Ginny Fuchs overcomes adversity to win a junior bantamweight title in just her fourth fight

Junior bantamweight Ginny Fuchs showcased her toughness over the weekend, securing a significant win despite sustaining a serious thumb injury early in the fight. 

Fuchs, the 2020 U.S. Olympian, now added a new title to her CV as she won the interim WBC junior bantamweight title from Adalieda Ruiz in Carson, Calif. 

Veteran cutman Aaron Navarro, who was in Fuchs’ corner, detailed her remarkable resilience during the bout, which saw the 36-year-old Fuchs (4-0, 1 KOs) capture a major title.

“Less than a week ago, I told you Ginny was a strong-willed individual,” Navarro said. “When she sets her mind on something, like going to the Olympics, she achieves it. That’s just who she is.”

Fuchs, who has had just three professional fights heading into the fight, faced skepticism from some who doubted she was ready for such a high-level challenge. Navarro, however, never questioned her determination. He knew the mental make-up of Fuchs and raved about it before. 

“A lot of people were asking me if she was ready for this type of fight, but I knew she was,” Navarro said. “What I didn’t know was that she injured her hand in the first round. She didn’t say a word about it.”

While fans were treated to a back-and-forth fire fight, Navarro only realized something was wrong when the fight ended, and they removed Fuchs’ glove.

 “When we took the glove off, I saw some blood and thought maybe she bent her fingernail,” Navarro said. “But then I looked closer and saw what looked like bone sticking out. I couldn’t believe it because she never showed any signs of pain.”

Fuchs later explained that she had injured her thumb during the first round when she threw a hook and hit her opponent with the inside of her thumb. 

“She told me it felt like she jammed it badly, but she just kept fighting,” Navarro said. “She had no choice but to push through.”

After the fight, Fuchs was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered an open dislocation of the thumb, with the bone pushing through the skin. Hardly the news you want to hear after the biggest win of your career. 

“The hand wrap and glove were holding it together,” Navarro said. “But it wasn’t broken; it was dislocated so badly that the bone came out.”

“What does this say about Ginny’s toughness? I think it says everything,” Navarro said. “She just won a major title in a legitimate fight against a well-decorated opponent, and she did it with a serious injury. On what should have been the greatest night of her career, she had to spend hours in the hospital. But I told her, ‘Kid, if you ever wanted to lock in your legendary status, you just did it.’”