Seniesa Estrada spent her 2021 campaign establishing herself as among the best female boxers on the planet.

The first ten months of 2022 has been spent watching from ringside as the best fights have taken place without her.

It changes for the better, as Estrada is set to defend her WBA strawweight title against Argentina’s Jazmin Gala Villarino (6-1-2, 1KO) on Saturday on ESPN+ from Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The bout marks her Top Rank debut, after spending the first half of the year in dispute and eventually parting ways with Golden Boy Promotions.

“It was such a great feeling,” Estrada told BoxingScene,com of securing a promotional deal with Top Rank. “I spent all those months crying and being so sad. I wanted to be in the ring. But there was no time wasted. I didn’t want to be out this long, but it was worth it. Look where women’s boxing is right now. I’m ready to return and make my mark again.”

The feeling of uncertainty dampened Estrada’s spirits while in New York City for the historic Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano April 30 superfight at Madison Square Garden. Estrada (22-0, 9KOs) was still at odds with Golden Boy over what she considered to be a considerable pay discrepancy. Two fight dates—March 19 and April 9—passed by with Estrada’s targeted role changed from in-ring participant to on-air DAZN analyst as part of the broadcast team.

It was a far cry from her Fighter of the Year-worthy 2021 run, which saw Estrada go 3-0 on the year and win titles in two weights in back-to-back fights. The East Los Angeles native dethroned long reigning WBA strawweight titlist Anabel Ortiz last March 20 to win her first major title. The feat was followed by a more competitive but still dominant and title-winning effort in her ten-round WBO junior flyweight title win over Tenkai Tsuanmi last July 9 at home in L.A.

Estrada wrapped up the year with a highlight reel, fourth-round knockout of unbeaten Maria Santizo, fully expecting to return to the ring within a few months.

“Three hundred and twenty-nine days later, we’re finally back,” quipped Estrada of the long wait. “The fight I had last December, the money wasn’t great but I just took it because I wanted to fight. My trainer [Dean Campos] told me, ‘One day, you’re just gonna have to say no. But I’ll leave that up to you.’ He would never stop me from getting into the ring. Once we started talking as a team about a new contract, and how much I would make for a unification fight, I was insulted by what the offer was. It blew my mind.

“My trainer was right. I said, ‘No. I can’t do it.’ My pride wouldn’t let me do it. Even though it was so hard for me to sit out these eleven months, my pride wouldn’t allow me to say ‘I’ll take it for that amount.’ I was tired of it. They wanted to keep me in a box. That’s not what I wanted. It should be the sky’s the limit for how much I could make. If I didn’t take a stand for how much I deserve, I would never get it. Women’s boxing would never get it, either.”

Being in the house for Taylor-Serrano—the leading Fight of the Year candidate, regardless of gender—brought mixed emotion for East Los Angeles’ Estrada. To witness firsthand the standard bearer for boxing at the highest level was an honor, though also carrying the disappointment of not knowing when she would be able to re-enter the mix.

It was a completely different feeling in being on hand for the rescheduled all-women’s show less than a month ago at The O2 in London.

A five-week delay was met with Claressa Shields’ win over Savannah Marshall to fully unify the middleweight division for a second time, and Alycia Baumgardner taking a split decision over Mikaela Mayer in their lineal/WBC/IBF/WBO junior lightweight championship. By that point, Estrada was already signed with Top Rank.

“Since I signed with Golden Boy and Mikaela signed with Top Rank (in 2017), I followed her career because I was always a fan,” admitted Estrada. “There were times I even admitted, ‘Man, I wish I was in her position.’ They did such an incredible job building her up, getting to main event status on ESPN. Everything they put into Mikaela is a huge difference than what Golden Boy put into me. Top Rank has done a great job with Mikaela. When I heard they were interested in signing me, I knew this is where I belong.”

Estrada-Villarino serves as the chief support to an ESPN+ show headlined by WBO middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly, who makes his first defense as he faces London’s Denzel Bentley (17-1-1, 14KOs).

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