Sandra Tovar is back in the winner's circle a little more than four months after suffering only the third loss of her amateur career. Tovar, representing the Delhi High 51FIFTY Boxing Club, avenged her previous loss with an unanimous decision victory over Hermelinda Mendoza of Battle Fit Gym at the Black Star Boxing Show in Sacramento on Saturday.

“Because of how I barely lost my last fight by points, I wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen again. So I wanted to make sure I threw a lot more punches,” Tovar said.

Tovar opened the fight with her strategy intact, throwing jabs to set up combinations against her 105-pound opponent. As the first and second rounds wore on, however, it became harder and harder for Tovar to land consistent punches due to Mendoza's propensity to hold.

“The first two rounds, she was grabbing my head a lot so I couldn't punch her that much. I was giving her uppercuts and body shots,” Tovar said. “But in the last round, I started finding my distance and I started catching her a lot.”

Tovar reestablished her high-output plan in the third round as she used her jab to maintain distance between herself and Mendoza and began to land more combinations.

With the win, Tovar's record is extended to 8-3. The 13-year old Turlocker also received word after the fight of an invite to compete in the Women's National Golden Gloves Tournament in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from July 6-12 where she will represent Team California.

Tovar will compete at least one more time before her national debut in a rematch with Mendoza that is set for the Carlos Vieira Foundation's third annual Gloves Not Drugs Boxing Show in Livingston on March 28.

“I'm going to try to keep her off of me a lot and throw a lot more combinations,” Tovar said. “I'm going to throw more punches at her.”