Hanna Gabriels Valle (born 14 January 1983), known as Hanna Gabriels, is a Costa Rican professional boxer. She has held world championships in four weight classes, having held the WBA female light middleweight title since 2016; the WBA female light heavyweight and WBC female heavyweight titles since April 2021;[nb 1] the WBO welterweight title in 2009; and the WBO light middleweight title twice between 2010 and 2018. As of September 2020, she is ranked as the world's third best active light middleweight by The Ring[1] and BoxRec.[2]

Hanna Gabriels
Gabriel in 2010
Statistics
Real name	Hanna Gabriels Valle
Nickname(s)	La Amazona / Black
Weight class	Welterweight Light middleweight Middleweight Heavyweight
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Reach	68 in (173 cm)
Nationality	Costa Rican
Born	(1983-01-14) 14 January 1983 (age 39) Alajuela, Costa Rica
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	24
Wins	21
Wins by KO	12
Losses	2
Draws	1

Gabriels is the daughter of Yolanda Valle Moreno and Lesslie Gabriels Binns, a promising boxer who qualified for the Olympic Games in Moscow 1980, but was unable to attend. She has one brother, Windell, who played football in the Costa Rican Primera División.[3]

Professional career

Gabriels made her professional debut on 17 November 2007, against Nicaraguan Aoska Xochilet Herrera at the Gimnasio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica, winning by third-round technical knockout (TKO).[4]

On 19 December 2009, Gabriels fought for the vacant WBO welterweight title against Argentine Gabriela Zapata at the Dennis Martínez National Stadium, Managua, Nicaragua, winning by TKO in the fourth round. The event and was part of an evening of posthumous tribute to three-weight Nicaraguan world champion Alexis Arguello, El Flaco Explosivo, considered one of the greatest boxers of all time.[5]

On 14 January 2010, just over a month after capturing the WBO welterweight title, Gabriels relinquished the belt after suffering several blackouts - said to be caused by having to cut-weight in order to make the welterweight limit.[6]

On 29 May 2010, Gabriels moved up in weight to face Dominican Gardy Álvarez for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico, winning by first-round TKO in a fight that lasted only 11 seconds.[7]

On 11 January 2011, Gabriels successfully defended her title against American Melisenda Pérez, winning by TKO in the tenth-round. Her cousin Andrés Calderón was present for the fight and was noted as part of her motivation to win in a following interview.[8]

On 31 March 2011, Gabriels once again fought Melisenda Pérez, this time winning with a seventh-round TKO. With 14,000 in attendance, the event was part of the inauguration acts of the National Stadium of Costa Rica.[9]

On 28 February 2013, Gabriels suffered her first career loss via second-round TKO to Oxandia Castillo of the Dominican Republic, losing her unbeaten streak and WBO junior middleweight title.

On 20 December 2014, after nearly two years out of the ring, Gabriels once again fought for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title against Mexican Paty Ramirez, regaining her title with a second-round TKO.

On 18 June 2016, Gabriels fought Katia Alvariño of Uruguay, winning by TKO in the third round, capturing the vacant WBA super welterweight title and becoming a unified world champion.

Gabriels defended the unified light middleweight championship twice in 2017; On 27 May, she won a unanimous decision over Canadian Natasha Spence, and on 13 October, avenged her first career loss against Oxandia Castillo by unanimous decision.

On 22 June 2018, Gabriels moved up in weight for the third time to challenge two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields for the vacant WBA and inaugural IBF middleweight titles at the Masonic Temple, Detroit. After becoming the first fighter to knock Shields down, Gabriels lost a 10 round unanimous decision (91-98, 92-97, 92-97).[10]

Activism

In July 2019, Gabriels acknowledged in an interview that she suffered sexual abuse at age five as part of an effort to raise awareness about the issue. Gabriel is an activist for gender equity and against violence.[11] That same year Gabriels was appointed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as a special collaborator to help campaigns for refugees and against xenophobia.[12]

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
24	Win	21–2–1	Martha Gaytán	TKO	2 (10), 1:59	17 Apr 2021	Fiesta Casino, San José, Costa Rica	Won inaugural WBA female light heavyweight and vacant WBC female heavyweight titles
23	Win	20–2–1	Abril Vidal	UD	10	17 Jul 2019	Gimnasio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica	Retained WBA female light middleweight title
22	Win	19–2–1	Sarah Dwyer	UD	10	26 Jan 2019	Managua, Nicaragua	Retained WBA female light middleweight title
21	Lose	18–2–1	Claressa Shields	UD	10	22 Jun 2018	Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.	For vacant WBA and inaugural IBF female middleweight titles
20	Win	18–1–1	Oxandia Castillo	UD	10	13 Oct 2017	Gimnasio Nacional Eddy Cortés, San José, Costa Rica	Retained WBA and WBO female light middleweight titles
19	Win	17–1–1	Natasha Spence	UD	10	27 May 2017	BN Arena, Hatillo, Costa Rica	Retained WBA and WBO female light middleweight titles
18	Win	16–1–1	Katia Alvariño	TKO	3 (10), 1:28	18 Jun 2016	Polideportivo José María Vargas, La Guaira, Venezuela	Retained WBO female light middleweight title; Won vacant WBA female light middleweight title
17	Win	15–1–1	Kali Reis	UD	10	17 Oct 2015	Estadio Edgardo Baltodano Briceño, Liberia, Costa Rica	Retained WBO female light middleweight title
16	Win	14–1–1	Paty Ramirez	TKO	2 (10), 0:36	20 Dec 2014	El San Juan Resort and Casino, Carolina, Puerto Rico	Won vacant WBO female light middleweight title
15	Lose	13–1–1	Oxandia Castillo	TKO	2 (10), 2:45	28 Feb 2013	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San Juan de Tibás, Costa Rica	Lost WBO female light middleweight title
14	Win	13–0–1	Dakota Stone	TKO	8 (10)	7 Jan 2012	Palacio de los Deportes, Heredia, Costa Rica	Retained WBO female light middleweight title
13	Win	12–0–1	Melisenda Pérez	TKO	7 (10), 1:18	31 Mar 2011	Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica	Retained WBO female light middleweight title
12	Win	11–0–1	Melisenda Pérez	TKO	10 (10), 1:04	9 Jan 2011	Hotel & Casino Conrad, Punta del Este, Uruguay	Retained WBO female light middleweight title
11	Win	10–0–1	Gardy Pena Alvarez	TKO	1 (10), 0:40	29 May 2010	Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón, Puerto Rico	Won inaugural WBO female light middleweight title
10	Win	9–0–1	Gabriela Marcela Zapata	KO	4 (10), 1:01	19 Dec 2009	Estadio Nacional, Managua, Nicaragua	Won inaugural WBO female welterweight title
9	Win	8–0–1	Yvonne Reis	UD	6	26 Sep 2009	UVI Sports & Fitness Center, Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
8	Win	7–0–1	Nayeli Vazquez	UD	9	18 Apr 2009	Gimnasio Nº 1 de La Sabana, San José, Costa Rica
7	Win	6–0–1	Irasema Valerio	KO	1 (8), 0:46	12 Dec 2008	Gimnasio Nº 1 de La Sabana, San José, Costa Rica
6	Win	5–0–1	Nayeli Vazquez	UD	8	15 Nov 2008	Gimnasio Villa Olímpica, Desamparados, Costa Rica
5	Draw	4–0–1	Rachel Clark	MD	6	13 Sep 2008	Expo Pocosí, Limón, Costa Rica
4	Win	4–0	Wanda Pena Ozuna	KO	1 (4), 0:20	23 Aug 2008	Gimnasio Nº 1 de La Sabana, San José, Costa Rica
3	Win	3–0	Cristy Nickel	UD	4	5 Jul 2008	Gimnasio Nº 1 de La Sabana, San José, Costa Rica
2	Win	2–0	Evelina Diaz	KO	3 (10), 0:49	16 Feb 2008	Gimnasio Nacional Eddy Cortés, San José, Costa Rica
1	Win	1–0	Aoska Xochilet Herrera	TKO	3 (4), 0:10	17 Nov 2007	Gimnasio Nacional Eddy Cortés, San José, Costa Rica

Notes

References

External links

• Boxing record for Hanna Gabriels from BoxRec (registration required)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hanna Gabriel.