Boxing
Seniesa Estrada on what it feels to be ranked among top pound-for-pound women's boxers, wanting to fight consistently
Watch Zurdo vs. Barrera live on DAZN
After winning her major title in March, a unanimous decision over Anabel Ortiz to capture the Women's WBA Minimumweight title, Seniesa Estrada had plans of wanting to remain at 105 pounds and collect more gold.
However, a title unification couldn't be made, so Estrada decide to venture up to 108 and challenge Tenkai Tsunami for the Women's WBO Junior Flyweight championship on Friday night in the Gilberto Ramirez-Sullivan Barrera undercard from the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. The entire main card can be streamed exclusively on DAZN.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN: What was the strategy after fighting in March and wanting to come right back and fight on Friday, July 9, because you're not seeing top-notch fighters beyond Canelo wanting to fight more consistently?
Seniesa Estrada: I came out of my fight uninjured, and I was ready to ready to go. The excitement and determination to just become a world champion is everything that I've ever hoped for and dreamed of. ln the beginning of my career, I was so inactive, not because I wanted to be but because I had to be. I didn't have a promoter. It was hard to get fights. I was fighting once every eight months or once every year. So now that I'm with Golden Boy Promotions, they're able to keep me as active as I want to be. Why not take advantage of it? This is everything that I ever wanted. So if I come out of a fight physically okay, I'm ready to go right back in there and do it again as soon as possible. So after the Ortiz fight, I wanted to get right back in there. My plan was to unify at 105 pounds. But unfortunately, because of the different situations with the opponents at 105, we couldn't make that happen. So I said, let's just go to 108 and try to find a champion there. So Tsunami was the only one who accepted the challenge. So respect to her.
DAZN: Where did you get the "Super Bad" nickname, because that is a fantastic one?
SE: Thank you. "Sugar" Ray Leonard is my all-time favorite fighter. I've read his book over 20 times. In the book, he talks about how when he was a kid, his trainer and everyone in the gym used to call him "Super Bad" because he was super bad. So him being my favorite fighter, I just thought it was an awesome and different name. Then my trainer was like, 'Your nickname is Super Bad. Instead of walking out with the robe, you should wear a cape.' That's how it started.
DAZN: You look at women's boxing right now, and you have seen Clarissa Shields bounce over into MMA, and she's going to try to do both. What do you make of Clarissa trying to juggle and do both sports?
SE: I think that's great. She accomplished all that she wanted to accomplish in her weight division and in women's boxing. So why not go out and give herself another challenge and hopefully make more money there than she was boxing. MMA is tough. Watching her last fight was really cool, seeing how she had to overcome that first round. A lot of people thought that it was going to be over. A lot of people doubted her. But she came back, and she won. I think it's great. I have thought about transitioning into MMA, but not now. Boxing is my life right now, and things are starting to take off for me. I have so many goals that I want to accomplish in boxing first.
DAZN: You talk about a move to MMA someday. Is it because you're a fan of the sport, or is it because Clarissa is saying is that, for reasons that a lot of us still can't comprehend, the lack of pay disparity between the women and the men made her go over to MMA?
SE: I think a couple of years back, it was just the discouragement and the doubt that I had in boxing. That's what made me think differently and want to maybe transition to MMA. But now, things are coming together for me, and Golden Boy has been doing such an amazing job at making me happy and doing all the things that that they need to do to make sure that I'm secure and to make sure that I still have this determination and encouragement to stick to boxing and to keep fighting and to believe in boxing. Golden Boy is doing an awesome job at that. I'm definitely staying here.
DAZN: You're ranked among the top pound-for-pound women's fighters in the world. We've talked about the struggle in the past for you to get to where you're at. What did does that mean to you to now being considered among the best women's fighters in the world?
SE: It's crazy. It's an indescribable feeling. It's been my goal and dream since I was a kid to go down as one of the best fighters in history. To be recognized in the pound-for-pound list now is great. This is just the beginning. I have so many big fights to win and so many belts to win. I just feel like it's just the start, but it means so much to me because the struggle to get to where I am today has been insane. I can talk for hours about different struggles. There's more bad than good. The passion that I have for the sport is never giving up on myself and never giving up on my dreams.
DAZN: You can't include yourself, but who is the best women's fighter in the world?
SE: I would say Amanda Serrano because of all of her accomplishments. She has so many fights, so many titles in so many different weight divisions. It really sucks that she's barely getting the recognition. She's finally getting all the exposure that she deserved to get her whole career, but it was because women's boxing isn't where it is today. I'm happy to see her finally shining and getting that recognition, fighting on TV and getting these big fights, and hopefully, it keeps happening for her.
DAZN: Friday's card is pretty stacked. You have “Zurdo” Ramirez in the main event and then “Jo Jo” Diaz facing Javier Fortuna. Is it important to you to set the tone for the rest of the main card, or do you have that tunnel vision where you're like, 'I'm just going to do me, and however the cards fall, they fall?'
SE: Definitely tunnel vision. Pressure is something that I never really think of or have on my mind. But it being in my hometown and having all my friends, family and fans, and supporters out there definitely gives me more motivation. It makes me more excited to go out there and put on a great performance.
