Seniesa Estrada Makes A Heartfelt Confession About Her Mental Health Struggles

The last few years (and fights) haven’t been very kind to Seniesa Estrada (26-0, 9 KOs).

‘Super Bad’ announced her retirement from the sport of boxing at the age of 32 after an undefeated professional reign of almost 13 years. While her announcement raised a lot of questions, in an emotional discourse, Estrada recently opened up about the dark side of boxing and her mental health struggles.

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Estrada’s last fight was in March 2024, where she defended her WBA and WBC women’s minimumweight titles and won the IBF and WBO minimumweight titles against Yokasta Valle. In a heartfelt conversation with Top Rank, she delved into how the sport took a toll on her mental health.

“Breaking me down mentally when it comes to depression. And I think, I really realized that and thought to myself like, ok, you really got to make a decision here. This is killing you, making you just not be yourself,” she said while breaking into tears. Estrada revealed that the stress of her last three fights even led to her relying on the bottle. She mentioned that she would down a bottle of wine every night during her training camp. In her own words, it helped her fall asleep a lot easier.

“I wasn’t even like going out and partying or anything. I was just doing it by myself. I didn’t even want to be around anybody. Just doing it alone, at home. And that went on for a while until I got into the training camp. When I was in training camp, for the last three fights, I was kinda just doing the same thing. Not as bad because I needed my body to be at 100 percent,” she said. Estrada added that the only reason she did that was to take her pain away.

“I’m Excited For New Beginnings”

Last Saturday, Estrada took to social media to announce that she was hanging up her boxing gloves. “I’m excited for new beginnings,” she said as she bid adieu to the sport that made her a household name.

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“I hope that my style of fighting is one that people will remember forever. Only God knows how long I’ve been contemplating this decision,” she said.

Joshua Ben Joseph

Joshua Ben Joseph is a Boxing writer renowned for his unparalleled coverage of live events and insightful interviews with prominent athletes in the world of combat sports. With a career spanning over several years, he has authored more than 800 articles. As an experienced editorial cartoonist and investigative journalist, Joshua has a keen eye for detail and a passion for delivering quality content. Aside from his writing, Joshua is an avid powerlifter and solo traveler, embodying the same spirit of determination and exploration that he brings to his work. With a deep love for the sport of boxing that dates back to childhood, he is committed to delivering the highest quality content and helping to build a more transparent and credible industry.

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