Lupita Medina: “I want to become a superstar.”

Lupita Medina: “I want to become a superstar.”

Most Valuable Promotions have heavily invested in women’s boxing over the last few years. An ever-expanding roster of elite female talent. The likes of Amanda Serrano, Mikaela Mayer, Chantelle Cameron, and many orhers are now part of that MVP family.

The unbeaten Nicaraguan-American Lupita Medina is the latest fighter to hook-up with the Jake Paul revolution on the female side of the sport. It was a beyond happy Medina I caught up with just a few days removed from the big announcement.

“I used to be with Tom Loeffler and 360 Promotions,” Medina told me over Zoom. “It was great when I was with him. They kept me active for the two years I was there. I had four fights per year. But MVP do have Kim Clavel and Yokasta Valle, who are world champions in my weight class. It makes making a fight with them a lot easier.”

“We are ranked number two by the IBF and the WBO,” Medina added. “Ideally, I want to be fighting for the title by the end of this year or early next year. I do want the fight with Yokasta, because I think that is a fight Central America wants to see. Nicaragua versus Costa Rica. It would be better if I won a title with another organisation, and then we can meet up and unify.”

Medina is looking at having more fights before her maiden world title attempt. “I want to get in a ten-round fight before I fight for a world title.”

MVP recently announced their second visit to the UK. A card that will be headlined by Mikaela Mayer and Chantelle Cameron clashing in a massive unification showdown at super-welterweight. Mayer and Cameron will fight for three belts at 154 in Birmingham. There is a possibility that Medina could be on that card. “I’ve never set foot in the UK, so that would be great,” Medina says. “A new base. New fans. That would be great to put my name out there. That would be awesome.”

The 22-year-old is unbeaten in twelve fights and her career is moving along at a brisk pace. Medina is more than happy with her progress so far. “I feel great. I feel as though I have a fast-paced career at the moment. I am highly-ranked, which says a lot. I haven’t fought since November due to my trying to get my release and the negotiations with different promotions. So this year has been kind of slow. But now I am with MVP, that will change. Things will pick up now. I haven’t wasted that time. I have been trying to perfect a few things, although it would have been nice to have had a fight or two.”

Medina was perhaps always destined for a life in boxing. It was already enshrined in her family. “My father was an amateur back in Nicaragua,” Medina told me. “He came over to America, and then they had my brother. So boxing has always been in the household. Every Saturday night, we used to watch the boxing on TV. Teaching us about Alexis Arguello. We kinda grew up watching boxing. My brother picked it up first. I have always been a daddy’s girl. I saw how much my father loved boxing, and how much he loved my brother doing it. So I wanted to do it because my father loved it so much. I have to love it too. He told me he did not want me to box, being his only daughter. He said you can do anything you want, and that I didn’t like this type of stuff because I was super girly. But I just wanted to do it, and when he said he didn’t want to do it, that just made me want to do it more.”

“Having the double life,” Medina added when I asked what she specifically likes about boxing. “That alter-ego. Having that switch. I am definitely not a ruthless person or violent. I am the total opposite. But in the ring, I can become whoever I want to be. I am unapologetically me. I like having that double life.”

The ‘Babyface Assassin’ is on the brink of fighting for a world title. Medina is highly-ranked at strawweight with Kim Clavel, the IBF champion and Yokasta Valle the WBC title holder, very much in her sights. But that is only the start of her ambitions. “The sky is the limit. I want to accomplish as much as I can. I want to become undisputed at 105. I think I can do the same at 108. My main focus right now is to become a world champion. I could make history by becoming the first female world champion out of Nicaragua. But overall, I want to become a superstar and be known worldwide. That would be amazing.”