PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Trinidad and Tobago’s women’s world boxing champion Jizelle Salandy died yesterday morning following a vehicular accident.

She was 21 years old and held multiple international titles in the 154-pound light-middleweight division.

Salandy died shortly after 07:00 h at Port of Spain General Hospital following the accident on the Beetham Highway on the outskirts of the city.

She was driving a Toyota Yaris and crashed head on into a concrete pillar in the vicinity of the NP flyover at Sea Lots.

Another passenger in the car, Trinidad and Tobago national woman footballer, Tammie Watson, is in hospital nursing injuries.

Only nine days ago, Salandy repelled a spirited challenge from the Dominican Republic’s Yahaira Hernandez on a Boxing Day card at the Jean Pierre Complex to retain her world titles.

Unbeaten in 17 professional fights, Salandy was widely regarded as one of the world’s most gifted female boxers.

In November 2002, she became the youngest person on the planet to win a world boxing title at the tender age of 14 years, smashing a world record and because of the new change of the age laws in boxing that record will never be broken.

On September 15, 2006, Salandy became the youngest boxer – man or woman – to unify the two most prestigious titles in the world, the WBA and WBC world titles when she defeated Elizabeth Mooney on a seventh-round knockout as an 18-year-old.

Later that year, she shattered yet another world record by being the first boxer in the world to win six belts in one fight – the WBA, WBC, WBE, NABC, IWBF and WIBA titles.

For these achievements, Salandy was awarded by Women Boxing Archive Network (WBAN) Top History-making Fighter for the Year 2006 and was also awarded T&T’s First Citizens Sportswoman-of-the-Year 2006.

Last weekend, her manager Boxu Potts had told CMC Sport that his young star fighter was preparing to face American Angelica Martinez in late January in the first of a lucrative six-fight plan for 2009.

Her victory over Hernandez two Fridays ago meant Salandy had retained her eight international belts, including the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles.

Salandy had been named 2008 ‘Boxer-of-the-Year’ by WIBA mainly for her win in March over previously unbeaten Karolina Lukasik.