Promoter Lou DiBella announced today that IBF 140-pound champion Mary McGee suffered a knee injury in training camp and will not be able to defend her title as planned. Jessica “The Cobra” Camara (8-2) of Montreal will now face Argentina's Victoria Bustos (21-6) for the vacant WBO 140-pound tiitle on Friday, August 20th at Cajon, California's Sycuan Casino. The WBO title was last held by Cristina Lindartou of Greece. “It’s unfortunate that Mary McGee was injured in training. I know how excited she was for this title unification against Victoria Bustos,” said DiBella.
Camara’s world title opportunity follows her victory against Heather Hardy in a lightweight bout held in May. Bustos is a former IBF lightweight champion.
Scheduled for ten rounds, Camara vs. Bustos is the co-feature bout on a Broadway Boxing show. Headlining the broadcast, WBA 140-pound champion Kali “K.O. Mequinonoag” Reis (17-7-1, 5 KOs) of Philadelphia makes the first defense of her title against Los Angeles-based Australian Diana Prazak (14-3, 9 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout. The division’s vacant IBO title will also be on the line. The 42 year-old Prazak had a reign as WBC 130-pound champion.
Reis’ ring nickname, “KO Mequinonoag”, which means “many feathers, many talents”, represents her Native American heritage, of which she is part Cherokee, Nipmuc, and Seaconke Wampanoag. In 2016, Reis became the first female Native American to win a world boxing title when she captured the WBC middleweight championship. Reis has recently garnered a wealth of positive headlines from the entertainment industry for her starring role in the cinematic release, “Catch the Fair One”, which tells the story of kidnapped Indigenous women. The film opened at the acclaimed Tribeca Film Festival in June, receiving the Festival’s 2021 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, and Reis, in her acting debut, won the Special Jury Award for her performance. Click Here for the movie’s trailer.
Fighting in a scheduled eight-round WBA welterweight eliminator, dubbed the “Thrilla for CasKilla”, Alma “The Conqueror” Ibarra (8-1, 4 KOs), of Monterrey, Mexico, faces Kandi “Krush” Wyatt (10-2, 3 KOs), of Calgary. The winner will become the mandatory challenger for undisputed world champion Jessica McCaskill.
Top Mexican heavyweight prospect Elvis Garcia (11-0, 8 KOs), of Tacoma, WA, by way of Puerta de Mangos, Nayarit, Mexico, will compete in an eight-round bout. The charismatic Garcia, known for his heavy hands, hits the ring following an eighth-round stoppage of Daniel Cota Peinado on June 26, 2021. Referred to as Anthony Joshua’s “secret weapon”, Garcia served as Joshua’s main sparring partner in preparation for his world heavyweight championship rematch against Andy Ruiz in December 2019.
