The world championship bout between Yamileth Mercado and Ramla Ali has been made official for the Estrada vs Bam undercard. The event takes place at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, June 29.
Mercado (23-3, 5 KOs) of Mexico brings to the ring her WBC super bantamweight title. The 26-year-old is fresh off the win by unanimous decision against Linda Laura Lecca in April, which marked her sixth successful defense.
“I’m excited to fight in the United States,” Yamileth Mercado said. “There are thousands of ‘paisanos’ who live in Arizona, I will give them a great fight, Mexican style. Ramla is a great fighter, but she will not take away my goal of unifying all the titles.”
Somalia-born Ali (9-1, 2 KOs) avenged her first career defeat last November, when she scored a unanimous decision against Julissa Alejandra Guzman. The 34-year-old of Greenwich, London makes her first attempt to land one of four major belts.
“It’s hard to articulate how much this means to me,” Ramla Ali said. “As an athlete and as a person you set yourself goals and challenges in your life and in your career. Some of them you meet and some of them you don’t. I’ve never really found any happiness or satisfaction so far in the milestones and achievements I’ve made. I truly feel that being crowned the WBC champion, which is something that I’ve always wanted since I picked up a pair of boxing gloves when I was 12 years old, finally gives me some peace in the long road of struggles that have gotten me to this point.”
“Although I’ve found success both inside and outside the ring, I’ve actually had very few people in my life that have truly championed me and invested in me, be it time, money or energy. I’m eternally grateful to Eddie Hearn and Frank Smith for seeing the vision when so many didn’t. To Mauricio Sulaiman, a man who I owe this fight to and someone who has ensured that my dream can come true. And finally, to Kevin Rooney that fought like hell to make sure this deal got done so he can see that green and gold belt around my waist.”
Also confirmed for the Estrada vs Bam undercard, a super bantamweight bout between Mexico’s Arturo Cardenas (13-0-1, 8 KOs) and Phoenix-based Danny Barrios (15-0, 5 KOs) of Des Moines, Iowa. The pair battles it out for the WBC Continental Americas title.
In the main event, Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) defends his WBC super flyweight title against unbeaten former champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas. In the co-main event, British Sunny Edwards (20-1, 4 KOs) meets fellow former world champion Adrian Curiel (24-5-1, 5 KOs) of Mexico at junior bantamweight.
