Kat on Brook: Lindenmuth looks for advancement

Katherine Lindenmuth came home from her recent trip to Bangkok with a world boxing title and a deep appreciation of a culture she’d never before experienced.

She won’t come home from her upcoming trip to San Jacinto, California with either of those things. (No offense intended to San Jacinto, home of the Estudillo Mansion and the Ramona Bowl Amphitheater).

Even so, from the narrow perspective of Lindenmuth’s boxing future, what she comes home with from California might prove the more meaningful of the two trips.

That’s provided, of course, she can defeat Brook Sibrian on Saturday at Soboba Casino & Resort.

“Hopefully, I’ll have some big things coming (after Saturday),” Lindenmuth said during a recent interview at Rosales Kickboxing & Karate on Edith NE. “You know, this is a big fight.”

Certainly, Lindenmuth’s victory in Bangkok, by second-round TKO over Pornpimon Pongpaew on May 31, was big in its own right — earning the Bosque Farms resident the WIBA minimumweight (105-pound) title.

There’ll be no title at stake when Lindenmuth steps into the ring against Sibrian. What is at stake, though, is advancement in one or more of the universally accepted professional boxing sanctioning bodies: the WBC, the WBA, the IBF and the WBO.

Lindenmuth (7-4, three knockouts) is not ranked by any of those organizations. Sibrian (7-2, three KOs) is ranked the No. 6 challenger by the WBO, No. 10 by the WBA and No. 13 by the WBC.

Based on strength of schedule, it could be argued that Lindenmuth should be ranked above Sibrian. All three of the fighters to whom Lindenmuth has lost — Kim Clavel, Guadalupe Medina, Yadira Bustillos twice — are ranked above Sibrian by one or more of those sanctioning bodies.

Lindenmuth went 10 hard rounds with Clavel, a former light flyweight (108-pound) world champion. The loss to Medina and one of the losses to Bustillos came via majority decision, meaning one judge scored those bouts even.

Clavel, Medina and Bustillos have a combined record of 42-3.

Sibrian’s losses have come against Gloria Munguia, who despite an 8-1 record is unranked, and Tania Garcia Hernandez (10-11-2).

Why, then, is Sibrian ranked while Lindenmuth is not? Perhaps it’s the two fewer losses on the California boxer’s record, or her two amateur national championships.

“I have no idea how the sanctioning bodies make that decision,” Lindenmuth said. “No idea.”

What she does know, or at least firmly believes, is that a win over Sibrian would bring her closer to her goal beyond Bangkok: a title shot in one of those four universally recognized bodies.

Records and rankings aside, she’s under no misconception that this is an easy fight. Sibrian’s relentless pressure was on display in her most recent bout, a victory by lopsided unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rubi Gutierrez on May 22.

Lindenmuth, herself an all-out pressure fighter, said she’s ready for battle.

“I can say that (fans) are gonna see, like, Kat on Kat, except it’s gonna be Kat on Brook,” she said. “We’re gonna be in there, and it’s gonna be a ball.

“We’re very tough. We’re very competitive.”

Sibrian sees it the same way.

“It’s gonna be a banger,” the Coachella, California, resident said in an interview available on YouTube. Of Lindenmuth, Siberian said, “She’s a firecracker.”