Yesica Bopp Dominates Anahi Torres in Argentina
By Diego Morilla
RIO HONDO, Argentina – In another superb display of boxing skills, Yesica Bopp defended her WBA mini-flyweight title with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Mexico’s Anahi Torres on Saturday night, capping a successful comeback that has seen her go 3-0 in 2016 after a year-long maternity layoff in 2015.
In spite of her shaky record, Torres (15-15-1, 2 KO) was competitive from bell to bell, and even managed to steal one or two rounds in some scorecards with her gritty performance. True to her Mexican boxing school, Torres never wavered and never took a step back when confronted with Bopp’s superbly timed two-fisted assault.
Fighting in her 22nd title bout in her 30-fight career, a feat impressive enough in itself, Bopp (30-1-0, 12 KO) showed no signs of ring rust at all by engaging Torres from the very first bell, landing repeatedly with her vaunted right cross and always taking the initiative.
Torres made her move in her third round, showing more activity and presumably taking the round in two of the scorecards in her best moment of the fight. The Mexican challenger landed repeatedly but without doing any noticeable damage, but Bopp chose that round to begin landing her accurate left hook at will, and never looked back.
By the sixth and seventh round, Torres was being outgunned severely by the more precise Bopp, who regardless of her superiority decided to engage Torres in a toe-to-toe battle to earn her respect. Torres refused to budge, and some of the most explosive exchanges took place during those two rounds.
The final three rounds, however, had Bopp taking the initiative once again and dominating Torres with barrages from all angles, putting her in danger of being stoped until the very end.
The scorecards read 99-91, 98-92 and 100-90, all in favor of Bopp, who retained her belt and is now headed to a make-or-break year. The 32-year old perennial titlist and pound-for-pound entrant is determined to face the best of the best, and her time to get the job done and secure her legacy is finally here, according to her.
Bopp’s only defeat came in 2013 against Mexico’s Jessica “Kika” Chavez. She also defeated Daniela Bermudez to briefly hold the WBO flyweight title. Her hit list for 2017 has only a few names on it but she is determined to make those fights happen.
“I hope to get my rematch with Chavez in a neutral country, and then I would like to face Susy Kentikian, as always,” said Bopp, who has had a grudge with the German-Armenian pocket dynamo for as long as she can remember, before the bout. “We all struggle hard to get the recognition for what we do and to achieve our goal of getting as much money as men do. Until we get to that day, we will be fighting hard for our rights.”
(Photo courtesy of Ramon Cairo/O.F.R. Promotions)