By Sean Jones: Boxing in the USA will be returning with Roman Gonzalez battling Juan Estrada 2, Errol Spence vs. Danny Garcia, and Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz. @MikeCoppinger is reporting these three fights will be happening when the sport restarts at some point.
The long-awaited rematch between WBA 115-pound champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (49-2, 41 KOs) and WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada (40-3, 27 KOs) is expected to take place in the summer in July or August on DAZN in a unification clash.
Chocolatito looking rejuvenated
Gonzalez-Estrada should be a great fight. Chocolatito recently turned his sagging career around with a ninth-round knockout win over WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai on February 29 in Frisco. Texas.
Going into the contest, a lot of boxing fans felt that Yafai would beat Gonzalez, as he hadn’t been all that active since losing consecutive fights to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017. A knee injury limited Chocolatito’s activity
If Chocolatito fights at the same level that he did against Yafai, Estrada could be in trouble against him. Estrada can’t match the work rate, power, or the variety from Gonzalez, and that’s not going to change. When healthy, Chocolatito is the superior offensive fighter than Estrada.
There will be a lot of fans excited about this fight on DAZN this summer, and it probably won’t matter if it takes place behind closed doors. It’ll hurt Estrada more than Gonzalez if they stage the fight without fans because the match will likely take place in Los Angeles. Estrada fights well when he’s got the fans cheering him on, but that might not happen due to the pandemic.
Chocolatito beat Estrada by a 12 unanimous decision in November 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Estrada put up a good fight, but he was no match for the combination punching from Roman. The judges scored the fight 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112.
Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz
Tank Davis will need to move down to 130 to take this fight and that there’s a lot of doubt whether he’ll be able to pull this off. Davis came in overweight for his debut at lightweight against Yuriorkis Gamboa last December, and that’s not a good sign. This is an insane idea for Tank Davis to agree to take the fight with Santa Cruz at 130, and it shows a sense of separation on his part.
Davis’ promoters at Mayweather Promotions haven’t put him in with the quality opposition he needs to further his career. It looks like Santa Cruz is the best they can do for him.
When Tank’s contract runs out with Mayweather Promotions, it would be astonishing if he re-ups with them. Tank needs to be with a company like Top Rank or Golden Boy Promotions if he wants to get the good fights.
Santa Cruz doesn’t want to move up to 135 to accommodate Tank. The reason for that is just moved up to 130. Going up another weight class is beyond Santa Cruz’s capabilities. If Tank does agree to come down to super featherweight to face Santa Cruz, you can bet that there will be a stiff weight penalty if he comes in over the limit.
This fight is expected to be staged on Fox or Showtime pay-per-view, and it’s going to be asking a lot from fans to pay to see Tank Davis (23-0, 22 KOs) and Leo Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) during the pandemic.
If the promoters for these two fighters insist on this being on PPV, it might be better to put this fight off until after the economy rebounds. If they stage the match in the summer, it’s not likely to bring in a massive amount of buys.
Errol Spence Jr. vs. Danny Garcia
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) makes his first appearance since his car crash last October. Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) would be a tough opponent for Errol even if he were at 100%, but this could be a disaster for him if he’s not the same fighter he was before the car crash.
Danny can still punch, but he struggles when he faces guys that have a good inside game and excellent power. Spence has both of those things going for him, and this fight is likely to end badly for Garcia.
Spence needs a good win here to help his cause in getting a fight against Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford. Those are to fighters that he’s targeting.
