Due to the extreme preventive measures in several American countries as a result of the world sanitary emergency, the qualifying event of the continent for Tokyo was suspended. The event was to be held in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, a country that participated with the elite male and female amateur delegation at the WBA FUTURE CHAMPIONS 2020 campus in Medellin.
The decision was announced a few weeks ago when several federations met with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Then, it was informed that the classification will be made by means of the ranking established by the IOC until June 14th of this year, taking into account the last competitions in which each fighter has participated in the course of the last twelve months.
Therefore, Argentine boxers Yesica Bopp, Erica Farias, and Yamil Peralta were left out of the top sporting event, since they belong to the professional ranks and have not participated in any tournament of the AIBA calendar recently.
The Argentine team has so far secured two places: Mirco Cuello at 57 kgs and Ramon Quiroga at 52 kg; while Brian Arregui at 69 kg, Francisco Veron at 75 kg, and Lucia Perez at women’s 69 kg are still waiting.
Facing the final resolution, the plans of the World Boxing Association Light Flyweight Super Champion have changed course. Yesica “Tuti” Bopp is waiting for the opportunity to fight in the United States and to finally get the chance to fight with the best in the division.
It is known that Seniesa “Super Bad” Estrada challenged her after the last fight in which she was crowned at 105 pounds, and fans have been encouraging this possible fight through social media.
Bopp is the female champion with the most defenses of the crown, being the only woman with such a feat in her native country: She has retained the WBA Light Flyweight belt 23 times and holds a record of 36 wins, with 16 KOs, and only 1 loss. She is one of the longest reigning champions of the pioneer organization in the world. Her last defense was on June 15th, 2019 when she defeated Gabriela Sanchez Saavedra by unanimous decision.
After that, she dedicated herself to the great bet of getting an Olympic medal, which she had no chance to fight for during her amateur career despite the multiple world and continental medals she won at that time, since women were not included in the Olympic calendar.
A few days after the announcement, Bopp posted on her Instagram account a video where she expressed her feelings about the situation, in which she thanked the support and work of the technical team along with the teammates of the national team: “we gave everything, I did my best. I was concentrated with a great team that was teaching me, I learned a lot”.
I want to thank my trainer for accompanying me in this dream to close a stage, to realize something I did not have as an amateur, the Olympic dream. So here I am, understanding that there may be moments of failure or times when things don’t turn out as I expected, but I must not give up. I still have a professional career and I am ready to defend or go for a new crown with the World Boxing Association because I am the best in the world and I have a long career ahead of me. I want to fight in the United States so now I will reschedule to fulfill new dreams.”
After a deep emotional demonstration, Yesica Bopp sent a message seeking to raise awareness in the face of the pandemic and to generate a constant work towards dreams: “dreams are not achieved, they are built”.
She also encouraged the development of healthy habits that will help to stay strong, and the importance of sports in health. She requested the reinforcement of precautions so that there will be no more closures of stores, gyms, to take care of the workers’ jobs. With a moving and committed message, La Tuti made it clear that she is more active than ever and that she wants to go for everything.
