By Luis Sandoval
Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico - Francisco Estrada (27-2, 20KOs) continued his tear of the Flyweight division by stopping Giovani Segura(32-4, 28KOs) in the 11th round after a very impressive and dominating victory. Segura was game all night but it was Estrada’s superior boxing and offense that proved to be too much for Segura to withstand.
The action was fast and furious from the onset as Segura came out firing but Estrada matched his intensity. Estrada made Segura miss and made him pay by hitting him with solid combinations and even took over the role of being the aggressor by the end of the first stanza.
Segura was relentless as ever but Estrada controlled the bout with his superior boxing skill and by landing the cleaner and harder combinations. Whenever Segura tried to get inside, Estrada hit his opponents with jabs, body shots, right hands and left hooks for his troubles. Estrada looked fluid, strong and sharp as a tack.
By round 5 Estrada was in full control and hitting Segura with big right hands that drove the Southpaw slugger into the ropes. The same pressure that Segura often uses to wear down his opponents was offset by Estrada’s accurate combinations and simply better boxing.
Sensing the fight slipping away, Segura came out in rounds 6 and 7 fighting with with urgency as he tried to attack Estrada. He found some success with landing some solid body shots and lefts upstairs but Estrada weathered the storm and continued to land his own stinging punches.
In round 8 Estrada landed a hard right hand that pushed Segura back as he followed it up by unloading a right hand and left hook. The punishment Estrada had been unleashing began to show on Segura’s face as his right eye started to swell.
The action in the fight was nonstop and the only thing more impressive than Estrada’s brilliant offense was Segura’s heart and ability to continue coming forward despite getting drilled with combinations. Just when Segura would land a good shot, Estrada would return with his own attack and send Segura back on his heels.
Things came to a close when Estrada overwhelmed Segura with right and left hands and the referee had to jump in and call a halt to the bout in the 11th round.
Estrada dominated the entire fight and his victory now sets up a likely rematch with undefeated Nicaraguan Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. Both men faced off in 2012 with Gonzalez beating Estrada with a hard fought unanimous decision.
In the co-feature, Jackie Nava (30-4-3, 13KOs) captured the WBC super bantamweight championship with a ten round majority decision over the very game Alicia Ashley (21-10-1, 3KOs). The scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 95-95. This was the third title for Nava at the weight. She previously held the WBC title and also had the WBA crown before dropping the belt to focus on her pregnancy.
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