A world unification title fight and a crossroads clash have been added to the Ryan Garcia-Emmanuel Tagoe card on April 9.

WBC Female flyweight world titleholder Marlen Esparza and Naoko Fujioka, the WBA beltholder, will square off for the inaugural Ring Magazine women’s flyweight championship and super middleweight gatekeeper Gabriel Rosado will face Shane Mosley Jr. 

Both 10-round bouts will take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and will stream live on DAZN. 

“We are excited and proud to put on a fan-friendly undercard for the anticipated matchup between Ryan Garcia and Emmanuel Tagoe,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy. “We always want to keep the fans in mind when we put together fights, and I know they will be glad to witness history in the making. Both fierce fighters will also put their WBC and WBA flyweight world championships on the line for the honor of being crowned the unified female flyweight world champion.”

The clash between Esparza and Fujioka pits the top two female flyweights, according to The Ring. Esparza and Fujioka are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

Esparza (11-1, 1 knockout), who resides in Houston, Texas, won the WBC title by defeating Ibeth Zamora Silva over 10 rounds on June 19. She would make the first defense of the title on December 18, dropping Anabel Ortiz twice en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The 32-year-old has won her last four bouts since suffering the only loss of her pro career at the hands of Seniesa Estrada in November 2019. Esparza won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. 

“I am training hard and excited for my return to San Antonio,” said Esparza, who turned pro in March 2017. “We are both champions, and we get to fight for the first-ever Ring Magazine Women’ Flyweight World Championship. Fireworks are what you can expect on April 9.”

Fujioka (19-2-1, 7 KOs), who resides in Tokyo, Japan, successfully defended her WBA title in her last fight on July 9, defeating Sulem Urbina by majority decision. She won the vacant WBA world title belt in March 2017, stopping Isabel Millian in the 10th round.

The 46-year-old has made four successive defenses and hopes to make it five at the expense of Esparza.

“I believe that my last victory against Sulem Urbina opened the door for this bigger opportunity to fight Marlen Esparza and unify world titles,” said Fujioka, who has won a world title belt at 115 and 118 pounds. “I’ve never been more excited. I am ready to go to her backyard and win.”

Rosado (26-14-1, 15 KOs) has fought a who’s who of world titleholders, contenders and prospects. In his last bout on November 13, Rosado lost to middleweight contender Jaime Munguia by unanimous decision. In his previous fight on June 19, Rosado scored a spectacular one-punch knockout win over super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev.

The 36-year-old, who is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and now resides in Los Angeles, lost by split-decision to Daniel Jacobs in November 2020 in a fight several thought Rosado did enough to win.

Mosley (17-4, 10 KOs), who resides in Pomona, California, has not fought since his majority decision loss to Jason Quigley on May 29. The son of hall-of-famer Shane Mosley had won his previous four bouts.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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