Recent graduate Lindenmuth now seeks a master’s in the boxing ring

Back from Phoenix, diploma in hand, Katherine Lindenmuth has come home to Bosque Farms with two more treasured goals in mind.

They are, in reverse order: a career in law enforcement — that’s what her master’s degree in criminal justice from Grand Canyon University, awarded on Wednesday, is for — and a boxing world title.

Toward the latter goal, Guadalupe “Lupita” Medina is standing in the way.

“She’s 20 years old, she’s got a lot of energy, she’s in good shape, she works out, she’s got a good team,” Lindenmuth said of Medina, her scheduled opponent for a six-round bout on Oct. 26 in Commerce, California.

“But she hasn’t fought anybody like me.”

There aren’t many professional boxers like Lindenmuth.

The widowed mother of three boys ages 16, 14 and 10, Lindenmuth, 35, works full time as a trainer with the state of New Mexico. She runs in the morning, gets the kids off to school, does her job, then trains in the evening.

Her studies for that master’s degree, thankfully, are done. But her sons have extracurricular activities she needs to help them with and get them to.

“My boys keep me busy,” she said during a recent interview at trainer Anthony Rosales’ gym on Edith NE. “And work keeps me equally busy.”

Somehow, Lindenmuth even finds time for a social life. She and her boyfriend, Jonathan Korman, have been a couple for a year or so.

“He’s really supportive,” Lindenmuth said. “… He’s definitely right there with that emotional support, because I don’t feel like many people understand how much of a mental toll boxing, pro athletics, can take from the athlete.”

Sight unseen, it’s not likely Medina’s life is as complicated as Lindenmuth’s. At least in terms of her boxing career, Medina has built-in advantages.

The Maywood, California fighter signed with 360 Promotions (Tom Loeffler) in May. She’s trained by Manny Robles Sr. (Oscar Valdez, Andy Ruiz Jr., Serhii Bohachuk, et al). She’s been sparring in preparation for Lindenmuth with Argentina’s Yesica Bopp (39-3, 17 KOs) a former WBO world champion, among others.

In the past, she’s sparred with Seniesa Estrada, the IBF/WBA/WBO minimumweight world champion, and with Yokasta Valle, who lost her IBF and WBO titles to Estrada in March.

For all that, Medina has been brought along carefully.

Her spotless record (7-0, two KOs) has been fashioned against opponents with a cumulative record of 9-12-1. She’s never fought past six rounds, the distance at which Medina-Lindenmuth is contracted.

“She’s been taken care of very well,” Rosales said.

Lindenmuth, by contrast, is coming off a loss by 10-round unanimous decision to former world light flyweight champion Kim Clavel (19-2, three KOs) on May 16 in Clavel’s hometown of Montreal. Clavel won comfortably on the scorecards, but knew she was in a fight.

In addition to the loss to Clavel, Lindenmuth lost twice by decision to Yadira Bustillos (10-1, one KO) over first six, then eight rounds.

Rosales said he and Lindenmuth accepted the Clavel fight with the goal of going 10 hard rounds against a quality opponent at one weight class (108 pounds) above that at which Lindenmuth harbors her world title aspirations.

The Medina bout is contracted at Lindenmuth’s preferred weight of 105 pounds.

“All we wanted to do (in Montreal) was go the distance,” Rosales said. “That was our main goal. We didn’t figure we’d win because it was in (Clavel’s) backyard.”

In terms of backyards, Lindenmuth once again will be the visiting team when she steps into the ring against Medina. Commerce Casino has been where Medina has fought and won four of her previous seven bouts. Commerce is a 10-minute drive, or thereabouts, from Medina’s hometown of Maywood.

Rosales said he sought to negotiate the fight for eight rounds, but Team Medina declined.

If Lindenmuth needed extra motivation — she probably doesn’t — this is what Medina had to say about her in a recent interview:

“Skill-wise, no, she’s not one of my toughest opponents. What she has is grit … I can give her that, she has grit and she’s there to fight.

“But skill-wise I know she’s not at my level or at the level that I’ve fought. So that’s why we’re as confident as we are.”

In her most recent fights, victories over Sabrina Persona (3-1 at the time) and Ashley Felix (4-2), Medina clearly won on the scorecards but caught her share of leather and was nowhere near dominant.

Medina’s nickname is “Babyface Assassin,” the late Johnny Tapia’s moniker before adopting “Mi Vida Loca” later in his career. Perhaps she’s a fan.

Lindenmuth, a student no longer, loves to teach. She taught cheerleading for years and now teaches as part of her job with the state. Rather than take boxing lessons from Medina, she intends to be the teacher.

“It’s another challenge,” she said, “that I’m more than willing to accept.”