Seniesa Estrada Beats Tina Rupprecht to Unify WBA and WBC Minimumweight Titles in Fresno
By Yuriko Miyata
FRESNO, Ca.-“Super Bad” showed the depth of her ability. She loves to fight, but she can be dominant in boxing too and showed it in a battle of the undefeated to earn long awaited status as the “unified champion” on Saturday.
Fan pleasing WBA female minimumweight champion Seniesa Estrada (24-0, 9KOs) beat WBC titlist Tina Rupprecht (12-1-1, 3KOs) via unanimous decision to unify the titles in their 2-minutes 10-rounds bout at Save Mart Center, Fresno State University Bulldog’s home, in Fresno, California on March 25.
It’s been two years since Estrada, now an icon of the women’s lighter classes scene, snatched the WBA 105lbs title from Anabel Ortiz in March 2021. This unification fight, the first time in this weight class, came true bringing the German WBC queen out from her country finally, and was staged as the co-main event of Jose Carlos Ramirez versus Richard Commey for the WBC 140lbs eliminator, which was streamed by ESPN+streaming but also broadcasted by ESPN.
“This training camp was more mentally tough than it was physically. I showed it in the ring by sticking to my game plan and using my jab. I always want to give an entertaining fight, but I knew that with an opponent like Tina, I had to use my jab because she is a short fighter who stays very low. And when you fight fighters like that, you have to use your jab and stick to a game plan,” Estrada said.
So, she boxed Ruprecht dominantly and patiently in the extremely busy 10 rounds.
Estrada created her distance with solid and constant jabs and connected lefts to the body of the counterpart champion from the first round. With a switching stance, changing rhythm and finding good moments to connect combinations, she executed whatever confused Rupprecht and also entertained fans.
Rupprecht, who has reigned since December 2017 with six defenses all in Germany, including then world champion Yokasta Valle in 2018, demonstrated her strength mentally and physically as well in her U.S. debut.
“I’m very happy to be here. I’m happy to have my first fight in the U.S. I’m excited, and I’m ready to fight. It’s a big honor to fight for both titles. This is always what I wanted. And on Saturday you will see the best version of Tina.”, as she commented in the final press conference toward the fight, 4’11’’ short but a dense body, kept coming forward with good balance in the ring. She landed clean left hands to the head in the 2nd round and loaded more pressure trying to change the game in the sixth frame.
But Estrada never allowed the rival to turn the tables. She sent sharper punches while controlling distance, and outworked Ruprecht’s aggression in the final round to receive unblemished scores of 100-90 from all three judges.
“Like I said in the press conference, who would’ve thought a little girl from East L.A. one day would unify world titles on ESPN? Let’s go!”, shouted the newest female unified world champion in the ring, where she made her second fight since signing with Top Rank.
Estrada says her goal is to be undisputed champion at 105lbs, 108lbs, and 112lbs those three weight classes. And her next target to clean up her current division has to be Valle, who defended her IBF and WBO minimumweight titles against Mexico’s Jessica Basulto by unanimous decision in her home Costa Rica on the same night.
“I want to tell the other champion at 105 pounds that I’m whooping you next. You can get it next. I am the best in this division, and I know it. I want to prove it by becoming undisputed,” Estrada exclaimed.
Female boxing is experiencing a blazing momentum since 2022, where dream matches the likes of Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano, Claressa Shields vs Savanna Marshall, and Alycia Baumgardner vs Mikaela Mayer, came true. Estrada vs Valle will soon follow.
(Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank)