Juan Francisco Estrada felt he couldn’t pass up his first world title fight.
Estrada knew, of course, that dropping down to 108 pounds to challenge Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez for his WBA light flyweight title would put him at a disadvantage. Mexico’s Estrada had never competed in that division before boxing Gonzalez in November 2012, but Estrada, then 22 years old, accepted that title shot anyway.
Estrada weighed in at a career-low 107¾ pounds for that 12-round fight, the same weight as Gonzalez. Nicaragua’s Gonzalez had moved up from strawweight (105 pounds) two years earlier and had competed within the 108-pound division seven times prior to encountering Estrada.
While Estrada is convinced that he made their championship match much more competitive than the judges scored it (118-110, 116-112, 116-112), he also is certain that losing an additional four pounds impacted his performance.
“It was a great feeling to be fighting for a world title for the first time, and against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in the lighter weight classes,” said Estrada, who’ll finally fight Gonzalez again Saturday night in a 115-pound title unification match. “I felt really happy and excited to start the fight. It wasn’t really my weight class, but I had to go for it anyway, right? It was my first world championship fight. I had to give it my all.
“I always felt strong and fast in the opening rounds. But as the fight went on, round six I started to feel a bit weaker because of the weight cut. It was an incredibly tough fight for all 12 rounds. At the end of the final round, I was very weak. I just wanted the fight to end, but I still didn’t stop throwing punches.”
Their rematch will be contested seven pounds and two divisions above the weight at which they first fought.
The rematch between Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs) and Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs) will headline a card DAZN will stream from American Airlines Center in Dallas (8 p.m. ET). They’ll fight for Estrada’s WBC and Gonzalez’s WBA super flyweight championships.
Estrada, 30, has lost only once since suffering his second professional defeat to Gonzalez, 33, eight years ago at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
An improved Estrada has avenged his other two losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. Estrada is slightly favored by oddsmakers to go 3-for-3 in rematches with opponents who’ve beaten him.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
