WBC junior bantamweight world titlist Juan Francisco Estrada will face WBA titleholder Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in the main event of a DAZN card Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Gonzalez defeated Estrada in 2012 by unanimous decision to defend his WBC junior flyweight title. Since that day, the boxing world has been waiting for a rematch.
Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs), of Mexico, has won 15 of 16 fights since then, and he has collected titles at 115 and 118 pounds. His only loss in that stretch was a majority decision against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2018, challenging for the WBC junior bantamweight belt. Estrada avenged that loss a year later with a decision victory to win that title.
“I’ve been waiting for this fight for almost nine years — I’ve been ready for the opportunity,” Estrada said at the Thursday news conference. “He’s a good champ, he’s a good fighter, and may the best man win.
“This is going to be better than the first one. It’s going to be a war and the people watching will be the real winners.”
Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs), 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 rebounded with four consecutive wins, including impressive victories in 2020 against Khalid Yafai (TKO9) and Israel Gonzalez (UD).
“It’s going to be a beautiful fight. Juan is a good champion, and we know what we have to do,” Gonzalez said. “I think it’s an important fight, not just for Nicaragua, but also for Mexico. I think both countries are going to be paralyzed on Saturday watching these fight.”
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 welterweight undisputed championship against the fighter she won the titles from, Cecilia Braekhus.
McCaskill (9-2, 3 KOs), of Chicago, defeated Braekhus by majority decision in August in a close fight. Two judges had the fight for McCaskill 97-94 and 97-93, while the third judge had it 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’s no bad blood, but we want this for boxing so bad, it is going to be the best fight of the night.
“Cecilia brought retirement up after the last fight. Those aren’t my words — those are hers, so I’m going to make her eat them.”
Braekhus (36-1, 9 KOs), born in Colombia but fighting out of Norway, won the undisputed championship with a unanimous decision victory over Ivana Habazin in 2014 and defended 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’s kept me motivated through my whole camp,” Braekhus said. “Last time, she knows she was lucky, so I think that’s where all the trash talk is coming from.
“[For the first fight] she was home, she was in her home country, all the judges were home … I didn’t perform at the top. Saturday, I will be at my best and she is nowhere near my level.”
Hiroto Kyoguchi (14-0, 9 KOs), of Japan, will put his WBA junior flyweight world title against Mexico’s Axel Aragon Vega (14-3-1, 8 KOs) in a 12-round battle.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis.
Fight in progress: Title fight: Hiroto Kyoguchi vs. Axel Aragon Vega, 12 rounds, for Kyoguchi’s WBA junior flyweight title
Williams takes care of business against Douglin
Austin Williams dominated Denis Douglin in an action-packed middleweight clash on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Williams, who fights out of Houston, landed big punches throughout the eight-round fight and came close to picking up a stoppage win. In the seventh round, Williams (8-0, 6 KOs) landed a big right uppercut that sent Douglin (22-8, 14 KOs) back to the ropes. However, Douglin, the Las Vegas-based veteran, was able to land enough punches to stifle Williams’ attack and make it to the bell without going down.
Douglin stepped in to replace Aaron Coley, who was the originally scheduled opponent for Williams. Williams picked up his third victory in the past three months, while Douglin has dropped four of his past six fights.
Ford and Perez fight to a split draw
In a bout between two undefeated fighters, rising prospect Raymond Ford was more heralded than his opponent, Aaron Perez. However, Perez gave Ford everything he could handle and ultimately did enough to earn a split draw in an eight-round featherweight fight that kicked off the Estrada-Chocolatito undercard on DAZN.
Perez (10-0-1, 6 KOs), of El Paso, Texas, was aggressive early and used clubbing hooks and unorthodox angles to give Ford problems in the opening rounds. Perez slowed down in the second half of the fight as Ford (8-0-1, 4 Kos), of Camden, New Jersey, found success with a couple of big body shots and was able to maintain range with his precise punches.
But that damage wasn’t enough to hold off Perez late. In the eighth and final round, Perez and Ford engaged in some big exchanges.
One judge scored it 78-74 for Perez, while another had it 77-75 for Ford. One judge produced a 76-76 scorecard, which resulted in the draw.
Still 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 (WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF) welterweight championship