Marlen Esparza: Difference between revisions

Marlen Esparza
Marlen Esparza
	Esparza at the 2012 ALMA Awards
Born	July 29, 1989 (age 35); Pasadena, Texas, U.S.
Nationality	American
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Flyweight
Height	5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Reach	64 in (163 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	15
Wins	14
Wins by KO	1
Losses	1
Women's amateur boxing
Representing the United States
Olympic Games
World Championships

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Revision as of 11:16, 8 January 2024

Marlen Esparza (born July 29, 1989)^[1] is an American professional boxer who held the WBC female flyweight title since June 2021 and the WBA and The Ring female flyweight title since April 2022, and the WBO one since July, 2023. As an amateur, she became the first American woman to qualify for the Olympics in the first year that women's boxing was an Olympic event,^[2] going on to win a bronze medal in the women's flyweight division at the 2012 Olympics in London.^[3]

Amateur career

Esparza, who is of Mexican descent, graduated from Pasadena High School in Pasadena, Texas in 2007.^[4] Esparza won a bronze medal at the 2006 Women's World Boxing Championship,^[5] gold at the 2014 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, and bronze at the 2016 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships.^[6]

Esparza was the subject of Soledad O'Brien's 2011 CNN documentary In Her Corner: Latino in America 2.^[7] She was the subject of an extensive profile in the June 2012 issue of The Atlantic,^[8] which discusses in detail her childhood, education, and her intense commitment to competition and training.

Marlen 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.^[6]

Professional Career

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

Esparza has an endorsement deal with CoverGirl cosmetics.^[8] She also appeared in a Spanish-language commercial for Coca-Cola.^[11] In addition, she collaborated with animal rights group PETA and posed in an ad to urge the public to speak up for abused animals.^[12]

Professional boxing record

15 fights	14 wins	1 loss
By knockout	1	0
By decision	13	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
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

^ "Marlen Esparza". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
^ Bearak, Barry (May 15, 2012). "U.S. Has Its First Female Olympic Boxer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
^ "U.S. middleweight Claressa Shields advances to gold-medal bout". www.cbsnews.com. August 8, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
^ Rich, Nathaniel (July 9, 2012). "Marlen Esparza: Going the Distance". Vogue. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
^ "Team USA: Marlen Esparza". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30.
^ ^a ^b "Working Out With Team USA". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b Aleksander, Irina (June 2012). "American Sweetheart". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
^ "Esparza cruises to victory in professional debut". 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
^ Idec, Keith (November 2, 2019). "Seniesa Estrada Beats Marlen Esparza Via Technical Decision". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
^ 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.
^ 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.

External links

Boxing record for Marlen Esparza from BoxRec (registration required)
Marlen Esparza at Olympics.com
Marlen Esparza at Olympic.org (archived)
Marlen Esparza at Olympedia (archive)
Marlen Esparza at Team USA (archived)
Marlen Esparza at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games (archived)
International Boxing Association profile at archive.today (archived December 2, 2012)
Marlen Esparza Video produced by Makers: Women Who Make America
Meet Team USA’s Marlen Esparza, the New Face of Women’s Boxing

Sporting positions
World boxing titles
Preceded by Ibeth Zamora Silva	WBC female Flyweight champion June 19, 2021 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Naoko Fujioka	WBA female Flyweight champion April 9, 2022 – present
Inaugural champion	The Ring female Flyweight champion April 9, 2022 – present
Preceded by Gabriela Celeste Alaniz	WBO female Flyweight champion July 8, 2023 – present

[NBCprofile-1] "Marlen Esparza". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2012-06-06.

[2] Bearak, Barry (May 15, 2012). "U.S. Has Its First Female Olympic Boxer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[3] "U.S. middleweight Claressa Shields advances to gold-medal bout". www.cbsnews.com. August 8, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[Vogue-4] Rich, Nathaniel (July 9, 2012). "Marlen Esparza: Going the Distance". Vogue. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved July 13, 2012.

[usa_boxing-5] "Team USA: Marlen Esparza". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30.

[:0-6] "Working Out With Team USA". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved 2023-05-30.

[inhercorner-7] "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.

[Atlantic-8] Aleksander, Irina (June 2012). "American Sweetheart". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2012-06-10. Retrieved May 28, 2012.

[9] "Esparza cruises to victory in professional debut". 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-03-28.

[10] Idec, Keith (November 2, 2019). "Seniesa Estrada Beats Marlen Esparza Via Technical Decision". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[Coke-11] 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.

[12] 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.

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v t e 2012 USA Olympic Boxing Team
Men's athletes	Rau'shee Warren Joseph Diaz José Ramírez Jamel Herring Errol Spence Terrell Gausha Marcus Browne Michael Hunter Dominic Breazeale
Women's athletes	Marlen Esparza Quanitta Underwood Claressa Shields
Coaches	—

v t e World amateur boxing champions – women's flyweight
2001–2002: up to 51 kg 2005–2008: up to 50 kg 2010–2019: up to 51 kg 2022–present: up to 52 kg
2001: Simona Galassi (ITA) 2002: Simona Galassi (ITA) 2005: Simona Galassi (ITA) 2006: Hasibe Erkoç (TUR) 2008: Kim Hyang-ok (PRK) 2010: Ren Cancan (CHN) 2012: Ren Cancan (CHN) 2014: Marlen Esparza (USA) 2016: Nicola Adams (GBR) 2018: Pang Chol-mi (PRK) 2019: Liliya Aetbaeva (RUS) 2022: Nikhat Zareen (IND) 2023: Wu Yu (CHN)