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By Cassandra Cousineau, LVSportsBiz.com Boxing Writer
After an absence spanning more than a decade, boxing returns to recently-reopened Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas Saturday night.
The 2,500-person capacity Pearl Theater will feature a 12-round middleweight championship main event, featuring Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs). The 2016 Olympian will defend his title against British middleweight champion Denzel Bentley (17-1-1, 14 KOs) in the championship double header.
Promoted by Las Vegas-based Top Rank, in association with England’s Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, the night will also feature one of the sport’s rising stars, Seniesa Estrada.
Ring Magazine’s No. 1 ranked female fighter at 105 pounds makes her way back into the ring vs. Argentinian Jazmin Gala Villarino after an 11-month absence. It’s an emotional return for the East Los Angeles native who recently signed with Top Rank after beginning her professional career under Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy banner.
Her voice quivered as tears filled the corners of her eyes when responding to what the moment meant to her. “It’s very special because these past 11 months have been difficult for me to stay out of the ring and not fighting. I felt like I was missing out on so much because I’m so competitive and I want to be great.”
While Estrada has been dutifully training and awaiting the finalization of contract negotiations, womens boxing has had a strong year, partially due to the investment Top Rank has made in the sport. Top Rank founder Bob Arum believes that coming out of the pandemic, it’s been the women of boxing who have carried some of the sport’s most important events.
“Seniesa is one of the cornerstones of the future of boxing. They call her Super Bad, and we believe she could be super special,” Arum said. “We’ve watched her career develop and when she became a free agent we signed her to a contract. I think she’s a terrific fighter who is also highly marketable.”
The Mexican-American’s marketability goes beyond what she can do in the squared circle, which is impressive in its own right. She started boxing at the age of eight, and in 2020 scored the fastest knockout in women’s boxing history, knocking out 42-year-old Miranda Adkins in a mere seven seconds.
“She has a terrific personality and the fact that she’s completely bilingual is very, very important,” Arum said. “I think she has a bright future in boxing, and we intend to keep her very busy.”
In addition to her day job, Estrada provides her expertise to Top Rank’s broadcasting team — a team that includes the voices of two other notable women in boxing.
In 2021, Crystina Poncher and Mikaela Mayer made history by calling the international broadcast of the Joshua Franco-Andrew Moloney card in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Aug. 14. They become the first all-female broadcast team to call a boxing match.
Approaching his 91st birthday next month, Arum has watched hundreds of female fighters enter and leave the sport unheralded.
“It took some time for women’s boxing to be taken seriously,” he said. “Seneisa, Mikaela, and, of course, the fantastic Claressa Shields who headlined the all women’s card we promoted in London at the O2 Arena really cemented the fact that women’s boxing has more than arrived. We think women will be an integral part of the sport for years to come.”
Part of the future of women’s boxing lies in the sport’s acceptance of three-minute rounds. As it stands currently, female boxers are allowed to fight for a maximum of 10 two-minute rounds. That is a full minute shorter and two rounds fewer than their male counterparts.
The one minute differential isn’t just about conventional thinking.
In 2016, Dr. Meeryo Choe, a neurologist at the UCLA Brain Research Institute who specializes in women’s brain health, gave a presentation for the World Boxing Council (WBC), where, according to the WBC, she offered up evidence that women have almost 80 percent more concussion probability than men. WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán has referenced the study as the reason the sanctioning body will never allow for three-minute rounds.
Arum and Estrada disagree with that view. Estrada stated during this week’s pre-fight press conference, “I wanna fight three-minute rounds every fight.”
Arum added, “I’m a big advocate of three-minute rounds. Enough of the champions are calling for it. A lot of times the women are training this way. So, to compete in three-minute rounds won’t be a stretch. It happens occasionally with sanctioning bodies other than the WBC.
“When you watch boxing, the most exciting part of the men’s fight is the final minute of the round. Right now, the women are deprived of that. The commissions have to be persuaded to make this a universal format. I would even think we could start with making championship fights mandatory for three minutes.”
For now, Estrada is looking to make her two-minute boxing rounds memorable for as long as they last. She’s a heavy favorite at -3500 odds vs. Gala Villarino. “I’ll be back in the ring after over 300 days, but I AM BACK!” the 30-year-old told LVSportsBiz.com.
The event can be viewed through ESPN+ and tickets starting at $25 can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.