Yokasta Valle (left) and Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen (right) – Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Boxing
Both Yokasta Valle and Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen made weight for tonight’s strawweight world unification bout at the Ciudad Deportiva Heiner Ugalde in Valle’s hometown of San Jose, Costa Rica.
At Wednesday’s weigh-in, Valle, the longtime IBF women’s world champion, weighed in at 104.5 pounds. Nguyen weighed 104 pounds.
Valle (25-2, 9 KOs) will make his sixth IBF title defense against Nguyen. In her last fight on June 11, Valle defeated Lorraine Villalobos by unanimous decision. The victory over Villalobos came 11 weeks after Valle defeated Japan’s Sana Hazuki by decision.
The 30-year-old recently signed a co-promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions. Valle, who is ranked No. 2 in The Ring at 105 pounds, is also promoted by MarvNation Promotions.
Nguyen (5-0, 1 KO), who resides in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, won the WBO women’s title in her last fight on October 23, defeating Etsuko Tada by unanimous decision.
In the co-main event, junior bantamweight Sonia Osorio (113.8 pounds) from Mexico City and Adelaida Ruiz (115 pounds) will meet in a 10-round bout.
Tonight’s clash between Osorio and Ruiz is a rematch of their fight from March 21 of last year. The fight ended after the second round after the ring doctor recommended the fight be stopped due to Osorio sustaining a terrible cut on his left from an accidental head butt.
Osorio (15-7-2, 4 KOs) lost to Angela Nolasco by unanimous decision in her last fight on October 16. Notable fights on his ledger are decision losses to Ring Magazine flyweight champion Marlen Esparza and Seniesa Estrada.
Ruiz (11-0-1, 6 KOs), who resides in Los Angeles, dropped Edith de Jesus Flores twice en route to a knockout victory in their last fight on March 25. She has won her last two fights by knockout since Osorio. struggle.
Hard-hitting junior welterweight Jose Garcia (15-1, 14 KOs) from Tijuana, Mexico will take on Nicaraguan Israel Lopez (9-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-round bout.
Undefeated super middleweight Raquel Miller (11-0, 4 KOs) of San Francisco, California, who is ranked No. 5 by The Ring at 168 pounds, will face Brazilian Beatriz Aires Da Cunha (2-0, 2 KOs). in an eight round fight.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County, California, Star newspaper. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
