Yokasta Valle set to defend strawweight belts against Maria Santizo on Sept. 16

Valle is making the jump to junior flyweight to face Bermudez. (Photo by Tom Hogan/Hoganphotos)

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Yokasta Valle has an opponent for her September 16 fight.

Valle will defend her IBF and WBO world strawweight title belts against Maria Santizo at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California, Golden Boy Promotions announced Tuesday. The 10-round bout will precede the main event bout between lightweight contenders William Zepeda and Mercito Gesta.

Both fights will stream live on DAZN (8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT).

The 31-year-old Valle (28-2, 9 knockouts), who is originally from Matagalpa, Nicaragua and now resides in San Jose, Costa Rica, last fought on March 25, again successfully defending her world title belts by defending Jessica Basulto Salazar by unanimous decision.

In her previous fight on November 26, Valle went up in weight to challenge Evelin Bermudez for her IBF and WBO world junior flyweight titles, winning a hard-fought majority decision.

There had reportedly been preliminary discussions on Valle facing Ring Magazine 105-pound champion Seneisa Estrada this past summer, but very little materialized. Estrada holds the WBC and WBA world title belts and a fight between the two would make for a compelling unification fight for the undisputed championship.

Valle is rated No. 1 by The Ring at 105 pounds.

Santizo (11-3, 6 KOs), who is originally from Guatemala and now resides in Eastvale, California, lost her last fight by unanimous decision to unbeaten junior flyweight contender Gabriela Fundora on April 8. In her previous fight on December 17, Santizo defeated Arlenn Sanchez Aguirre by unanimous decision.

The 38-year-old Santizo faced Estrada in December 2021, losing by knockout in the fourth round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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