WBC junior bantamweight world title Juan Francisco Estrada will face WBA title holder Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in the main event of a DAZN card Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Gonzalez defeated Estrada by unanimous decision in 2012 to defend his WBC junior flyweight title. Since that day, the boxing world has been waiting for a second chance.
Estrada (41-3, 28 KO’s), of Mexico, has since won 15 of 16 fights and has amassed titles of 115 and 118 pounds. His only loss on that stretch was a majority decision against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2018, challenging the WBC junior bantamweight belt. Estrada avenged that loss a year later with a decisive victory to win that title.
“I’ve been waiting for this fight for nearly nine years – I’m ready for the opportunity,” Estrada said at Thursday’s press conference. “He’s a good champion, he’s a good fighter, and may the best man win.
“This is going to be better than the first. It’s going to be a war and the people watching will be the real winners.”
Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KO’s), of Nicaragua, lost two consecutive fights to Sor Rungvisai in 2017 and it looked like his career as a top prize fighter was over. But he has since recovered with four consecutive wins, including impressive wins in 2020 against Khalid Yafai (TKO9) and Israel Gonzalez (UD).
“It’s going to be a great fight. Juan is a good champion and we know what to do,” Gonzalez said. “I think it is an important fight, not only for Nicaragua, but also for Mexico. I think both countries will be paralyzed by watching this fight on Saturday.”
Estrada and Gonzalez are ranked No. 1 and No. 3 respectively in ESPN’s junior bantamweight rankings.
Also on the card, Jessica McCaskill will defend her undisputed welterweight championship against the fighter whose titles she won, Cecilia Braekhus.
McCaskill (9-2, 3 KO’s), of Chicago, defeated Braekhus by majority decision in a close fight in August. Two judges competed for McCaskill 97-94 and 97-93, while the third judge had a draw, 95-95.
“I’m so ready to punch Cecilia in the face,” McCaskill said. “I mean, like we said, I don’t know Cecilia and there is no bad blood, but we want to box this so badly that it will be the best fight of the night.
Cecilia retired from the last fight. Those aren’t my words – they’re hers, so I’m going to force her to eat them. ‘
Born in Colombia but fighting out of Norway, Braekhus (36-1, 9 KO’s) won the undisputed championship with a unanimous victory over Ivana Habazin in 2014, defending the belts 10 consecutive times before losing to McCaskill.
“I just want to get the belts back and McCaskill has kept me very motivated – she has motivated me throughout my camp,” said Braekhus. ‘Last time she knew she was lucky, so I think that’s where all this bullshit comes from.
[For the first fight] she was at home, she was in her home country, all the judges were at home … I didn’t perform at the top. I’ll be at my best on Saturday and she’s nowhere near my level. “
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Fight In Progress: Souleymane Cissokho vs. Daniel Echeverria, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
Results:
Kyoguchi defends title against Aragon Vega
Hiroto Kyoguchi got a break from the fourth round in an unfortunate ending for Alex Aragon Vega.
After Vega (14-4-1, 8 KO’s) got stuck with the defending WBA junior flyweight champion from Japan in the first few rounds of the fight, Vega was interrupted for the night after appearing to have sustained a hand injury in the fourth round. round.
After a right hook that looked off Kyoguchi’s forehead, the Mexican challenger immediately grimaced and retreated to the ropes, holding his hand.
The fight was immediately stopped because Vega was in too much pain to continue. Doctors immediately cut off Vega’s glove and unwrapped while Vega was still in the ring.
Kyoguchi (15-0, 10 KO’s) made the third belt defense he won in a 10th round TKO against Hekkie Budler in 2018.
Williams settles cases against Douglin
Austin Williams dominated Denis Douglin in an action-packed middleweight clash on his way to a unanimous decision win.
Williams, who fights out of Houston, landed big punches during the eight-round fight and came close to taking a stoppage win. In the seventh round, Williams (8-0, 6 KO’s) landed a big right uppercut that got Douglin (22-8, 14 KO’s) into trouble again. However, Douglin, the Las Vegas veteran, was able to land enough punches to smother Williams’s attack and reach the bell without going down.
Douglin stepped in to replace Aaron Coley, who was the originally planned opponent for Williams. Williams took his third win in the past three months, while Douglin has dropped four of his past six fights.
Ford and Perez fight for a draw
In a fight between two undefeated fighters, up-and-coming prospect Raymond Ford was announced more than his opponent, Aaron Perez. Perez gave Ford everything he could, however, and eventually did enough to earn a split draw in an eight-round featherweight bout that kicked off the Estrada-Chocolatito undercard at DAZN.
Perez (10-0-1, 6 KOs), of El Paso, Texas, was aggressive early, using club hooks and unorthodox angles to trouble Ford in the opening rounds. Perez slowed in the second half of the fight when Ford (8-0-1, 4 Kos), of Camden, New Jersey, achieved success with a few big body shots and was able to keep his distance with his precise punches.
But that damage wasn’t enough to hold Perez off late. In the eighth and final round, Perez and Ford had some big exchanges.
One judge scored it 78-74 for Perez, while another had it 77-75 for Ford. A judge produced a 76-76 score card, which resulted in the draw.
Is yet to come:
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Title fight: Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, for Estrada’s WBC title and Gonzalez’s WBA title
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Title fight: Jessica McCaskill vs. Cecilia Braekhus, 10 rounds, for the Undisputed Welterweight Championship (WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF)