Juan Francisco Estrada edges Roman Gonzalez in third fight

The vacant WBC super flyweight title was on the line Saturday night as Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ’Chocolatito’ Gonzalez met for the third time at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

In their first meeting, Gonzalez scored a UD 12 to retain his 108-pound title. Then almost a decade later Gonzalez and Estrada went at it again with Estrada scoring a controversial decision; Saturday night it was the rubber match. 

Gonzalez, save for a couple of setbacks to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, has had an amazing career that has, at times, seen him at the top of the P4P list.

Mexico’s Estrada has also stockpiled impressive wins and seen himself at the top of the junior bantamweight world rankings.

Saturday night, 10 years, two weight classes, and a couple of Covid delays after the first meeting, Gonzalez and Estrada climbed through the ropes for the long-awaited, and highly anticipated, third tussle.

Again, these two warriors engaged in what turned out to be a great fight that seemed to see each fighter claim one-half of the bout. Estrada clearly won the first half of the fight with Chocolatito getting the best of the second half.

While each fighter had their moments, neither of them appeared in trouble at any time throughout the fight. It was sharp, crisp flurries from both fighters that were the story throughout the night.   

In the end, Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) picked up his second win in three bouts against Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs), scoring a MD 12 in a fight for the WBC super flyweight title.

Estrada used great movement and effective counter punching off the back foot to win the 1st half of the bout while Chocolatito picked up the pace and dominated much of the 2nd half. Those early rounds given away by Chocolatito cost him dearly when the scores were tabulated. Estrada won the last round, a crucial round for Gonzalez, to clinch it. The final judge’s scores were 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113.

After the fight, Estrada seemed very open to a fourth go-round while Chocolatito seemed interested “if they come up with enough money”.

In post-fight interviews, both fighters, who genuinely like each other, showed great respect. If nothing else materializes for Estrada, and a fourth Gonzalez fight is the best option out there, don’t be surprised to see them fight again.

After the fight, Gonzalez trainer Marcos Caballero said, “He (Chocolatito) tried to box him from the outside and I said, ‘there is no way you can box him’ so I told him to get close to him and fight him the way he fights. We had a lot of things we practiced, a lot of head movement, but he didn’t do it, for whatever reason”.

Asked if Gonzalez will continue, Caballero replied, “That is up to him, and we have to respect his decision”. 

Undercard Results

Super middleweight Diego Pacheco (17-0, 14 KOs) TKO 2 Adrian Luna (24-9-2, 16 KOs).

Flyweight Cristofer Rosales (35-6, 21 KOs) UD 10 Joselito Velazquez (15-1-1, 10 KOs)

Middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams (13-0, 9 KOs) UD 10 Simon Madsen (13-1, 10 KOs)

Super featherweight Marc Castro (9-0, 6 KOs) UD 8 Maickol Lopez (16-4, 8 KOs).

Super bantamweight Anthony Herrera (4-0-1, 3 KOs) TKO 3 Christian Sullivan (8-1, 5 KOs).

Super featherweight Beatriz Ferreira (2-0, 1 KO) TKO 2 Carisse Brown (7-3, 4 KOs)