Here’s where last we stood on the Juan Francisco Estrada saga:
In February, the WBA orders Estrada (42-3, 28 KO) to make a long, long overdue defense against “world” champ Franco.
Golden Boy wins the purse bid with an utterly putrid offer of $120,000. Everyone assumes Estrada will ditch the belt and go right back to chasing the Chocolatito trilogy.
The WBA announces that the fight is set and will take place on July 16th. “All the details” are finalized save for the location.
Radio silence for the next month. Zanfer Promotions’ Fernando Beltran insists that the fight is still on, with Salvador Rodriguez reporting a new date of August 20th.
Mauricio Sulaiman responds by vowing to strip Estrada of his “non-transferable” WBC “franchise” title if he goes through with it.
Estrada ditches the WBA belt, but takes another fight a week after his date with Franco.
That fight was supposed to be against Jonathan Rodriguez on August 27th, but that matchup kinda just vanished into the ether despite Estrada’s trainer being the one who announced it in the first place. Today, the WBC announced that “El Gallo” will instead fight Argi Cortes atop a September 3rd DAZN show in Hermosillo, Mexico ahead of an end-of-year showdown with Chocolatito Gonzalez.
The 27-year-old Cortes (23-2-2, 10 KO) hasn’t lost since a 2-2 pro start, though he’s dreadfully short on meaningful victories. He’s a considerable step down from the likes of Franco and Rodriguez, but Estrada’s definitely in risk-management mode to preserve the big-money trilogy.
Per Jake Donovan, the show will also feature a rematch between WBA featherweight champion Erika Cruz (14-1, 3 KO) and Jelena Mrdjenovich (40-11-2, 19 KO), whom she beat for the belt via technical decision in April 2021. This matchup got a bit more intriguing earlier today when Amanda Serrano vs. Sarah Mahfoud got announced, as it means the winners are in line to fight for undisputed status.