It took nine years and four months for Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez to find each other in a boxing ring.
It might take at least that long to digest the scope of what happened when they got there Saturday night in Dallas.
Estrada, of Mexico, walked out with his own WBC super-flyweight (115 pounds) belt and Gonzalez’s WBA strap as well, taking a split decision and reversing the outcome of their 2012 match in the L.A. Sports Arena.
But the two champions certainly didn’t separate themselves, and boxing fans will demand a tiebreaker at some point. That third fight will have to be an all-timer to match what happened here.
In 36 minutes of action, the Nicaraguan fired 1,317 punches and Estrada 1,262, and almost all were thrown menacingly. Gonzalez’ accuracy was a tad better, 30 percent to 26, but Estrada probably won the fight because of an aggressive start and his ability to weather Gonzalez’ hard push in the final rounds.
Amazingly, the 12th round was the busiest. Gonzalez let go of 158 of his punches and Estrada 150.
Jesse Reyes gave Gonzalez a 115-113 edge, the same margin that David Sutherland gave Estrada. The outlier card belonged to Carlos Sucre, who judged that Estrada won 117-111. That meant Sucre thought Estrada won nine rounds and Gonzalez three, which put him in the distinct minority.
There was nothing close to a knockdown, although Estrada’s body shots seemed to immobilize Gonzalez for a time in the sixth round. Neither were there any major cuts or any sense of a pattern or momentum. Estrada would take the offensive for a minute or so and then Gonzalez would return with his unique collection of short, straight right hands and uppercuts. Holding and running were not in the cards. After all, it doesn’t take much fortitude to dance all night.
“He is a great fighter,” Estrada said of Gonzalez. “I thought I did enough to win, but he deserves a trilogy.”
However, Estrada has a mandatory date with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, the former champion whom Estrada beat in 2019. Until Saturday, Rungisvai was the only man to defeat Gonzalez, and did so twice.
“I’ll take care of that but I want another fight with Chocolatito,” Estrada said.
Asked about snapping the tie, Gonzalez said he thought he had won both fights. “I had a great performance tonight,” he said. “But the decision is what God wanted it to be.’
Estrada goes to 42-3 and Gonzalez settles to 50-3, with 41 knockouts.
Estrada had said all along that he was too weak to finish off the 2012 battle with Gonzalez, since that was at 108 pounds. “I felt much better at the end of this one,” Estrada said. “This is my weight.”
Each man got $1 million, which is a big-buck evening for a super-flyweight. In the end, they seemed underpaid.
Asked about strategy, Estrada smiled and said, “If he threw two or three punches, i had to throw two or three back, as well.”
Add it all up, and the sum of their work might be Fight Of The Year. It’s what happens when two of the best in the business decide they won’t wait until the middle of the night to spring forward.
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