The chance to become world champion had already slipped away at the weigh-in, when Stephanie Silva unfortunately came in around two kilos over the super flyweight limit. Nevertheless, the bout between our boxer and American Jasmine Artiga went ahead and proved to be competitive and entertaining. Fighting at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, the hometown fighter emerged victorious by unanimous decision, with the following scorecards: 99–91, 97–93, 100–90. A result that, in my view, is correct in substance but excessively wide in terms of the scoring margins.
In the early rounds, our standard-bearer adopted a somewhat unusual approach compared to her customary style, accepting the long range imposed by her opponent and trying to challenge her in terms of timing and in-and-out movement.
Despite the tactical scenario not being the most suitable for her, Silva still showed herself to be competitive as a technical boxer. However, Artiga’s height and reach advantage allowed the American to edge the opening rounds, albeit by narrow margins.
The Florida southpaw started the third round impressively, landing a heavy two-handed combination before once again controlling the action from the outside. Despite possessing greater power than the Italian, Artiga showed a clear respect for Stephanie Silva’s qualities, only engaging sporadically at close range before circling back out to long distance.
From the fourth round onward, our boxer fully entered the fight, finally setting aside excessive caution and tactical restraint and relying instead on the boxing style that has made her well known in Europe and has always brought her the greatest success: pressure fighting and a constant search for close-range exchanges.
Pressing her opponent with intensity and determination without ever losing focus, Silva proved to be the more skilled of the two in close-quarters combat. By moving her upper body and re-entering with great speed and sharpness, she was able to make her opponent’s loaded shots miss, placing herself in ideal position to counter effectively.
The Italian’s finish to the sixth round was outstanding. After suffering Artiga’s web of counterpunches in the early part of the round, Silva produced a remarkable late surge that brought the fight back onto largely even footing.
At that point, the American fighter’s tactical adjustments were commendable. In the seventh round, Artiga used her footwork masterfully to stay out of range of Silva’s attacks. Tightening her defense, she managed to slow the pace, halting Silva’s momentum and stopping the surge of her comeback.
Having at least partially extinguished the Italian’s enthusiasm, Artiga delivered an excellent eighth round, landing several explosive shots with both hands and entering the so-called championship rounds with momentum on her side and, in my opinion, a slight lead on the scorecards.
Silva performed better in the ninth round. Although it was a fairly even three minutes, our boxer showed greater initiative, increased aggression, and excellent sharpness in finding the right openings to land her left hook.
Artiga, however, was superior in the tenth and final round. Silva began the round at a fast pace, but the American quickly regained control and, in order to avoid any risk on the scorecards, emptied the tank, planting her feet and throwing with great intensity.
Personally, I had a final score of 96–94 for Jasmine Artiga, and I believe that the two judges who awarded respectively only one round and no rounds at all to Stephanie Silva demonstrated a lack of professionalism and excessive deference toward the hometown fighter.
That said, awarding the victory to the American was ultimately the correct decision. Silva unfortunately left too many points on the table in the early rounds and was unable to preserve enough energy to fully unleash herself down the stretch. It is also possible that her performance—though she can return home with her head held high—was partially affected by the physical issues she experienced in the days leading up to the fight, when, according to her team, she suffered from food poisoning.
The full fight video begins at timestamp 04:31:45 of this video: