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Peoria, Arizona southpaw Yvonne Trevino was a well-regarded
pro kickboxer (fighting under the nickname "The Terminator")
before embarking on a career as a pro boxer in 1994. She made her
boxing debut as a last-minute replacement on Sept. 18, 1994, and
broke Chris Kreuz's nose on the way to a four-round decision.
Yvonne made her mark by winning the WIBF (then Super)
Flyweight title in an April 20 1995 brawl in Las Vegas with teenaged
German star Regina Halmich. Yvonne was decked early in this
bout but she came back to overpower the young German, cutting her
badly under her left eye to earn a TKO in the fourth round.
 
--decked by Regina Halmich (but she went on to win)
Yvonne defended her title against Brenda Rouse on April
19 1997 in a match that was the first women's boxing bout to be seen
live on U.S. network TV. The goal was to showcase a women's event
on ABC's Wide World of Sports alongside a one-hour feature
documentary on women's boxing that was shown in the Passion to
Play women's sport series the next day. Brenda Rouse had previously
been seen in a good 4-rounder against Eva Jones-Young on Cable USA's Tuesday
Night Fights. But she was no match for the aggressive Trevino
and their fight was stopped with seconds to go in the first round.
- but dominated Brenda Rouse
On April 29 1997 at Club Rio in Tempe, Arizona, Yvonne
won by a TKO at 1:24 of the first round over Akiya Griggs.
On May 17 1997, Yvonne fought in the first IFBA all-women's
card at the Reseda Country Club. Her fight was again supposed
to be the showcase event, pitting her against promising newcomer
Jolene Blackshear from Santa Rosa, California. Trevino was clearly
surprised by the aggressive Blackshear, and was knocked down twice
early in the first round. Both knockdowns were ruled slips, but nobody
who watched agrees with this! Later in the round, Blackshear
was deeply cut under her right eye by what appeared to be an elbow
strike from Trevino. The fight was stopped in Yvonne's favor to a
storm of protests from Yvonne, from both corners, and many in the
crowd! This was a shaky start for both Yvonne and the fledgeling
IFBA, and was hardly the "Main Event" either were looking
for on this occasion! A rematch with Blackshear is clearly called
for.
On August 2 1997, Yvonne earned the IFBA Bantamweight
title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Suzanne Riccio-Major
at the Grand Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Yvonne was undefeated as a super flyweight in the WIBF
after winning its world championship, but she was stripped of this
title when she fought in the IFBA. We deplore the fact that
this incident was one where women's boxing followed the lead of the
men. World titles should not be lost through politics, but in the
ring. (The WIBF later reversed itself on this decision!)
On February 15, 1998, Yvonne lost the IFBA bantamweight
title in a 10-round unanimous decision to Bridgett
Riley. Yvonne seemed intent on fighting Bridgett at close range
where Riley's hooks were an effective counter to her southpaw style.
Riley wore her down in a fast-paced competitive fight whose outcome
was in little doubt as Yvonne tired in the later rounds.
On August 8, 1998 at the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort
in North Dakota, Yvonne lost to Para Draine (100 lbs) of Spokane,
Washington in a challenge for the IWBF flyweight title with a hard-fought
10-round split decision (97-94, 98-92, 93-96). Yvonne's pro boxing
record was now 7-3-1 with 5 KO's.
On November 17, 1998 at the Freeman Coliseum in San
Antonio, Texas, Yvonne lost a convincing six-round unanimous (60-54,
59-55, 59-55) decision to Kathy Williams of Thunder Bay, Ontario,
Canada. A crowd of 1836 saw the former IFBA bantamweight champion
knocked down in the third and fifth rounds by the experienced Canadian
policewoman, who had a 25-6 record as an amateur.
 On
April 16, 1999 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yvonne
broke her three-fight losing streak and moved her pro record to 8-4-1
with a hard-fought six-round unanimous decision over Delia Gonzalez
(111 lbs) of Chamberino, New Mexico, who fell to 10-4-2. Gonzalez's
nose was badly bloodied early in the fight but she put up stiff resistance
and kept up a fast pace the whole way even though there was blood
streaming down her face (and all over Yvonne . . . see Mary Ann Owen's
post-fight photo of Yvonne at right.)
On May 28, 1999 at the Orleans in Las Vegas, Nevada,
Yvonne (weighing in at 113 lbs) moved her pro record to 9-4-1 with
a controversial TKO of Suzanne Riccio-Major (5'2", 115 lbs)
of Pittsfield, Massachusetts at 1:34 of the fifth round. Unlike their
first meeting on August 2, 1997, which had been a relatively tame
tactical match, this bout had see-saw knockdown action. Yvonne scored
a knockdown in the first round, but Riccio-Major returned the favor
with a solid right hand in the second. Trevino landed a flurry of
punches with Riccio-Major against the ropes when the bout was stopped,
but apparently nobody but referee Mitch Halpern thought that the
Massachusetts fighter was in trouble at this point! The crowd booed
the decision loudly, and Trevino grabbed the microphone from ring
announcer Jake Gutierrez to tell them that she didn't want the fight
to be stopped. Yvonne demanded a rematch, which promoter Tony Trudnich
said he would grant. Riccio-Major fell to 6-6-1 with the loss.
On May 6, 2001 at Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona,
Yvonne returned to pro boxing competition as a featherweight to face
WIBF Americas Featherweight champion Kelsey Jeffries. Jeffries moved
to 11-3 (1 KO) with a four-round unanimous decision over Yvonne,
who was knocked down twice in the first two rounds but kept trying
to turn the tide of the fight. Trevino fell to 9-5-1 (6 KO's) with
the loss. Her team tell me that she did not get warmed up until the
end of the third in her first 4-rounder in several years. They say
that Yvonne would now like some 10-rounders!
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