IBF female strawweight champion Yokasta Valle expresses her zeal at securing a title unification fight and doesn’t regret that it didn’t happen against the opponent she earlier aimed for – Seniesa Estrada.
All I’ve ever wanted was to get a unification fight: Yokasta Valle
The Costa Rican pugilist is set to lock horns against WBO titleholder Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen this Thursday in San José. While she hopes to unify both titles, Valle’s original plan was to have a unification fight versus Estrada, the WBA strawweight titleholder.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com in a recent interview, Valle said that while she earlier aimed for Estrada’s WBA belt to add to her collection, the Nguyen bout serves the same purpose as she’s now one win away from being the unified IBF and WBO champ.
“I feel happy for this opportunity. All I’ve ever wanted was to get a unification fight,” said Valle, “Now we have the chance to fight another champion. I wanted to fight Seniesa Estrada but I didn’t need her. I just needed to fight another champion and now we have that opportunity.”
Valle’s long-term plans include winning all four major titles and becoming the first undisputed champion at female strawweight and she also has her gaze on the Ring Magazine title, before she targets titles at other divisions.
“I want to unify all four belts and win the Ring Magazine championship. Nobody has ever won that before in this weight division. Once I am able to achieve that goal, then we will look into moving up in weight and becoming a multi-division champion,” the 30-year-old went on, “For now, I am very comfortable at strawweight and I have unfinished business here.”
Yokasta Valle expects difficult challenge from Nguyen on Thursday
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While Valle has her future plans etched out, she has not lost focus on what’s up right ahead- winning against Nguyen this Thursday, and she is expecting a tough test against her Vietnamese opponent.
“This is a dream come true and it comes with a sacrifice of many years. It’s not an easy fight and there’s a reason she’s a champion too. There’s not much boxing in Vietnam, but there’s a reason she got there,” Valle said in a different interview with DAZN.
“I know the kind of fight I’m going to have. I’ve fought Japanese, Filipino and Mexican women who are very strong and they are some of the toughest fights I’ve had. When you fight someone like Nguyen, that’s where you test yourself if you’re really ready for boxing and that’s where you grow as a boxer,” she added.
