Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez combined for over 2,000 punches thrown in their rematch on Saturday night in a fight that was even more entertaining than the first fight between the two all-action super flyweight champions on DAZN. There was no loser in this fight because of Chocolatito’s status up in losing the contest. Boxing fans viewed him as a winner with the way he fought and the entertaining style.
Even if you thought Chocolatito deserved to lose, he still fought like a winner, and he showed class at the end by not complaining about his loss.
Estrada got the nod by the two of the judges in winning a 12 round split decision over the former four-division world champion Gonzalez. He said he would be willing to fight Estrada if he wants another fight.
The only buzzkill for the entire night was the scorecard handed in by the judge that had Estrada winning by a 117-111 score.
That judge is being dumped on by boxing fans on social media, as they wonder what on earth he was thinking to give it to Estrada by such a lopsided score.
The other two judges had the fight closer, with one scoring 115-113 for Gonzalez and the other 115-113 for Estrada.
The fight’s highlights don’t do full justice for how great this battle was between WBC 115-lb champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ (50-3, 41 KOs) and WBA champion ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs). It’s too bad someone had to lose.
The fight was easily the best of 2021 thus far, with the contest changing hands several times before Estrada took over at the end.
After the fight, Estrada and Chocolatito expressed interest in running it back for a third match if possible.
The decision on whether or not there will be a trilogy will be up to Matchroom Boxing. They promoted the event, and the WBC will also need to give their blessing for another fight.
They will need to give Juan Francisco, the new 115-lb champion with their organization, the green light to step around mandatory Srisaket Sor Rungvisai temporarily so that he can face Chocolatito in a third fight.
Rungvisai will probably insist on getting his mandated title shot against Estrada now, so that’s a fight that probably happens next.
Boxing fans and Chocolatito can keep their fingers crossed and hope that things work out well for Estrada to move forward and face Chocolatito if things work out well for him against the powerful Thai fighter Rungvisai.
Estrada already lost to Rungvisai one before three years ago, and he had a lot of trouble against him in their second match in 2019. Chocolatito also had major issues with Rungvisai, losing twice to him in 2017.
In a way, it’s actually a good thing that Roman lost the fight tonight because he doesn’t match up as well against Rungvisai compared to Estrada. The Mexican warrior, ‘El Gallo’ Estrada, knows how to beat Rungvisai, and he’ll likely do a lot better against him in their trilogy fight than Chocolatito would have.
Estrada, 30, is now the WBA and WBC champion, so the responsibility to face mandatory challengers rests on his shoulders now rather than Chocolatito. Obviously, it’s a burden for Estrada because he can make more money fighting Chocolatito next rather than taking on the dangerous Rungvisai.
Last Friday, former two-time WBC 115-lb champion Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs) won his fight against Kwanthai Sithmorseng (50-8-1, 27 KOs) by a third-round stoppage in Thailand.
That fight was a mismatch, with Rungvisai slowly beating up on the 38-year-old Kwanthai until the contest was halted after the third round.
