PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad -- Trinidadian boxing champion Jisselle Salandy, one of the sport's rising young stars, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a car crash on the outskirts of the Caribbean country's capital. She was 21.
Salandy died at Port-of-Spain General Hospital shortly after the dawn crash, according to Information Minister Neil Parsanlal. He said Salandy's car ran off a highway and smashed into a concrete column after she had brought a friend to Piarco International Airport.
Known for her quick feet and fast hands, Salandy had easily defended her WBC, WBA and WIBA belts against the Dominican Republic's Yahaira Hernandez on Dec. 26, which pushed Salandy's professional record to 17-0.
"The sport fraternity has suffered a tremendous loss and Trinidad and Tobago has lost an icon," Sports Minister Gary Hunt said. "Jisselle was a role model for young people, especially females."
Traveling in the car with Salandy was national soccer player Tamer Watson. She was listed in critical condition Sunday at the Port-of-Spain hospital, Hunt said.
Salandy, who began boxing at age 11, earned a welterweight title in 2002 when she was just 16 by outpointing 23-year-old Colombian Paula Rojas in Curacao. That stirred controversy in Salandy's native Trinidad because at 16, she was still two years younger than the minimum age for professional fights in her homeland.
"I cannot express in words the enormity of the loss for this country," said Brian Lewis, the chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board, at a news conference Sunday.
There were no announcements about funeral arrangements.
