One of the sport’s most active titleholder racked up her latest victory.

Yokasta Valle picked up her third win of the year and second in a span of just seven weeks after a lopsided ppints victory over Anabel Ortiz. The judges’ cards of 100-90, 99-91 and 99-92 were all for Valle, who successfully defended her IBF/WBO strawweight titles in front of a capacity crowd of more than 5,000 rabid fans in attendance Saturday evening at Polideportivo de Cartago in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The DAZN-aired main event saw Valle use her superior skill set to fend off the swarming Ortiz, a former long-reigning WBA strawweight titlist from Mexico City. Ortiz applied constant pressure, though not always in the form of effective aggression. Valle used it to her advantage as she scored on several power shots on the inside.

Valle otherwise used the jab to set up blistering combinations at close quarters. Ortiz was not shy about letting her hands go but often came up short with her money shots.

Valle relied on her defensive prowess to avoid the more telling punches attempted by Ortiz in rounds three and four. The boxing match would always fall back into a fight, much to the delight of the partisan crowd who chanted ‘Yo-ka” throughout the ten-round affair.

There were moments when Vale remembered her jab and found a way to make things easy on herself. The traditional approach was not always applied, however. The local favorite—who hails from nearby San Jose—preferred to fight at close quarters, to which Ortiz responded with a grueling inside fight, which in part contributed to a bruise under the right eye of Valle.

Valle let her hands go in rounds seven, much to the delight of the partisan crowd. Ortiz wisely tied up on the inside, though also fighting at other times with the desperation of a boxer who knew she needed a knockout to win by that point.

Ortiz tried to change her luck and took the lead in round eight. Her jab and power shots fell well short of finding their target, as Valle was able to defend against all of the incoming and immediately returned fire. Ortiz fell to the canvas but the sequence was ruled a slip due to Valle pushing down on the back of her head after she landed a left hook.

Blood dripped from a cut on Ortiz’s nose as the bell sounded to begin round nine. Both fighters let the hands go but Valle was able to get the better of most exchanges. The defending champ was warned for pushing Ortiz to the canvas late in the round. Ortiz was more concerned with a headbutt that was missed but was forced to deal with a left-right combination by Valle that landed down the middle.

Valle continued to bring the heavy artillery in the tenth and final round, even with the fight well in her control and virtually no chance of losing a decision by that point. Ortiz showed bravery as she fought through blood and a nearly swollen shut left eye but never came close to turning the tide.

Ortiz fell to 33-6 (4KOs) with the loss, her third in a span of six fights. Her misfortune began with a March 2021 lopsided defeat to Seniesa Estrada to end her lengthy WBA strawweight title reign. She also came up short in a December 2021 challenge of Marlen Esparza’s WBC flyweight title but rebounded with two wins to earn one more shot at a major title.

Valle advanced to 30-2 (9KOs) with her seventeenth consecutive win. Saturday’s feat also marked her ninth overall strawweight title defense and her third as the unified IBF/WBO titlist. Valle has also held an atomweight title and dethroned unbeaten IBF/WBO junior flyweight titlist Evelin Bermudez last November 26 before returning back to strawweight where he has designs on becoming undisputed champion.

That would mean a showdown with Estrada, her longtime bitter rival though with no real progress thus far of making that fight a reality. Valle signed with Golden Boy Promotions last summer, roughly around the time Estrada severed ties with the company following a month’s long feud and subsequently signed with Top Rank.

Valle will continue to remain active in the meantime. She has done that better than nearly any other titlist in the sport; Saturday marked her eighth fight in a span oi just 23 months. Including her third of this year and which came just seven weeks after her September 16 points win over Maria Santizo.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox