By Dan Ambrose: WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (45-4-1, 40 KOs) wants to give Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (36-3, 25 KOs) a rematch after having beaten him by a 12 round majority decision last February at the Forum in Inglewood, California.
The judges scored the fight 115-113, 117-111 for Rungvisai and 114-114 even. It was a fight that was a lot more one-sided than the scores handed down by two of the judges. The fight wasn’t a really thrilling match to watch due to Estrada’s constant movement in the first 11 rounds. He couldn’t stand and fight Rungvisai because he lacked the power to battle him like he’d done throughout his career in fighting at flyweight.
Rungvisai has been making a name for himself in the U.S lately with his wins over Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada. Rungvisai has taken over the role that Gonzalez had previously held in being a highly popular fighter on HBO. Rungvisai brings pure entertainment each time he fights.
Estrada’s promoter was hoping to match him against Carlos Cuadras in a rematch for July, but he’s currently in rehab for his substance abuse problems.
This might not be a good career move for Estrada, because he’s probably not going to be able to do any better against Rungvisai than he did in the first fight. If Estrada tries to go after Rungivisai at the start of the fight like he did in the 12th round last February, he’s going to get knocked out.
Rungvisai is way too powerful for Estrada to try and mix it up with him when he’s still fresh. The best Estrada can do is play the avoidance game like he did last time for the first 10 rounds, and then try and rally in the 11th and 12th. It’s a dangerous game either way. Rungivisai was still powerful even in the 12th round last time.
It would be nice to see Estrada fight a rematch with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez first before he faces Rungvisai, because it would be a little more suspense in that fight. Estrada lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Gonzalez six years ago in November 2012. The scores were 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112. That fight was a lot closer than the Rungvisai vs. Estrada fight.
Estrada is a good fight for Rungvisai for the time being. The Thailand fighter would like to face WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai and IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas, but there hasn’t been any interested from them. Donnie Nietes is a good option in the future once he wins the WBO super flyweight title.
Rungvisai doesn’t have a lot of great options for big fights at 115 now that he’s beaten Roman Gonzalez twice. A rematch with Carlos Cuadras is a fight that Rungvisai had wanted, but now that the Mexican is currently in rehab, it’s not possible to fight him.
“I had the opportunity to speak with Srisaket in Thailand, where we gave him a recognition for his performance in 2017, and there he told us that the fight he wants is the rematch with ‘Gallo’ Estrada,” World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaimán said to ESPN Deportes.
The Rungvisai vs. Estrada II rematch will take place in September or November. That’s obviously a lot of time to go by since the two fighters fought each other last February, but with the amount of punishment that Estrada took in the fight, it’s in his best interest to let as much time go by as possible so that he more opportunity to recover.
Rungvisai doesn’t need much time to recover because he wasn’t hit that much in the fight except in the 12th. Rungvisai was mostly tired in the 12th round more than anything. He spent most of the fight chasing after Estrada, who giving ground the entire fight.
”They told us that between September and November could be done,” Sulaiman said.
Rungvisai appeared to win a clear victory, but the pro-Estrada crowd’s cheering made it appear that he did better than he actually did. Boxing News 24 gave Estrada 3 rounds. Rungvisai was he busier fighter, landing the much harder shots. There was no comparison between the power of the two fighters. Rungvisai was landing some scorching shots that forced Estrada on his feels for the first 11 rounds.
Estrada finished strong in the 12h against the tired Rungvisai, but he was so far behind in the fight that there was no chance for him to win. The crowd booed the decision loudly, letting the judges know that they felt Estrada should have won. But the judges had no choice but to give it to Rungvisai, because he was attacking 99 percent of the time. Estrada was mostly moving, because he didn’t want to get clipped with one of Rungvisai’s big shots and end up like Roman Gonzalez. Rungvisai knocked Gonzalez out in the 4th round last September in their rematch.