Boxing champ Kenia Enriquez signs MMA deal with Combate Americas
Kenia Enriquez arrives at Kate del Castillo's announcement of her landmark deal with MMA promotion Combate Americas at LA River Studios on April 4, 2019 in Los Angeles. Credit: Getty Images for Combate America/Joe Scarnici
Kenia Enriquez, a two-time world boxing champion, will try her hands at mixed martial arts next, signing a multi-fight deal with Combate Americas, the promotion announced Thursday.
Enriquez (21-1, 9 knockouts) is the reigning WBC interim light flyweight champion and a former WBC flyweight champion. She last boxed on Oct. 6, winning a unanimous decision over Norleidys Graterol.
Enriquez, 25, from Tijuana, Mexico, is the second female world champion boxer to sign with the Hispanic-based Combate Americas, following in the footsteps of Amanda Serrano, a seven-division boxing champion. Serrano is 1-0-1 since debuting in Combate Americas in April 2018.
“Kenia Enriquez has been blazing a trail for women in the sport of boxing, and is now set on doing the same thing in the sport of MMA under Combate Americas, so we are excited to see her cross over and become a two-sport athlete,” Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren said in a news release.
Under her deal with Combate Americas, Enriques still would be allowed to box. She is expected to make her MMA debut in the fall.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
