NEED TO KNOW
\nA 12-year-old boxer will not be making her professional debut following intervention from the World Boxing Council (WBC) Romina \u201cLa Bambita\u201d Castan planned to fight in Mexico on July 26The fight was being billed as a Guinness World Record-breaking event<\/p>\n
A 12-year-old boxer will not be making her professional debut after the World Boxing Council (WBC) intervened.\n<\/p>\n
Mauricio Sulaim\u00e1n, the WBC\u2019s president, confirmed in a statement on X<\/a> on Friday, July 25, that Romina \u201cLa Bambita\u201d Castan would not be fighting in her first professional match in Veracruz, Mexico, on Saturday, July 26, following widespread international backlash.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI’m happy to inform [you] that 12-year-old Romina Castan will not fight tomorrow. The WBC will guide her father and support her amateur career,\u201d Sulaim\u00e1n wrote.\n<\/p>\n Prior to the post, the boxing president said on Instagram<\/a> that the WBC was \u201cabsolutely against\u201d the proposed fight. He added that he and the organization were working on preventing the fight from taking place.\n<\/p>\n A photo of boxing gloves on a boxing ring.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n \u201cI personally called the promoter and he is dealing with the fighter’s father who is making all kinds of threats. I will do everything possible to stop this from happening,\u201d Sulaim\u00e1n wrote.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u201c\u200b\u200bWe all thought it was a joke! We will fight to the bitter end to stop this atrocity,\u201d he added at the end of the caption in Spanish.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The fight was reportedly billed as a Guinness World Record-breaking event that would see the 12-year-old girl take on four rounds at the atom weight level, which is the lightest weight class for a boxing event and contains fighters weighing 102 pounds or less, according to Metro<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n In response to the original announcement surrounding the event that was shared on Facebook<\/a> by Mo’ Boxing, No Problem, several people criticized the fight, with one individual writing that Romina was “way too young” and “the risks are too great at the pro level.”\n<\/p>\n Another agreed, commenting, “I’m all for phenoms, but this is a no-go.”\n<\/p>\n Others worried that the preteen could get “serious permanent brain injury” from taking part in the event.<\/p>\n Romina’s father, Isaac \u201cBamba\u201d Castan, was once a boxer who competed in more than 50 youth amateur events. Romina followed in his footsteps and began boxing at the age of 8, according to Metro<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n Though Romina is no longer making her professional debut this weekend, Sulaim\u00e1n said in a post on X that she will have \u201cthe support of the WBC\u201d to \u201cdebut when appropriate.\u201d\n<\/p>\n One of the youngest boxers to ever make their professional debut was Wilfred Ben\u00edtez, who did so at the age of 15 in 1958. More recently, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez made his professional boxing debut in Mexico at the age of 15 in 2005.\n<\/p>\n While some boxers are able to make their professional debut in their teenage years, those living in the U.S. are not able to make their professional debut until they are over the age of 18, according to the USA Boxing website<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n