Notebook: Undisputed champion Seniesa Estrada retires undefeated
Prograis interview; WBC cruiserweight ruling; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada, the undisputed women’s strawweight champion, announced her retirement from boxing on Wednesday.
She posted her announcement on Instagram, beginning her note, “Dear boxing, Thank you for 23 years of ups and downs. For 23 years of the worst and best years of my life. Thank you for giving me life. Thank you for giving me the chance to inspire others. But, I know I won't miss you. No regrets. I did all I could. Today it ends at 26-0.”
Estrada, who also won a junior flyweight world title before dropping down to strawweight, made the decision seven months after the biggest fight of her career. That is when she won a unanimous decision — 97-93 on all three scorecards — against Yokasta Valle to retain the WBC and WBA 105-pound belts and claim Valle’s WBO and IBF titles to become the undisputed champion and culminate an acrimonious buildup on March 29 in Glendale, Arizona.
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Estrada (26-0, 9 KOs), 32, of East Los Angeles, long had a goal to become an undisputed champion. Having accomplished that, dealing with a variety of nagging injuries, having gotten married over the summer, and there being no major fight in the offing or something that genuinely motivated her, she retired.
“I thank my fans, friends & family,” Estrada wrote. “My promoter Bob Arum, Top Rank — Thank you for the opportunity to accomplish my goals and treating me with class. Most of all, my team. We did everything we imagined I would do and more as a woman in a male dominated sport. It’s been one wild ride. Thank you for standing by me. I hope that my style of fighting is one that people will remember forever.
“Only God knows how long I’ve been contemplating this decision. Physically and mentally, I can’t continue anymore. I thank God for helping me feel at peace. Peace in my heart and peace in my soul. I feel happy to continue life without boxing after 23 years of constant dedication.
“I know that I am more than an athlete. I know that Seniesa is a name people will continue to hear about. I know that I will shine bright at whatever I choose to do next.
“With love forever, Superbad.”
Estrada, who was promoted by Golden Boy for several years before signing with Top Rank in July 2022, was 7-0 in world title fights and long been a regular on women’s pound-for-pound lists.
“Seniesa Estrada is a spectacular person and fighter, and I know she can look forward to a happy and productive life outside the ring,” Arum, the Top Rank chairman, said. “Everyone at Top Rank will miss promoting her boxing career.”
Prograis interview
If you missed the recent podcast episode that includes my one-on-one interview with former two-time junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis ahead of Saturday’s fight with top contender Jack Catterall, we broke it out separately and you can listen to it here. Give it a listen, a review, and also subscribe to get an alert when the next episode is available. New shows every Thursday and Sunday night (and occasional special episodes like this one).
WBC cruiserweight ruling
The oft-delayed fight between WBC cruiserweight titlist Noel Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs), 34, an Armenia native fighting out of Miami, and mandatory challenger Ryan Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs), 29, had finally been rescheduled for Dec. 7 in Rozicki’s hometown Sydney, Canada.
And now it is off again and there will be an interim title bout headlining the Three Lions Promotions card instead.
The WBC announced that after Three Lions Promotions made a deal with Mikaelian promoter Don King and canceled a purse bid, Three Lions “produced bout contracts, contracted the (Center 200 arena), arranged for broadcast production, and incurred other substantial expenses.”
But after all that, WBC said that Mikaelian is unavailable to participate in the bout due to an ongoing legal dispute with King.
Therefore, the WBC approved a petition from Three Lion Promotions to stage an interim title bout between Rozicki and WBC No. 2-ranked Yamil Peralta (17-1, 9 KOs), 33, of Argentina. Peralta’s lone loss was via split decision to Rozicki in a 10-rounder, also at Center 200, in May 2022.
Peralta has won four fights in a row since, including over longtime contender and former title challenger Thabiso Mchunu via split decision in his most recent bout in March.
Rozicki has won seven fights in a row since a 12-round decision loss at heavyweight to Oscar Rivas in 2021.
