By Robert Coster

There are not many female boxing promoters but that hasn’t stopped 33-year-old Belgica Pena, who heads Shuan Boxing Promotion in the Dominican Republic. Shuan has its own gym, its ring, trainer, dietician and TV channel.  Fightnews.com® sat down with the ebullient, ambitious Belgica to talk about her company, its past, present, and future.

Belgica, when was Shuan Boxing created? How were its beginnings?

I was introduced to boxing by my father who loved the game. He financed me at the beginning. It was very difficult. We only had one boxer, no gym. I was just 23.

And today?

We have a big gym, our ring, 10 boxers, a trainer, a dietician. We have promoted 30 shows. We grew because we didn’t cut corners. We took the time to learn and we invested. Today we have our own TV channel (Shuan TV) and an excellent, dedicated trainer, Jesus Castillo.

You wish to say something about your boxers?

We are family. Two of our boxers, Felix Valera and Alberto Puello, have won the WBA world boxing titles. Another of our boxers, Nolberto Jimenez, has fought twice for WBA world titles. One of these fights was a draw in Japan.  He had a point deducted, otherwise he would have been a world champion. I also wish to mention mini-flyweight Erick (“Mini Pacman”) Rosa. Rosa won two regional titles in his pro debut and with just two bouts, he’s ranked #9 by the WBA. I do believe that only two other boxers have won titles in their pro debut, Lomachenko and Justis Huni of Australia.

Hard to be a woman in this very male boxing world?

Not really. Don’t make your gender an issue. That’s what I say.

This year you’ve promoted two bubble cards. Difficult?

Very difficult. Financially, greater risks, boxers getting sick with the virus, added cost to use the adequate medical measures of protection. We depend on the help of our sponsors through our TV channel.

When is your next card?

In March. We are going through difficult times, as you may guess, but we keep the faith. These difficult times will come to an end. We will come out stronger.