Yokasta Valle Eyes 105-Pound Crown, Accepts Seniesa Estrada Rematch ‘Whenever He’s Ready to Come Back’
Yokasta Valle could not have chosen a place with a more appropriate name for his mission to usher in a new era.
The former three-division fighter will fight for his third strawweight title. Costa Rican Valle (31-3, 10 knockouts) will face multiple title challenger Elizabeth López Corzo (11-6-5, 2 KOs) for the vacant WBC 105-pound title. ESPN Knockout will air their fight live this Friday from the Camara de Ganaderaos in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Valle (31-3, 10 knockouts) is fighting for the second time since losing to Seniesa Estrada. Their March 29 RING showdown saw Estrada (26-0, 9 KOs) win by unanimous decision for the first-ever undisputed strawweight crown. Valle turned over his IBF and WBO belts to Estrada, who defended his RING title and WBC and WBA belts.
The division throne has since been vacated by Estrada, who abruptly announced his retirement earlier this month.
Valle has always hoped for a rematch but now he is preparing to fill the void left by his long-time rival.
“Whenever he’s ready to come back, I’d be happy to give him another chance,” Valle told The Ring. “It’s a fight that people really want to see again.
“Until then, I will focus on my goals and continue to push for more world titles.”
Valle bounced back from the Estrada loss with his first win in over four years. Ring’s No. 1 fighter. 8 pound-for-pound stopped Ramandeep Kaur in the second round on July 20 in San Juan de Tibas, Costa Rica.
It was Valle’s first fight with Jacob ‘Panda’ Najar as his head coach. Valle’s hope is that this union will lead him to his fourth dynasty. She won the belt in the special women’s atomweight division and enjoyed the combined status of the title at 105 and 108.
Valle, of The Ring’s No. 1 strawweight, climbed Nov. 2022 to dethrone Evelin Bermudez in the IBF/WBO junior flyweight title. He holds the same belts at 105, which he combined in a September 2022 victory over undefeated Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen.
Valle vacated the junior flyweight titles on Dec. 2022 and still at strawweight. This is where he longed not to be challenged and called Estrada all the time.
The two met at a conference earlier this year in Glendale, Arizona. Estrada had to hold off Valle’s late rally to win on all three points.
It left Valle disappointed, as he believed he deserved the nod. However, he left the Desert Diamond Arena more confident than ever that he could take revenge whenever they took it back.
That fight looks less extreme now than it did then, as the 32-year-old Estrada decided to leave the sport on a high note.
“I am surprised by the decision that Seniesa is quitting,” admitted Valle. “I accept his decision, and I wish him the best in this new step of his journey. Like many of us, there comes a time when we face difficult decisions to improve our well-being.”
