Jully Poca Exclusive interview with Stake

We recently caught up with Professional Boxer and Stake Ambassador Jully Poca, as she prepares for her next headline fight against Cinderella Linnear this August.

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How are you feeling ahead of your second professional boxing fight against Cinderella Linnear?

I’m so excited! My professional debut was a dream come true, but now that feeling of everything being completely new is gone. I know a little more about what to expect, and I really want to show my evolution. I’ve been training really hard, pushing myself every day, and I want to put on an even better performance. I have a lot of respect for Cinderella, but I’m going there to do my job, put on a show, and come out with another win.

You turned professional and signed with MVP. Is there a minimum number of fights stipulated in your contract?

Yes. My contract with MVP guarantees me a minimum of three fights per year. That’s very important to me because I want to stay active. I’m just starting my professional career, and I want to fight, keep improving, and build my way toward becoming a world champion.

What do you think about having Jake Paul as your boss?

It’s crazy to think about! I watched Jake’s whole journey from influencer to boxer and businessman, so it’s really cool to now be part of MVP. Especially because of the incredible work they’ve done for women’s boxing. It’s a company that genuinely believes in female fighters and gives women the opportunity to be the stars of the show. So I’m really happy to be building my career with them.

Would you consider an offer to fight for an MMA organization like the UFC?

I never like to say never! I come from martial arts, so obviously that world is a part of me and something I love. But right now, my focus is completely on boxing. I’ve just started my professional career, I signed with MVP, and I have a huge dream of becoming a world champion. There’s still so much I want to accomplish in boxing first.

Is there any fighter you dream of facing?

Right now, it would be Amanda Serrano! She’s a fighter I really admire, because of the career she has built, everything she represents for women’s boxing, and her fighting style. She has accomplished so much in the sport, and getting the chance to face her one day would be very special to me. I know I’m still at the beginning of my professional journey and I have a long way to go, but having dreams like that is exactly what motivates me to train, improve, and keep aiming higher.

You come from sanda, also known as Chinese boxing. What can you take from that discipline and apply to traditional boxing?

Sanda gave me a really important foundation as a fighter, especially when it comes to movement, distance, explosiveness, reflexes, and the ability to adapt during a fight. Of course, boxing has a completely different dynamic, and today I train specifically for boxing, but you don’t just erase everything you learned over the years. I try to take the things that can make me a different kind of boxer and turn them into an advantage.

Which city in the world would you like to fight in at least once?

Tokyo, for sure! Japan has such a strong history with combat sports, and I’ve always had a big connection with Japanese culture. I think fighting in Tokyo would be an incredible experience. Just imagine walking into a packed arena in Japan for a professional boxing fight! It would be a dream come true and definitely one of those moments I would remember for the rest of my life.

How do you balance your training routine with your schedule as an influencer?

Today I understand that both are part of my life and my career. When I’m in camp, training is the priority. At the same time, I love creating content, and I have this huge community that follows me every day. So I try to organize everything in a way that allows me to do both. Sometimes I’m completely exhausted after training and I still have to film, post, or work on a campaign, but that’s part of it. I also think it’s really cool that I can show so many people what the real life of a professional fighter looks like.

How does it feel after signing with Stake?

I’m so happy! Stake is a huge brand with a massive presence in sports, especially combat sports, so for me it makes perfect sense. I’ve always wanted to work with brands that genuinely believe in me, my career, and what we’re building. Becoming a Stake ambassador at this point in my life, as I’m starting my professional boxing journey and experiencing so many new things, is really special. I’m excited to do a lot of cool things together with them!

What happened when you had to restrain a man on the street to protect two women?

It was a very intense situation. I was driving along Radial Leste in São Paulo when I saw a man attacking two women, a mother and her daughter. And it wasn’t just an argument. He was actually hitting and kicking them. There were a lot of people watching, but nobody was doing anything. At that moment, I didn’t really think about it. I just went to help.

First, I managed to get the mother away from him and into my car. Then I saw that he was still attacking the daughter. So I went after him, landed a strike, managed to restrain him, and got him on the ground. Then I tied his arms and legs using his own shoelaces and waited for the police to arrive.

That situation really stayed with me because one of the reasons I started training martial arts was to learn how to defend myself. I never imagined that one day I would use what I had learned to protect other women. I think every woman should learn at least some basic self-defense.

What would you say are your biggest strengths as a fighter?

I think I’m very explosive, I have a different kind of movement, and I’m extremely competitive. I love fighting, I love the adrenaline, and I don’t step into the ring just to go through the motions. I want to give people a fight they’re excited to watch. And I still think I’m nowhere near my ceiling in boxing. I’m learning and improving really fast, and that makes me even more excited about the future.

Do you remember when your interest in fighting first started?

I started martial arts when I was 17, training in sanda, which is also known as Chinese boxing. I always loved fighting, but traditional boxing came into my life much later and in a way I never expected.

I was already working as an influencer when I was invited to take part in an influencer boxing event. I accepted the challenge even though I didn’t have experience in traditional boxing, started training specifically for it, and fell more and more in love with the sport.

I won my first fight, then another opportunity came and I won again. Suddenly, something that had started as a challenge was becoming more and more serious. I kept fighting, became a Misfits champion, and realized that I wanted to take boxing far beyond the influencer boxing world.

That’s when the dream of building a real professional boxing career was born. Today, I’m signed with MVP, I’m training with some of the best people in the world, and I’m starting a whole new chapter in my career. It’s crazy to think that it all started with an invitation to an influencer boxing fight and ended up becoming my profession.