She was officially declared the darling of the World Boxing Association, where she holds the absolute minimum fly belt. Yesica Bopp, La Tuti, talked with President Gilberto Mendoza during a family talk last Thursday about how she wants to bring her career to an end. They both have been working to strengthen and enhance women boxing like the event held in June 2016 at the José María Vargas Dome in La Guaira, Venezuela, where they set the record for the most Female world championship fights. The event, titled The Battle of Champions, had 7 female title fights, 4 for World titles and 3 for Regional titles, with boxers from seven countries.
Amidst memories and postcards of life shared from a live hand to hand on Mr. Gilberto’s social…
[6:26 p. m., 6/6/2020] Zailuby Cuba: The WBA 99th Convention will be full of surprises
The 99th Convention of the World Boxing Association (WBA) will have very special surprises. The event, which will be held online between July 1st and 4th, will feature various talks with great specialists; and also will be the perfect prelude to the hundredth anniversary of the pioneer organization.
The various forums and panel discussions will be announced in the upcoming days. One of the confirmed forums will be named “99 years of History”, with the participation of sports legends such as Bob Arum and Don King, in a unique and unparalleled exchange of experiences and anecdotes.
Like in all conventions, the occasion will be used to hold the WBA General Assembly, Officials Seminars, Championship and Rating…
[7:44 p. m., 6/6/2020] Zailuby Cuba: “I ALWAYS TRAIN WINNING”
She was officially declared the dearest of the World Boxing Association, where she holds the absolute light flyweight belt. Yesica Bopp, La Tuti, talked with President Gilberto Mendoza last Thursday about how she longs to end her career. They both have been working in strengthening female boxing for a long time, like the event held in June 2016 at the José María Vargas Dome in La Guaira, Venezuela, where they set the record for the professional boxing card with the most female world championship fights.
The event, named The Battle of Champions, had 7 female fights, 4 world title fights, and 3 regional title fights, with boxers from seven countries.
Amidst memories shared live on Mr. Gilberto’s Instagram account, Bopp explained how she got into boxing to encourage all the girls to practice it: “I didn’t know anything about boxing. And I told my coach at that time, Delfino Perez, that I didn’t want to box because they were going to break my nose, but that didn’t happen. It gave me the opportunity to get out of where I was, and I improved my habits. As a teenager I smoked, went out and thought I didn’t want to end my life like my dad. He suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, so I started to take responsibility since I was a child to help my mom, who always gave us everything. While training I also worked; I was a cashier in a butcher shop, I also waitressed.
La Tuti recalled her early days and stressed the message she has always tried to convey as a female boxer, adding that “boxing can be practiced by anyone, you don’t have to be poor. I always wanted to show that, what was different, besides the beauty of a woman in the ring. That’s why the title of my book is “The Boxing Bride”.
La Tigresa Acuña and I marked the path for female boxing in Argentina. Both of us have always shown how beautiful and different boxing is.
In the quest to spread values and awareness, Bopp gives talks and carries out various social actions: “we teach what we know but we pass on what we have experienced. When I tell my story to young people I tell them that I came out of a municipal school like anyone else, but I gave the extra mile to be extraordinary because I was the first to arrive to the gym and the last one to leave”, said the champion, who also graduated as a social psychologist in 2015 after being a mother, to add tools to her life: “I read, I educate myself every day because no matter how successful I have been in boxing, life is something else. I’m a mom, an athlete and a professional. Since I started boxing, I decided to work hard for what I wanted to inherit when I had a family. My biggest motivation has always been my dreams of being able to have the house that my parents couldn’t give me. In everything I do I give my hundred percent”.
Yesica Bopp, as an amateur boxer, was a gold medalist at the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Pan-American Boxing Games; gold medalist at the 2005 Brazil Open Games; bronze medalist at the 2005 World Cup in Russia; silver medalist at the 2006 World Cup in India; Firpo award for best amateur in 2005, 2006 and 2007; and Firpo Gold 2007 for best boxer of the year in Argentina. She number 2 in the AIBA world ranking in 2007. When she turned professional, she kept the stylistic and speedy characteristics she learned along her way as an amateur.
In the talk with Gilberto, they went into detail about the qualities of the so-called Golden Piba, and the comments of Argentine specialized journalist Osvaldo Principi: “Yesica keeps the classic footwork of the Argentine boxing school that is extinct in male boxers here”, in support of the reasons why Bopp is considered one of the best boxers in the world.
With her characteristic smile, her self-confidence, Tuti shows peace when she talks about what she has achieved during her twenty years as a sportswoman. With 37 fights with only one defeat against the Mexican Jessica Chavez in 2013, which she does not regret at all, she expressed: “Today I have a career and I am ready to go and fight for the big purses but my goal now is to become an Olympian”, a dream that she has decided to undertake together with Gilberto Mendoza, who asked her about the experience she lived in February this year in the training campus held in Medellin, Colombia, the “Future WBA Champions”: “The fight with Ingrid Valencia (Colombian Olympic medalist in the 51kg, category in which Bopp is preparing) awakened my passion again. Amateur boxing is on one side and professional boxing is on the other side, and we have made history because an amateur could beat a professional boxer”, said the world champion with modesty and also added “boxing is family”, showing her emotions in relation to the World Boxing Association, together with the commitment to the organization with which she is planning the last stretch of her boxing career in the best way possible to get the golden brooch she deserves.
When asked her opinion about current boxing and her rivalry with an actual Argentinean boxer, she said “I admire and value all female boxers because I know what it takes. I never compare myself to any of them because there are different styles. For example, Daniela Bermúdez is one of the best in Argentina today. She brought out my best in the two tremendous fights we had”. Finally, to reinforce her message and appreciation, she emphasized “I always train winning. If you want to do boxing, you have to have a burning dream which is what will lead you to the best. Effort, dedication and perseverance, and everything can be achieved”.
