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Marlen Esparza

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Marlen Esparza
Esparza at the 2012 ALMA Awards
Born (1989-07-29) July 29, 1989 (age 35)[1]
Pasadena, Texas, U.S.[1]
NationalityAmerican
Statistics
Weight(s)Flyweight
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Reach64 in (163 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights16
Wins14
Wins by KO1
Losses2
Medal record
Women's amateur boxing
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Flyweight
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Jeju Flyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2006 New Delhi Light flyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Astana Light flyweight

Marlen Esparza (born July 29, 1989) is an American professional boxer who is the former WBC, WBO, WBA and Ring female world flyweight champion. As an amateur, in 2012 she became the first American female boxer to qualify for the Olympics, in the first year that women's boxing was an Olympic event, going on to win a bronze medal in the women's flyweight division at the London Olympics. This made her the first American woman winner of any Olympic boxing medal.

Amateur career

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Esparza won a bronze medal at the 2006 Women's World Boxing Championship,[2] gold at the 2014 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, and bronze at the 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.[3]

In 2012 she became the first American woman to qualify for the Olympics in women's boxing, in the first year that women's boxing was an Olympic event.[4] At the 2012 Summer Olympics she defeated Karlha Magliocco, making her the first American woman winner of an Olympic boxing match.[5][6] She won a bronze medal in the women's flyweight division,[5] making her the first American woman winner of any Olympic boxing medal.[7]

Esparza was voted the Houston Fighter Of The Year (an award that encompasses both professional and amateur boxers) for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.[3]

Professional career

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In December 2016, she signed a contract with Golden Boy Promotions and subsequently made her pro debut on ESPN's March 23, 2017 opening card of a multi-year deal with Golden Boy. She won that fight, which was against Rachel Sazoff.[8]

She faced Seniesa Estrada for the WBA interim female flyweight title on November 2, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The bout formed part of the undercard for Canelo Álvarez vs Sergey Kovalev. The bout was stopped at the end of the ninth round, on the advice of the ringside doctor, after Esparza suffered a cut in the fifth round from an accidental clash of heads, handing her the first defeat of her professional career by way of a unanimous technical decision.[9]

Esparza won her first professional world title by defeating WBC flyweight champion Ibeth Zamora Silva via unanimous decision at Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, on 19 June 2021.[10]

She became a unified world champion when she scored a unanimous decision win over WBA title holder Naoko Fujioka at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, on 9 April 2022, in a contest which was also for the inaugural Ring female world flyweight championship.[11][12]

On July 8, 2023, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, Esparza defeated Gabriela Celeste Alaniz by majority decision to add the WBO female flyweight title to her collection.[13][14]

Esparza was scheduled to defend her WBA, WBC, WBO flyweight titles in a rematch against Alaniz on March 16, 2024, in Las Vegas[15] but the fight was postponed due to challenger's US VISA issue.[16][17] The fight eventually took place on April 27, 2024, at Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California, although Esparza missed weight by 2 lbs, and was ineligible to keep the titles in case of her victory.[18][19] Alaniz won the contest by split decision.[20]

Personal life

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Esparza, who is of Mexican descent, graduated from Pasadena High School in Pasadena, Texas in 2007.[21] She was the subject of Soledad O'Brien's 2011 CNN documentary In Her Corner: Latino in America 2.[22]

She had an endorsement deal with CoverGirl cosmetics[23] and appeared in a Spanish-language commercial for Coca-Cola.[24] Esparza also appeared in an advert for animal rights group PETA.[25]

Professional boxing record

[edit]
15 fights 14 wins 1 loss
By knockout 1 0
By decision 13 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
16 Loss 14–2 Gabriela Celeste Alaniz SD 10 (10) April 27, 2024 Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California, U.S. Alaniz won WBC, WBA, WBO and The Ring female flyweight titles - Esparza missed weight.
15 Win 14–1 Gabriela Celeste Alaniz MD 10 Jul 8, 2023 AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC, WBA and The Ring female flyweight titles,
won WBO female Flyweight title
14 Win 13–1 Eva Guzman UD 10 Aug 6, 2022 Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC, WBA and The Ring female flyweight titles
13 Win 12–1 Naoko Fujioka UD 10 Apr 9, 2022 Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC female flyweight title;
Won WBA and inaugural The Ring female flyweight titles
12 Win 11–1 Anabel Ortiz UD 10 Dec 18, 2021 AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Retained WBC female flyweight title
11 Win 10–1 Ibeth Zamora Silva UD 10 Jun 19, 2021 Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S. Won WBC female flyweight title
10 Win 9–1 Shelly Barnett UD 6 Mar 5, 2021 Dort Federal Event Center, Flint, Michigan, U.S.
9 Win 8–1 Sulem Urbina UD 8 Oct 30, 2020 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
8 Loss 7–1 Seniesa Estrada TD 9 (10), 2:00 Nov 2, 2019 MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. For WBA interim female flyweight title;
Unanimous TD after Esparza was cut from an accidental head clash
7 Win 7–0 Sonia Osorio UD 8 Jul 18, 2019 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
6 Win 6–0 Jhosep Vizcaíno UD 8 Apr 25, 2019 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
5 Win 5–0 Laetizia Campana TKO 3 (8), 0:11 Apr 6, 2018 Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
4 Win 4–0 Karla Valenzuela UD 6 Dec 14, 2017 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.
3 Win 3–0 Aracely Palacios UD 6 Sep 16, 2017 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
2 Win 2–0 Samantha Salazar UD 4 May 6, 2017 T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
1 Win 1–0 Rachel Sazoff UD 4 Mar 23, 2017 Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, California, U.S.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Marlen Esparza". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  2. ^ "Team USA: Marlen Esparza". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30.
  3. ^ a b "Working Out With Team USA". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  4. ^ Bearak, Barry (May 15, 2012). "U.S. Has Its First Female Olympic Boxer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "U.S. middleweight Claressa Shields advances to gold-medal bout". www.cbsnews.com. August 8, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "U.S. Women Capture 2 Medals at Inaugural Boxing Competition". August 6, 2012.
  7. ^ "Marlen Esparza snares the bronze as first U.S. woman to win a medal in Olympicboxing - CultureMap Houston". houston.culturemap.com.
  8. ^ "Esparza cruises to victory in professional debut". 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  9. ^ Idec, Keith (November 2, 2019). "Seniesa Estrada Beats Marlen Esparza Via Technical Decision". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  10. ^ "Marlen Esparza Decisions WBC Flyweight Champion Ibeth Zamora Silva". 3kingsboxing. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Marlen Esparza Unifies WBC/WBA Flyweight Title With Win Over Legendary Naoko Fujioka". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Marlen Esparza outpoints Naoka Fujioka, wins vacant Ring flyweight title, unifies WBC, WBA belts". The Ring. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  13. ^ Ahmed, S. Saadeq (9 July 2023). "Marlen Esparza Wins Majority Decision Over Gabriela Alaniz". Big Fight Weekend.
  14. ^ "Marlen Esparza Claims Majority Decision Win Over Gabriela Alaniz To Further Unify Flyweight Titles". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  15. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (16 February 2024). "Floyd Schofield vs Esteuri Suero co-feature to Zepeda-Hughes in Las Vegas". FIGHTMAG.
  16. ^ Donovan, Jake (8 March 2024). "Marlen Esparza-Gabriela Alaniz RING Championship Rematch Delayed Due To Visa Issues". The Ring. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Marlen Esparza-Gabriela Celeste Alaniz fight postponed due to visa issue". ESPN. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  18. ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (26 April 2024). "Jose Ramirez vs Rances Barthelemy on weight in Fresno, world champ misses". FIGHTMAG.
  19. ^ "Marlen Esparza misses weight for Alaniz bout, loses 3 titles". ESPN. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Gabriela Alaniz defeats Marlen Esparza by split decision, wins Ring flyweight championship". Ring Magazine. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  21. ^ Rich, Nathaniel (July 9, 2012). "Marlen Esparza: Going the Distance". Vogue. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  22. ^ "Latino in America 2: In Her Corner – Educator and Parent Guide". CNN. September 22, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-06-21. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  23. ^ Aleksander, Irina (June 2012). "American Sweetheart". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  24. ^ Kallen, Jackie (May 24, 2012). "Jackie Kallen on Women's Olympic Boxing: Marlen Esparza". Boxing Insider. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  25. ^ Torres, Ignacio (January 29, 2013). "Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza is ready to fight animal cruelty". NBCLatino.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Marlen Esparza.
Sporting positions
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBC female
Flyweight champion
June 19, 2021 – April 27, 2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by WBA female
Flyweight champion
April 9, 2022 – April 27, 2024 		Succeeded by
Inaugural champion The Ring female
Flyweight champion
April 9, 2022 – April 27, 2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by WBO female
Flyweight champion
July 8, 2023 – April 27, 2024 		Succeeded by
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