Albuquerque boxer Stephanie Jaramillo to be inducted into International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame

Mar. 2—Stephanie Jaramillo was shopping for groceries with her mother, Annette, when she got a text.

Don't make any plans for the weekend of April 4-5, the message said, because that's when Jaramillo will be inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It's an honor, the Albuquerque native said in a phone interview, that belongs not just to her.

"I'm accepting it on behalf of the South Valley and everybody in New Mexico," she said. "I'm really proud to share."

In honoring Jaramillo, 40, the Hall of Fame is recognizing not only her achievements in the ring but her contributions as a promoter and a devoted friend of the sport.

She first fought as an amateur when she was 14. But, she said, "I'd been wanting to box since I was 5. It's always been a part of me."

In the amateur ranks, Jaramillo was a 1999 Golden Gloves national runner-up and represented the U.S. in dual competitions against Canada and Russia.

Her relatively short pro career was highlighted by two pitched battles with Albuquerque rival Holly Holm. Jaramillo lost the first by four-round majority decision in August 2003, then battled Holm to a six-round draw two months later.

Jaramillo retired as a pro at the age of 21 with a record of 4-2-1. Some six years later, she re-entered the sport as a promoter. She staged three cards in New Mexico, one in partnership with Oscar de La Hoya's Golden Boy promotions, another an all-woman card at Santa Ana Star Casino.

Her listing on boxrec.com also credits her with with three promotions in the Atlanta area, although, she said, she was not primarily responsible for those.

"I've been quietly helping a lot of promoters," she said.

For the past decade, Jaramillo has been focused on caring for her son, Dominic Gonzales. Still, her relationship with boxing, and with combat sports at large, remains unbroken.

In December, she was seen punching her way through a makeshift wall at a groundbreaking for the ongoing renovation of the boxing gym at Jack Candelaria Community Center.

Last month, she was a ringside presence at the BKFC Prospect Series bare-knuckle card at Revel Entertainment Center.

Dominic will turn 16 later this month, his maturation — "he's still my number one priority," she said — affording her more time for boxing. She'll be back at Revel in May to put on the annual "Brawl on the Bosque" charity fight card between firefighters and law enforcement.

In April, Jaramillo will join two New Mexicans previously inducted into the International Women's Hall of Fame: Holm (2017) and Delia Gonzalez (2022) of Chamberino.

Another New Mexico connection: El Paso boxer Jennifer Han, who'll be inducted with Jaramillo, has been trained throughout her career by Las Cruces' Louie Burke.

MASTERS BOXING: Burke, writing for boxingnewmexico.com, reports that 64-year-old Las Crucen Jose Escamilla won a gold medal last weekend at the Las Vegas USA Masters Boxing Championships.

Escamilla competed at 176 pounds.

EL PASO FIGHTS: Las Cruces super flyweight Amy Salinas (6-5) lost by split decision to Texan Alexis Araiza Mones (3-1-1) on Friday at the El Paso County Coliseum.

El Paso's Stephanie Han (6-0, two KOs), Jennifer's younger sister, defeated Slovakia's Nikola Izova (3-3-3) by first-round TKO.

THE FIGHTS OF MARCH: This is a busy month for combat sports in New Mexico.

A not necessarily complete list:

MARCH 9-16: The USA Boxing National Open at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Hundreds of the nation's best amateur boxers will be in town. Competition begins on Monday the 11th.

MARCH 23: Unbeaten Albuquerquean Abraham Perez (9-0, five KOs) headlines an eight-bout Legacy Promotions card at Expo New Mexico's Creative Arts Center.

Perez, matched against Fernando Diaz (13-4-1, four KOs) of Riverside, California in a 10-round bout, will seek to add the WBC Youth Silver flyweight title to the IBA 112-pound title he won in April 2023 and twice has successfully defended.

Perez's older brother, lightweight Aaron Angel Perez, is scheduled to face Mexico's Juan Antonio Meza (8-9, two KOs) in an eight-round bout.

MARCH 29: The wildly popular BKFC bare-knuckle franchise returns to Tingley Coliseum with a card headlined by Albuquerque's John Dodson (3-0 bare knuckle), who's scheduled to defend his BKFC flyweight title against Dagoberto Aguero (1-0 bare knuckle) of the Dominican Republic.

MARCH 30: The FightWorld MMA franchise returns to Revel with a card headlined by Albuquerque welterweight Ty Miller (3-0) against El Paso-based Travis Arrellano (2-0).

Though staging a card the night after a BKFC event is hardly ideal — the FightWorld card was approved first — Tom Vaughn, Arlene Sanchez Vaughn and Jon Judy of Albuquerque's FIT-NHB gym have staged many FightWorld cards in Albuquerque and have established their own fan base.