It was a letdown when word first arrived to Jasmine Artiga that her year-long wait for a shot at WBA 115-pound titlist Clara Lescurat would never see the light of the day.

The unbeaten junior bantamweight contender learned long ago, however, to still find opportunity from every potential setback.

“I’ve been patient in this game. Nothing surprises me, to be honest,” Artiga told The Ring. “The main goal has been to fight for the world title. If the WBA didn’t come through, we’d have gone for another title.

“But this takes a village. I have a great manager in Peter Kahn, the best in the game. Rachel Donaire has been in my corner, she knows the business just about better than anyone else. Just knowing that my time would come helped me be patient.”

The promised shot at the WBA junior bantamweight title is still very much live for Artiga (12-0-1, 6 KOs), who will face Regina Chavez (8-4-3, 1 KO). Their vacant title fight is part of a March 22 ProBox TV show from the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino, California.

Artiga hoped—for more than a year—that the opportunity would come against Argentina’s Lescurat (11-0, 4 KOs), who’d held the belt since June 2022.

Those plans abruptly changed when Lescurat’s first statement of 2025 was to reiterate her retirement. The unbeaten 36-year-old sought unification bouts in lieu of a mandatory title defense, and abruptly chucked deuces to the sport when her callouts fell on deaf ears.

It left Artiga in the unflattering position of having to chase a vacant belt in her first major title bid. The 32-year Cuban-American from Tampa, Florida wanted the satisfaction of dethroning a reigning beltholder.

Furthermore, she didn’t want an extended ring absence to be for naught. Artiga has not fought since a first-round knockout of Nancy Franco last Feb. 2 in Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. The same venue housed her previous fight, an eight-round decision win over Josefina Vega in Sept. 2023.

The wait-out will leave Artiga with just 79 seconds of fight night experience in eighteen months once she enters the ring in March. While an unflattering scenario, the eight-year pro views the opportunity as a springboard to crown a true queen atop the junior bantamweight division.

“Everyone wants to beat the champ to become the champ” acknowledged Artiga. “It’s not like we waited for her to give up the belt. We chased Clara for a long time, that’s the fight we wanted.

“When she decided she didn’t want to fight us, we decided that being the number-one seed for the title was just as good.”

Chavez gets her second title opportunity. Ironically, her first challenge came in a failed bid versus Lescurat, who won via ten-round, unanimous decision last Feb. 24 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 20-year-old rebounded with a six-round decision win over countrywoman Madeline Sarmineto last Nov. 16 in Naucalpan, Mexico.

Both of those fights took place since Artiga’s last ring appearance, but all eyes are now on the future.

“It’s exciting. I’ve been training for a long while,” stated Artiga. “Just knowing that everyone is signed, sealed and delivered is satisfying. It’s grind time for sure.”