It’s been two years since Edmonton’s Jelena Mrdjenovich last fought at home. On Saturday night the featherweight boxer returned to Edmonton and earned a unanimous decision over Stephanie Ducastel of France at the Shaw Conference Centre in the 50th career fight for Mrdjenovich.
The judges scored the bout 99-91, 99-91, and 98-92 as Mrdjenovich retained her WBA and WBC World Female Featherweight titles.
Unlike her last bout with Ducastel on Canada Day in 2017, where Mrdjenovich could only earn a draw, she controlled this bout on Saturday from start to finish. She forced her opponent to back up several times which included Mrdjenovich landing a flurry of quality shots while Ducastel was trapped along the ropes or in the corner. Mrdjenovich appeared to be frustrated by the tactics of Ducastel in the early stages of the fight but credits the official for making the fight a much cleaner affair.
“You know the first part of the fight was a lot of running on her behalf and I tried to chase her down with a jab but she just kept running and tried to land that overhand and a lot of holding,” Mrdjenovich said. “Thankfully (referee) Joel (Scobie) stopped the holding early otherwise it would have been an ugly, dirty fight that nobody wanted to see.”
Despite her frustration, Mrdjenovich praised her opponent for her willingness to open up and box.
“It took a while to breakdown and to get her jumping in and try to counter,” Mrdjenovich said. “It took me a bit to loosen up but once I did, wow those punches. I got to give her credit, she came in shape and she’s tough.”
There was doubt about whether or not this fight would actually take place in Edmonton, as the City announced a temporary ban on all combative sports late last year after the results of an independent review into the death of boxer Tim Hague back in June of 2017. The ban was lifted in February, meaning Mrdjenovich was back on track to hold her 50th fight in Edmonton. She says she doesn’t know how often she will fight in Edmonton in the future but says having her milestone fight in her hometown was a must.
“That feeling when I fought last time here, the vibration and feeling that I was worried I would never get to feel in Edmonton,” Mrdjenovich said. “That was recreated ten-fold over so I don’t know how Edmonton is going to beat that next time but I’m looking forward to it.”
Mrdjenovich saw her record improve to 38-10-2.