Beers were thrown at both losing fighters as Oscar Valdez and Seniesa Estrada scored victories in Glendale, Arizona. Liam Wilson and Yokosta Valle suffered the insults.
In video footage circulating on social media and pointed out by Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub TV, Wilson and Valle were struck as they left the arena in defeat.
The night should have been about Valdez and Estrada’s feat of becoming the first undefeated minimumweight champion in history. Instead, both incidents left a bad taste in the mouth.
Valdez stopped Australian puncher Wilson in the seventh round at Desert Diamond Arena to win the interim WBO lightweight title. Wilson’s victory was soured as he was drenched on his way to the locker room.
After his victory, Valdez said: “This means a lot. I proved a lot of people wrong again. People said, ‘You’re thirty-something. You’re done. You got your jaw broken. You got your rib broken.’ But I refused to believe that.
“I told him [Liam] to not give up. I lost as well. It doesn’t mean you’re done with the sport. I’m a good example. He almost got me. He almost got ‘Vaquero.’ He almost became a world champion. I have nothing but respect for Liam Wilson and his team.”
In defeat, Wilson was gracious enough to speak to the media. He said: “That’s how boxing goes. I tried to box in the first few rounds, but my heart got the better of me.
“These are the kind of fights I dreamed of since I was a kid. But I’ve got to learn from this and start using my boxing brain.
“Oscar is a true champion, and I’m very proud to have shared the ring with him. It’s still early in my career. I have plenty to go. I’m young. I’ll be back.”
Earlier, Estrada took home five belts as she fully unified the 105-pound division. As Valle walked back, waving to fans, someone in the audience threw a beer alongside a torrent of abuse. That behavior has no place in the sport after two fighters had just given everything in the ring.
Pushing her record to 26-0 and 9 KOs, Estrada is edging up the Pound for Pound rankings to challenge the best around, including Amanda Serrano and Claressa Shields.
Ultimately, all three judges scored the fight 97-93 to the new undisputed champion.
Clutching her belts, Estrada said: “I feel better. I’m happy. I’ve wanted it for a long time, and it’s becoming undisputed. It finally happened, and I accomplished my dreams. I’m beyond overwhelmed and happy.
“I knew she would come in and be aggressive like she always is. That’s her style, and I knew I would take everything away from her that she does best.
“I’m very competitive, and I want to be the best. In this training camp, there were days when it was difficult for me to go to the gym. My body was hurting, and my back was hurting. My hand was hurting. But I pushed through because that’s what champions do and because I want to be great.”
Valle, who suffered a gash in the fight, added: “I did feel [the headbutt that opened the cut] was intentional. I felt that she did that coming towards me in the first round. I had to struggle through that for the last nine rounds.”
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