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Marlen Esparza To Defend Her Three World Titles For The
First Time Against Mandatory Eva Guzman On Aug. 6, At
Dickies Arena In Fort Worth, TX
Newly crowned WBC, WBA, and Ring Magazine Flyweight World
Champion Marlen Esparza (12-1, 1 KOs) of Houston, TX, is set
to defend her three world titles for the first time against
her mandatory, former WBA Interim Flyweight World Champion
Eva “La Ley” Guzman (19-1, 11KOs) from Maracay, Venezuela on
Saturday, August 6 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX. The
10-round flyweight event will serve as the co-main event for
Vergil Ortiz, Jr. vs. Michael Mckinson.
Also, on the card, Dallas, TX fan favorite Maurice "Might
Mo" Hooker (27-2-3, 18 KOs) will face Blair “The Flair”
Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA, in a 10-round
welterweight fight. Opening the DAZN stream, Bektemir “The
Bully” Melikuziev (9-1, 7 KOs) of Indio, CA, will take on
Sladan “The Miner” Janjanin (32-10, 24 KOs) of Boston, MA in
an 8-round super middleweight event. All fights will stream
live worldwide, exclusively on DAZN starting at 5:00 p.m. PT
/ 7:00 p.m. CT / 8:00 p.m. ET.
Also on the card and part of The Golden Boy Fight Night:
Ortiz Jr. vs. McKinson Prelims on DAZN and the Golden Boy
Boxing YouTube page, Alex “Chi Town Heat” Martin (17-4, 6
KOs) returns to the ring against the battle-tested warrior
Henry “Hank” Lundy (31-10-1, 14 KOs). The 10-round super
lightweight fight will be part of the preliminary bouts
ahead of the DAZN broadcast hosted by Golden Fight Night’s
Beto Duran and Texas rising boxing star Alex Rincon.
Additional fights on the card will be announced shortly.
“I am ready for Eva Guzman. Mandatory defense or title
fight, all fights are serious business for me!” said Marlen
Esparza.
“This is the opportunity I have been waiting for to prove I
am the best,” said Eva Guzman. “After this victory, the
whole world will know I am the most dangerous fighter at
112lbs.”
“Im ready to show the world I’m still a warrior,” said
Maurice Hooker. “I’m ready to give them a fight they will
always remember.”
“Blair the Flair is saying absolutely nothing. See you
August 6,” said Blair Cobbs.
“It’s been a long time in training camp, the opponents
pulled out, the dates rescheduled, so I am happy to finally
have a fight and step back in the ring on August 6 on a big
Golden Boy show,” said Bektemir Melikuziev.
Marlen Esparza was born to make history in boxing. Born in
Houston, Texas, Marlen Esparza began her boxing career at 12
years old after growing up in a household that loved the
sport. In May 2012, Esparza became the first American woman
to qualify to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London, the
first year that women’s boxing made its debut as an Olympic
event. She would win the bronze medal in the women’s
flyweight division. In 2017, Esparza became the first female
fighter signed by Golden Boy Promotions.
In 2021, Esparza had a successful year, with an unanimous
decision victory against Ibeth Zamora Silva for the WBC
Flyweight World Championship and successfully defended her
new world championship title against former world champion
Anabel “Avispa” Ortiz. On April 9, as part of the undercard
of Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe, Esparza faced her
toughest challenge to date, taking on five-division world
champion Naoko Fujioka. The fight pitted the #1 vs. #2 in
the female flyweight division, granting them the honor of
fighting for the first-ever Ring Magazine Female Flyweight
World Championship. After 10-rounds of non-stop action from
two of the mightiest female fighters in the flyweight
division, the judges ruled in favor of Esparza unanimously,
crowning her the new WBC, WBA, and Ring Magazine World
Champion.
An accomplished fighter since her professional debut in
2015, Eva Guzman has rapidly risen the ranks to a world
championship by defeating some of the toughest fighters in
the division. Her first big test came in 2018 when she faced
Yaditza Perez for the IBA World Minimumweight World
Championship. In 2021, she earned the most significant
accomplishment in her career thus far, moving up in weight
and fighting in Mexico for the first time against Isabel
Millan to claim the crown as the WBA’s newest Interim
Flyweight World Champion. The new title had also earned her
the honor of becoming the new mandatory to fight Marlen
Esparza for the WBA Flyweight World Championship, something
she has dreamed of becoming since her professional debut.
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