Is Seniesa Estrada the Future of Women’s Boxing?
In a general discussion about ladies’ boxing, unified WBA/WBC/WBO 154-pound champ Claressa Shields, undisputed world lightweight champion Katie Taylor, undisputed world welterweight champion Jessica McKaskill, and unified WBC/WBO world featherweight champ Amanda Serrano are the names often mentioned regarding the top pound for pound fighters. Each is more than deserving of praise as each has established themselves based on their talent and accomplishments. Those three currently carry the mantle and are the female superstars of the sports. But, if there’s one lady who is nipping at their heel, it’s one Seniesa Estrada (22-0, 9 KOs). 2021 was a breakthrough year for the 29-year-old with the nickname “Super Bad”.
A BANNER YEAR
In March, Estrada dominated Anabel Ortiz to win the WBA women’s world minimumweight title. Ortiz reigned as world champion for nearly eight years and totaled twelve world title defenses. This set of facts served to only make the victory that much more impressive.
In her next fight, Estrada moved up three pounds and defeated Tenkai Tsunami to capture the WBO world title at 108-pounds in July of 2021.
Five months later, the champ moved back down and defended her minimumweight title with a fourth-round KO over previously unbeaten Maria Santizo. Estrada’s win against Santizo was a virtuoso performance. In a dazzling display, the two-division women’s champ perplexed Santizo with her movement and boxing ability before finishing her off in sensational fashion.
THE COMPLETE PACKAGE
Her skill-set is, at times, jaw-dropping. She’s gaining quite the following throughout boxing social media. Some often compare her style to three-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko. When asked what separates her from the rest, Estrada gave this response to RingTV.
“What makes the difference is just my style all around. I can fight different ways…going backward, in the inside, I can go to the body. I have knockouts in different ways.
“And, I think most importantly is my mentality. Nobody has my mentality. I feel like I’m so mentally strong besides my very high ring IQ. You really don’t see that too much in women’s boxing. You really don’t see that in boxing at all, in general.
“I’m just excited every fight to just go in there and show the different things I can do and make people become a boxing fan who aren’t used to watching women’s boxing.”
WHY SHE STANDS OUT
Through the work of her promoter, Golden Boy, she gained attention not only through her exploits in the ring. NBA superstar LeBron James is a big fan and signed Estrada to an endorsement deal with his sports supplement company, “Ladder.”
The future looks limitless. After the win over Santizo, she said she would like to unify the titles at 105 and 108. There’s also the prospect of a rematch with reigning WBC women’s world flyweight champion Marlen Esparza, who she previously defeated in November 2019.
It’s her unique style in the ring coupled with her marketability outside the ring that makes the uber-talented fighter from Los Angeles a budding superstar. While there may be others running the race for women’s boxing now, it seems inevitable that baton will soon be passed to the fierce fighter they call “Super Bad”.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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