Marlen Esparza Loses Belts On The Scale

Esparza (14-1, 1 KO), of Houston, who came in at 114 pounds for the 112-pound bout, will still fight Saturday night at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California, against Gabriela Celeste Alaniz, who hit the scales at 111.2.

Alaniz (14-1, 6 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is eligible to win the titles with a victory. This fight is a rematch from their past fight in July 2023 where Esparza defeated Alaniz to win the WBO champion by majority decision in a unification fight with Esparza, with scorecards of 99-91, 95-95 and 97-93. Alaniz had won the belt with a seventh-round TKO over Tamara Elisabeth Demarco in June 2022 and made a successful defense in a ninth-round TKO against Debora Rengifo three months later, before losing to Esparza.

The fight is apart of the undercard of Jose Ramirez’s Golden Boy debut against Rances Barthelemy.