Marlen Esparza Wins Over Naoko Fujioka to Unify the WBA and WBC Titles!
On April 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, WBC flyweight champion Marlen Esparza (11-1, 1KO) and WBA champion Naoko Fujioka (19-3, 7KOs) waged battle over the course of their ten-round unification flyweight title bout.
Esparza came into this fight on a four-fight win streak. The only loss in her career came in 2019 against multi-weight world champion Seniesa Estrada after she was badly cut, and the fight was stopped in round 9, resulting in a technical decision loss. During her win streak, she picked up the WBC flyweight title, defeating Ibeth Zamora Silva in June of 2021.
As for Fujioka, she is Japan’s first ever five-weight world champion. At 46 years old, she proved that she is still very much capable of producing at a high level, evident by her performance against Esparza. A champion at bantamweight, flyweight, super flyweight, junior flyweight, and minimumweight, she only has two losses and one draw in her 13-year career.
CHAMPIONSHIP EFFORT, BUT…
With two belts on the line, both women came out guns blazing, trying to establish a rhythm. That would lead to a fast-paced, hard-fought first round with both women trading right hands and left hooks. Defense was a non-factor. Still trading wild shots in round two, Esparza seemed to get the better of Fujioka in most exchanges due to her better timing and fundamentals.
Still throwing punches in bunches in round four, both ladies started going down stairs to the body. The highlight of the round was an Esparza right-hand to the top of the head of Fujioka that sent her down, but instead the referee ruled it a slip.
In the latter portion of this championship tussle, momentum seemed to shift in favor of the Japanese champion. While both women were dead tired, Fujioka seemed to perform better as she landed significantly better body punches that had Esparza breathing heavily.
After ten action-packed rounds, the judges would deliver one ridiculous scorecard. The scores were 100-90 and 97-93 twice, all for Marlen Esparza. With the win, Esparza is now the unified 112-pound champion.
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By: Jerrell Fletcher
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