Saturday’s 10-round women’s flyweight bout against former unified titleholder Marlen Esparza in Cancun, Mexico, wasn’t an easy one for Yokasta Valle. But it was never meant to be.

Valle, a Nicaraguan now fighting out of Costa Rica, essentially moved up three weight divisions to take on Houston’s Esparza, who weighed in for the fight at 113½lbs. Yet it was Valle who pushed forward throughout with aggressiveness and activity, edging Esparza in a hard-won split decision.

The scorecards came in at 96-94 and 97-93 for Valle and 96-94 for Esparza.

Valle, 33-3 (10 KOs), a current strawweight titleholder, chose to take on the challenge of facing the experienced and bigger Esparza, 15-3 (1 KO), whose pedigree as a former pro titlist and U.S. Olympian makes her arguably the best win now on Valle’s resume.

Esparza forced Valle to bring her best from the get-go, controlling the first round with her jab. Unbowed, Valle fought off the front foot in Round 2, taking the fight to Esparza and controlling the distance. She got plenty of additional help from the in-ring official, who gave multiple ticky-tack warnings for clutching and routinely broke up the fighters to take away what would have been a sure advantage for Esparza.

With superior hand and foot quickness, Valle timed Esparza, bouncing in and out of range and letting her overhand right fly behind the jab. She landed it inconsistently, but perhaps only because Esparza’s head movement and counterpunching made for a constant chess match that neither fighter wanted to cede.

In the seventh, Esparza slung a left hook that landed cleanly, then thudded away at Valle’s flanks. But in Round 9, Valle showed her class – and fitness – attacking with accurate combinations and body work. Esparza landed her own body shot and was finally allowed to get off some inside work and muscle Valle a bit.

With the outcome seemingly in the balance in Round 10, Valle had one of her busiest rounds, while Esparza turned in perhaps her best. Valle plastered Esparza with a right hand before Esparza landed her own jab, slipped slickly and pounded a left hook to Valle’s body. The fighters hooked with each other before each unloaded what they had left in the final seconds, with Valle’s quick-handed flurry possibly capturing the round at the bell.

Valle outpunched (537-421) and outlanded (102-91) Esparza over the course of the fight – though obviously not by much. It was a blissfully well-matched and sharply fought bout that both participants could feel good about. Valle can return to 105lbs to defend her belt with a marquee name now on her record, while the 38-year-old Esparza’s future now appears murky.

Also on the main broadcast, cruiserweight prospect Robin Safar had a successful debut under the Golden Boy Promotions banner, scoring a fifth-round technical knockout against the overmatched Roberto Silva.

Safar, a 32-year-old from Sweden now living in Las Vegas, is best known for his unanimous decision win over former light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev last May. However, with only one fight apiece in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Safar was intent on going more rounds than otherwise seemed necessary. 

Safar landed a number of right hands and dug body shots to Silva’s flabby midsection, and yet the bout often resembled a sparring session. By the end of the fifth round, Safar at least put his foot on the gas, dislodging Silva’s mouthpiece, continuing the onslaught and forcing the referee to step in.

CompuBox stats were one-sided: Safar was 51 of 140 with power punches, while Silva was just 15 of 99.

Safar is now 18-0 (13 KOs). Silva, a 36-year-old from Houston, is now 13-4 (7 KOs).

And in a junior bantamweight bout, Joselito Velazquez fought through a few cuts, several clashes of heads and a game opponent who was better than his record would otherwise suggest. But his face held up over the course of 10 rounds, and Velazquez won a unanimous decision over Adolfo Castillo.

Clashes of heads opened cuts over Velazquez’s right eye in the first and third rounds, the latter resulting from when he leaned his head forward and threw a left hook to the body. Despite that, the referee docked a point from Castillo at the start of the fourth.

The fighters’ heads continued to collide, and it compounded things that Castillo wasn’t merely there to take a loss. And in the seventh round, Velazquez suffered another cut, this one over his left eye, and this one coming from a punch, according to the DAZN broadcast crew.

It didn’t have an effect on the fight. Velazquez was fine to continue, and he was widely ahead on the scorecards. The judges scored the bout 100-89 (twice) and 97-92.

CompuBox had Velazquez going 156 of 562 in total punches while Castillo was 102 of 565.

Velazquez, a 31-year-old from Mexico, is now 21-1-1 (13 KOs) and has won six straight since his unanimous decision loss to former flyweight titleholder Cristofer Rosales in December 2022. Although Velazquez last made the flyweight limit a year ago, he intends to continue campaigning at 112lbs. He is ranked fifth at flyweight by the WBO, seventh by the WBC and 12th by the IBF.

Castillo, a 30-year-old from Mexico, is now 12-5-2 (7 KOs). Don’t be surprised if he upsets some unsuspecting prospect at some point in the future.

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.