Kiria Tapia is aiming to become the first titleholder guided by 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Ivan Calderon – especially after her performance on Thursday night.
Tapia won an eight-round unanimous decision over Ayanna Vasquez at the Coliseo Pedrin Zorrilla in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Tapia, 8-0 (1 KO), is coached by one of the best to come out of Puerto Rico in Calderon, a two-division titleholder, who has since turned to training his island’s next generation of fighters. Among them is Tapia, a 36-year-old women’s junior lightweight contender who, given her age and the quality of her latest performance, would seem to be moved toward a title fight sooner rather than later.
“Calderon has long been one of those fighters who is also built to be a coach,” Corey Erdman, a broadcaster for some of Tapia’s fights, told BoxingScene. “In Tapia, he has someone who thinks like him, who is naturally a slick southpaw, and he really cares about her development.”
Thus far, the biggest moments of Tapia’s boxing lifetime came more than a decade ago. In 2011, she won gold at the Pan-Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Three years later, Tapia won gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico.
Tapia and her team hope a title shot is indeed on the horizon. Calderon believes she has always boasted the talent to reach that level.
“First and foremost, it was her discipline, her talent and her dream of becoming someone great in the sport of boxing,” Calderon told BoxingScene via a translator. “Every day, I see her more focused and hungrier for success, working harder than she has in previous training camps.”
Tapia’s motivations lie with her pride in being from the island.
“I'm so proud and happy to represent boxing here in Puerto Rico,” Tapia said via a translator. “Especially since women's boxing is at its best right now.”
Most Valuable Promotions has given women opportunities to make bigger money and earn greater visibility than before. Salita Promotions has consistently featured women’s boxing, with one of the sport’s biggest draws, Claressa Shields, being its marquee fighter.
Other major promoters such as Matchroom Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions have featured women’s bouts consistently throughout the year.
Tapia, of San Juan, is nearing the point of landing a fight against a marquee name. Making that more difficult is the fact that she seems caught between eras.
Tapia holds two world rankings: No. 8 by the WBO and No. 9 by the IBF. Both belts – along with the WBA title – are held by Alycia Baumgardner, 17-1 (7 KOs), who will return on April 17 against Bo Mi Re Shin.
Caroline Veyre is the WBC junior lightweight titleholder, a title she claimed in a sloppy victory over Delfine Persoon last month.
But given Tapia’s age and Hall of Fame backing from her coach, she could get the call to fight for a belt at any time.
“I trust [Calderon’s] instincts when it comes to fighters,” Erdman said. “She comes from an era in which Puerto Rican women didn’t get opportunities that they would get now in the amateur scene, and she flourished nonetheless.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
