Boxing is no mere hobby for Bosque Farms’ Katherine Lindenmuth. At 33, a single mother of three with a full-time job, she believes she’s only just begun.
“(Boxing is) something I have passion for,” she said on Tuesday in a phone interview from the Indio/Palm Springs (California) airport, en route to the site of her scheduled bout Thursday against Lorraine Villalobos.
“I don’t have an intentions of walking away from it anytime soon.”
Lindenmuth (2-1) sees Thursday’s bout, a six-rounder on a Golden Boy Promotions card at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, as a potential springboard to greater things. It’s her first bout on a card staged by a major international promoter.
“It’s big,” she said, “because it could open up opportunities overseas, open up new opponents. It’s hard to find females at my weight (108 pounds).”
Lindenmuth trains under the guidance of Tony Rosales, with whom she practiced martial arts growing up and into adulthood. She first ventured into the boxing ring as an amateur some two years ago, had success, liked it, and turned pro in April of last year.
After two victories in Albuquerque, she lost by majority decision to Yadira Bustillos in Salt Lake City on Sept. 17.
Though two judges that night scored the bout 60-54 for Bustillos – the third judge scored it 57-57, a draw – Lindenmuth said the outcome still rankles.
“I don’t really quite agree with the decision,” she said. “(Rosales) didn’t agree with it, and a lot of fans in the stands as well.”
Her takeaway, though is this: “You can’t leave it to the officials. You’ve got to end the fight. You’ve got to sell it, and I didn’t do enough.”
Lindenmuth is keenly interested in a rematch with Bustillos (7-0), who – pending the announcement of an opponent – is scheduled to fight on Tapia Promotions’ card Friday at the Rio Rancho Events Center.
Her focus this week, though, is on Villalobos. The Los Angeles boxer is 5-4 (two knockouts) and holds a victory over New Mexican Leanna Martinez, stopping Martinez via TKO on a Pat Holmes-promoted card at the Embassy Suites in January 2019.
Lindenmuth has done her homework, watching and studying the available film on Villalobos in action. But, she says, film of previous fights is of limited value.
“(An opponent) might have prepared for someone else’s form and their style,” she said. “… I’ve really just perfected what I can do, getting better at what I can do.”
Thursday’s card is scheduled to be streamed on DAZN, a subscription service. It’s not clear if Lindenmuth’s bout will be included.
TALL ORDER: Come April 8, barring the unforeseen, Cleveland High graduate Brian Mendoza will get the opportunity of a boxing lifetime – at least, to that point.
Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs) is scheduled to face unbeaten Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., with Fundora’s World Boxing Council interim 154-pound title at stake.
If an interim title suggests there’s no actual title holder at the moment, that’s not the case. Jermell Charlo is the WBC 154-pound champion.
Exactly what the term “interim” means in boxing can vary, but Fundora won the interim title after Charlo fought to a draw with Brian Carlos Castano in a title defense. Charlo later defeated Castano but then broke his hand while training for a scheduled title defense against Tim Tzyu.
In any case, the Fundora fight looms as a huge opportunity for Mendoza, who earned that opportunity with a fifth-round KO in November of former world champion Jeison Rosario.
OK, so why is it a tall order?
Standing 6-foot-5 1/2, Fundora might well be the tallest 154-pound fighter in history. Mendoza is listed at 5-10.
