Above: Seniesa Estrada (left) will defend her Ring, WBA and WBC titles while Yokasta Valle puts her IBF and WBO belts on the line. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

THE UPCOMING UNDISPUTED STRAWWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT BETWEEN SENIESA ESTRADA AND YOKASTA VALLE HAS ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENT

When Seniesa Estrada and Yokasta Valle step into the ring at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on March 29, it will be the epitome of a superfight, not just for women’s boxing, but the entire sport. 

The strawweights have compiled a combined 55-2 pro record; each has two of the four major sanctioning body belts at 105 pounds, with Estrada holding the lead in the belt race as the Ring champion; and the 31-year-olds are both in the pound-for-pound rankings, with Estrada at number five and Valle in the number nine slot.

But if that’s not enough to get fans to tune in, this one is a little personal … at least on the side of East Los Angeles’ “Super Bad” Estrada, who sees this fight as not just an opportunity to become the first undisputed strawweight champion, but to beat a fighter she’s been chasing for years and to give a little jolt to her ex-promoter (and Valle’s current one).

“I said this year I want the biggest fights possible, all of them, every single fight.”
– Seniesa Estrada

“There’s no animosity leading up to the fight between him and I,” said Estrada of Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya. “But that doesn’t change my mind about this being personal for me, because nobody will ever understand what I went through while I was trying to get out of my contracts; nobody will ever know what those 11 months were like for me. And I’ll never forget that. So I’m taking all of that into the ring with me.”

Valle (right) capped off 2023 by widely outpointing former longtime titleholder Anabel Ortiz (coincidentally, Ortiz lost that WBA title to Estrada in 2021). (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images)

The acrimony between Estrada and Golden Boy has been well-documented, with the two ultimately splitting over contractual issues in July of 2022. At that time, Estrada had been on the shelf since December of the previous year, and despite having the WBA title at 105 pounds, her future was cloudy, since the big fight in the division was against Valle, who signed with Golden Boy a month before Estrada left.

“I’ve been looking for this fight since 2019, when I won the IBF 105 title,” said Costa Rica’s Valle through translator and manager Mario Vega. “And I truly believe that [Estrada] made it more difficult [by] leaving Golden Boy. That’s why I signed with Golden Boy, to fight Estrada, but she left. So she was the one who made it more difficult, but I want to leave that in the past. Now is the perfect time. Before, maybe it wouldn’t be at the height that it is now.”

She’s right. And while this isn’t the classic case of a fight “fermenting,” it has done just that, in a positive way. Estrada (25-0, 9 KOs) signed with Top Rank in late July of 2022 and has since defeated Jazmin Gala Villarino, Tina Rupprecht and Leonela Paola Yudica, adding the WBC and Ring belts along the way and getting plenty of exposure on ESPN.

As for Valle (30-2, 9 KOs), all she’s done is win, going 5-0 since inking a contract with Golden Boy. The combined record of her opponents over that stretch? 77-8-1. The IBF champion also added the WBO belt, and a perfect 2023 campaign that saw her barely lose a round in wins over Jessica Salazar, Maria Santizo and Anabel Ortiz that put her in the Fighter-of-the-Year race and earned her trainer, Gloria “Coach G” Alvarado, Trainer of the Year honors from The Ring. 

Trainer Gloria Alvarado is putting Valle through the paces at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. (Photo by Fighters Fight Media)

This run of excellence also took her popularity to new heights back home. 

“Yeah, she can’t walk down the street because she’s going to get people asking for her picture,” said Vega. “When she fights in Costa Rica, there’s a big line because she lets people come into the locker room and take pictures, and we usually stay until two in the morning. And right now, she’s on billboards all over Costa Rica, for the brands that she represents. So yeah, she’s pretty big. People love her there and she’s a big star.”

Fast-forward to late 2023, and it appeared that the stars were aligned for the superfight, but with this being boxing, there were going to be roadblocks. Top Rank and Golden Boy were going to have to work together, and the network airing the bout (ESPN or DAZN) had to be determined. But the biggest potential hold-up was going to be on the Estrada side, as the Californian aggravated an injury to her right hand in her July 2023 win over Yudica, with surgery following last September.

Estrada’s combination of skills and aggression makes her extremely dangerous, as Tina Rupprecht discovered in March 2023. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Once Estrada was cleared to return to the gym, her team suggested a tune-up bout.  

“They were like, ‘Okay, let’s be smart. You don’t know how your hand is going to feel. We should go into a fight before this fight,’” recalled Estrada. “So I told Top Rank I think I’m going to go into a fight before going into the undisputed fight to make sure that my hand feels okay.” 

Top Rank was on board, and Estrada resumed training. After a month, she had a change of heart.

Estrada in camp, May 2023. (Photo by Janine Garcia)

“I was training as if I was in training camp, and that whole month it was just bothering me,” she said. “I just kept thinking and thinking, you know what? If I go into another fight before the undisputed fight, I could have the same risk of re-injuring my hand in that fight. And then the undisputed fight doesn’t happen until six months down the line. Or what if I have to get surgery again? So, I said this year I want the biggest fights possible, all of them, every single fight. I want the fights to be big this year, because I want to be undisputed already and I want to fight whoever’s considered the best in and around my weight division.” 

On February 8, Estrada versus Valle was officially announced.

Now all that’s left is a fistfight in the desert.

“I’m always focused, but this time, my focus is completely a hundred percent,” Valle said. “Maybe some other times I have time for other stuff, but right now I’m just thinking about the fight because this fight is so big for my career that my focus is a hundred percent. This one is special.”

“I go into every fight knowing that the person I’m facing is going to be in the best shape of their life,” adds Estrada. “When they fight me, they’re going to put on their best performance, because beating me is a chance to take yourself to another level and show how good you are. I know that she is an aggressive fighter, throws a lot of punches and has good stamina, but I fought plenty of girls who throw a lot of punches, have good stamina and come in that good shape. It’s what I do against them and my style of fighting that takes all that away. You could be in the greatest shape of your life, but if you’re not in mental shape, you’re going to break down physically and then mentally. And that’s what I see happening in the fight. My plan is to dominate.”

(Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank)

Sounds like that heat is still there. Valle feels it, but she believes that will play into her hands on March 29 because maybe, just maybe, “Yoka” is bringing some understated heat of her own.

“I don’t know if it’s a benefit or not for Estrada to have that hate in her heart,” said Valle. “When I see her, she looks angry, and I think that’s because she’s afraid of losing. She knows I’m going to be her toughest fight and she can lose. I really want that Ring Magazine belt. That’s always been my dream. And I believe it’s in the wrong hands.”