Quick hits
Wasserman Boxing announced that its card scheduled for Friday in Bolton, England, which was to be headlined by Harlem Eubank moving up to welterweight to face Nurali Erdogan (16-3, 1 KO), 27, of France, has been postponed. No reason was given for the postponement and Wasserman Boxing did not respond when asked for the reason. The card was rescheduled for Nov. 22 (Channel 5 in U.K.) at the Walker Dome in Newcastle, England. Eubank (19-0, 8 KOs), 30,, of England, who is the nephew of British legend Chris Eubank Sr., will be in his first bout since signing with Wasserman Boxing in September.
Former IBF bantamweight titlist Emmanuel Rodriguez notified the IBF that he has an injury and has withdrawn from a title eliminator against Mexican southpaw Jose Salas (15-0, 10 KOs), 22, which was announced last week and set for Nov. 9 on the Subriel Matias-Roberto Ramirez undercard in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. With Rodriguez out, the IBF on Wednesday ordered a new eliminator between No. 4 Charlie Edwards (20-1, 7 KOs), 31, a former flyweight titlist from England, and No. 5 Salas for the right to become the mandatory challenger for titlist Ryosuke Nishida (9-0, 1 KO). “Contact this office in writing advising your availability,” the IBF wrote to their promoters. “In the event we do not hear from you in writing by 5 p.m. EST on October 26, 2024 we will assume that you do not wish to participate in this eliminator process and proceed down the list of rankings to the next available contender.”
Former WBA junior lightweight titlist Andrew Cancio came out of retirement and scored a sixth-round knockout of Gustavo Molina in a lightweight bout on Saturday night in Sonora, Mexico. According to Cancio’s team, he scored a knockdown in the first and second round of the scheduled eight-rounder. Cancio (22-5-2, 17 KOs), 36, of Blythe, California, was fighting for the first since being stopped in the seventh round and losing his 130-pound title to Rene Alvarado in November 2019 in Indio, California.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, and Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom announced a partnership that will see Riyadh Season become an “official partner of all upcoming Boxer events in the U.K. and Ireland with integrations into pre-promotional activity in the build-up to every show and as part of fight night.” The deal kicked off with the Boxxer card this past Saturday headlined by junior welterweight Adam Azim’s eighth-round knockout of Ohara Davies in London. Prior to the deal some of Boxxer’s athletes had been on Riyadh Season cards. Alalshikh has made similar sponsorship deals with the two other major British promoters, Queensberry and Matchroom Boxing, as well as U.S.-based Top Rank and Golden Boy.
Show and tell
Evander Holyfield had unified the cruiserweight division to become its first undisputed champion and then moved up to heavyweight, where he won six fights in a row and was the mandatory challenger in all three major sanctioning bodies of the era. He was scheduled to challenge then-undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a massively anticipated fight. However, Tyson was shockingly knocked out in a supposed stay-busy fight by Buster Douglas in February 1990 in the biggest upset in boxing history. That meant Holyfield’s title long-awaited heavyweight title shot would come against Douglas in Las Vegas at The Mirage, which won the purse bid for the fight for a then-record $32.1 million.
Douglas, who had been celebrating the Tyson victory, turned up for the fight out of shape mentally and physically, which was driven home by stories of Douglas ordering room service from the hotel sauna. Then came the fight, which was on SET PPV (what was later renamed Showtime PPV). Holyfield dominated the first two rounds. In the third round, after Douglas threw and missed a lunging and wide uppercut, Holyfield countered with a clean right hand that nailed Douglas on the chin and dropped him. Douglas had no apparent interest in rising and was counted out, giving Holyfield the undisputed championship. The fight took place on Oct. 25, 1990 — 34 years ago on Friday. Here is a poster (which I had shrunk wrapped years ago) in my collection.
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Photos: Estrada: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Rozicki, Peralta, Mikaelian: WBC
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