherweight contender Nydia Feliciano of the United States. The fight was in the nation's capital city of Washington, D.C. Gerula became a world champion in 2009 when she won the WBC female super featherweight title over Mrdjenovich by a close unanimous decision with judges' scores of 96-95, 96-94, and 96-94. Both Mrdjenovich and Gerula are from Canada and the fight was in Canada. Gerula lost her WBC title in 2010 against Frida Wallberg of Sweden by unanimous decision. In 2011, Mrdjenovich won a rematch against Gerula by knockout in the ninth round. Gerula's pro boxing career began in October 1997, so she has been a professional boxer for nearly twenty years. Gerula is 37 years of age and Han is 33. The weight limit of the featherweight division is 126 pounds and Gerula weighed 127.5 pounds. Gerula stated that it was the first time in her pro career of nearly two decades that she failed on the scale. The featherweight title fight would still take place, but Gerula could not win the title even with a victory over Han. If that happened, the title would be declared vacant. Instead of being disheartened, Gerula stated that she was even more determined to win so that she could get a rematch for the vacant title. A rematch is not likely to happen considering that all three judges scored the fight for Han by scores of 100-89, 100-89, and 100-89. Gerula was knocked down in round five, but Gerula stated that it was absolutely a slip and should not have been ruled a knockdown. Prior to this fight, Han and Gerula were both rated in the top ten by BoxRec in the female featherweight division. They still are, but Han is now rated No. 3 and Gerula is rated No. 10. Even though Gerula is rated much higher than Han's previous opponents in IBF world title fights, Gerula did not win a single round on the judges' scorecards. Han's record is now 16-3-1, 1 KO.
Han's IBF world title fights have never been televised. The only fight that I could find on the Internet of Han in its entirety was her pro debut in 2009 against Melissa St. Vil which Han lost by majority decision. St. Vil is currently a top ten super featherweight contender. There is also a kickboxing match of Han on the Internet from 2008. Han was fighting Munah Holland. Holland knocked Han out with a backfist with just one second left on the clock. Gerula's nickname is "The Predator." Gerula has a Team Predator Fan Page on Facebook. Someone at ringside had recorded Gerula's fight against Han on video and this video is on Gerula's fan page. The fight was scheduled for ten rounds. Round one was not recorded, but the rest of the fight was on the video. I am going to unofficially score each round. There are four categories that a judge uses to score each round: effective aggression, ring generalship, defense, and clean punches. Since round one is not on the video, I will score the round 10-9 in favor of Han. Based on reading articles about Han's fighting style and seeing very brief videos of her previous IBF title fights, I predicted that Han would rely on her left jab and move a lot in order to avoid going toe-to-toe with Gerula. Gerula was usually the one coming forward while Han was being evasive. Han was moving her feet much more than her hands.
Han was active and energetic in round two. Han was circling around the ring near the ropes while Gerula pursued her. Han landed more punches, so I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Han. In round three, Gerula was moving forward while Han was backing away. Han's strategy was to throw a left jab and then move without following up. Maybe it was a good idea that UniMas decided not to televise this fight. Gerula was more aggressive. Han did not throw many punches and very few landed. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. In round four, Han used the same strategy. Han moved around the ring as if she was Supergirl and there was Kryptonite in the center of the ring. Han was usually near the ring ropes. When Han got close enough to engage, Gerula would throw and land punches and then Han would quickly move away. Gerula came in and landed punches again. Han would back up and move away. Han would then reposition herself to throw one left jab. Gerula threw and landed more punches. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. In round five, the referee ruled that Gerula was knocked down from a punch by Han which appeared to be a left hook to the head. Gerula stated that it should have been a slip. Gerula got up before the referee counted to ten, so the round resumed. Han is not known for having one punch knockout power. Han only has one win by knockout and that was more than five years ago against a boxer with a losing record. It is hard to tell from the video whether it was a legitimate knockdown because Gerula may have tripped on Han's feet when the punch connected, but I will give Han the benefit of the doubt and score the round 10-8 in favor of Han. You may think that Han would try to end the fight in round six after knocking Gerula down in round five, but that did not happen because it probably was not a real knockdown caused by a punch landed.
The action in the second half of the fight was usually controlled by Gerula. In round six, Han continued her safe strategy of staying near the ring ropes. Han would hold if she was able to when Gerula was coming in. Han mostly threw the left jab, but it did not appear to land much. Gerula was controlling the action and imposed her style and will. Gerula's ring generalship was superior and I scored that round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. In round seven, Han was circling around the ring and usually tried to avoid confrontation. When Gerula would get close, Han tried to hold. The referee had to separate the boxers after the holding from Han. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. In round eight, Han stunned Gerula with a straight right to the head. Han did not follow up immediately because she is so used to moving away after she throws a punch. When Gerula staggered back a little, Han then realized that Gerula was hurt and then came forward. Han landed another straight right to the head, but Gerula remained standing. Gerula's back bounced off the ropes and Gerula threw an overhand right. Han landed several punches to the head, but Gerula was still standing which gives credibility to the notion that the knockdown of Gerula in round five from one punch by Han was not really a knockdown. Han became a bit more brave than usual after Gerula weathered the storm, but she was still cautious. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Han. In round nine, Han went back to her familiar strategy of moving away from conflict except to throw an occasional left jab. Gerula's defense was good, especially because Gerula knew what Han was going to throw. Gerula usually blocked or parried the left jab of Han. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. The tenth and final round looked like most of the other rounds with Han holding when Gerula was close and Han throwing the left jab and moving frequently. Gerula was much more aggressive and landed more than Han. I scored the round 10-9 in favor of Gerula. I unofficially scored the fight 95-94 in favor of Gerula. That score counts the knockdown which could have been ruled a slip and scoring round one in favor of Han despite the fact that round one is not on the video.
Obviously, the judges were biased. All three of them identically scored the fight 100-89. Not only were the judges biased, but the media in El Paso was biased as well. One article from the El Paso Times stated that Han looked like Floyd Mayweather Jr. at his best. That may be the most biased statement by a journalist in the history of boxing. Another article from the El Paso Times praised her performance in the ring and compared her to a magician becoming visible and then invisible. Han was there landing one punch and then she was gone. Wow, it's magic! Not really. The article also stated that Han was so dominant that she did not lose a single round. This is what happens when you have biased judges favoring the champion. This is the same thing that happens in Germany with Elina Tissen who is another featherweight champion. It is fake. Fake champions and fake news. We have fake news now in boxing. I thought fake news was just in politics, but now it is in boxing too.
It is true that women's boxing is becoming more popular in America, but former and even current world champions of women's boxing are now training and trying to make the transition to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) because there are more opportunities to fight on television and make more money in MMA. MMA is also becoming more popular with female fighters because there are less bad decisions by judges in women's MMA compared to women's boxing. Women's boxing is televised in America, but that is usually reserved just for the top ten contenders and champions. There are some contenders who do not want to fight where champions are known to have the officials on their side. This is one reason why champions such as Tissen and Han rarely fight legitimate contenders. Another reason is because of the low pay as a result of the fights not being televised. Legitimate contenders usually want more money than the fake contenders who are not world-class. The corruption in women's boxing is more pervasive than in men's boxing because the vast majority of female fights are not on television and therefore are difficult for journalists to scrutinize who do not attend the event. The local media in El Paso function like publicists rather than journalists regarding Han's pro career. This is their first and only world champion. This is the first time something big happened in El Paso except for the big wave of illegal immigrants coming across the border from Mexico into the United States.
Who will Han fight next? The rating system of the IBF is so ridiculous. Among the top 15 of its female featherweight ratings, three of the places are "Not Rated." Gerula was inserted last at No. 15 which is below the three places labeled as "Not Rated." The IBF's No. 1 female featherweight contender is really a super featherweight from Argentina named Lizbeth Crespo. Han's next opponent could be someone from the current IBF ratings or someone else's name who is inserted in the future. I doubt that Han's next opponent will be a legitimate contender unless her next fight is televised. For now, El Paso, Texas has their world female featherweight champion. And so does Germany and Puerto Rico and Canada. Only one of them is the best and she is the one from Canada. As long as Han is the IBF female featherweight champion and continues to win, that may be all that matters to the people of El Paso. If Han vs. Gerula was not recorded on video by a person standing at ringside, there would be no video to watch and people would have to rely on journalists from El Paso to read about it. Biased decisions such as in Han vs. Gerula give a black eye to women's boxing. That black eye cannot be covered up and concealed by the makeup of the media in El Paso when people can see the truth.