Seniesa Estrada knew the risk that came with sacrificing nearly a year of her optimal prime.
The bigger picture is now beginning to come into play.
The unbeaten, two-division and reigning WBA strawweight titlist is set for the first of what she hopes is several unification bouts in her already remarkable career. ‘Superbad’ puts her belt on the line versus WBC strawweight titlist ‘Tiny’ Tina Rupprecht as part of an ESPN-televised tripleheader from Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California.
The bout is her second with Top Rank and comes barely four months after making her debut with the Las Vegas-based promotional powerhouse. Estrada’s win over Jazmin Villarino last November 12 ended an eleven-month layoff due to a lengthy dispute with now former promoter Golden Boy Promotions.
“I’m just excited to keep having these big fights without having to take another long layoff,” Estrada told BoxingScene.com. “I had to sacrifice a lot to get to this point. I lost a year of my prime just to fight outside the ring for what I believe is my true worth. Now I’m right where I want to be.
“This is exactly what I wanted and Top Rank didn’t waste any time to deliver for me. This is what I wanted with Golden Boy as well, to continue to push and become undisputed. It wasn’t always easy to make big fights happen for different reasons but now I feel like everything is now coming together.”
Headlining the show, former titlists Jose Ramirez (27-1, 17KOs) and Richard Commey (30-4-1, 27KOs) meet in a 12-round junior welterweight contest.
Estrada (23-0, 9KOs) recently celebrated the two-year anniversary of her first title win, a ten-round virtual shutout of long-reigning WBA strawweight titlist Anabel Ortiz in March 2021. The feat was immediately followed by a ten-round victory over Tenkai Tsunami to win the WBO junior flyweight title before she returned to strawweight. Estrada ended her 2021 campaign with a fourth-round knockout of unbeaten Maria Santizo.
The hope from there was to march into a title unification bout with Yokasta Valle (27-2, 9KOs), who held the IBF title at the time and has since added the WBO strap to her collection. Instead, the only fight endured by Estrada was a political battle outside the ring as she and Golden Boy failed to land on the same page over the direction of her career and her in-ring worth.
It led to the two sides parting ways, sadly not under amicable terms. It wasn’t the direction Estrada sought at the time, though she had faith in landing with a promoter who saw the true value in what she brings into the ring and to the sport as a whole. It led to a multi-fight agreement with Top Rank, who secured a title unification bout for Estrada just two fights into their deal and with the promise of much bigger and better things to come for the 30-year-old East Los Angeles native.
“This is a perfect time for me in boxing,” noted Estrada. “I’m with Top Rank and on this massive platform. Hopefully after this unification fight we can go for undisputed next. For now, I’m happy with where I am in my career.
“This is the moment I’ve dreamed of since I was a little girl. It’s crazy to think how far women’s boxing has come in this sport. We’re fighting in a unification bout on ESPN. You think it can’t get any bigger than this—but it will.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox