By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn is close to having a unification fight done between super flyweight champions Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada for March on DAZN. The Matchroom promoter Hearn expects to have the fight done in the “new few hours,” according to ESPN Deportes.
Boxing fans have been waiting for a rematch between ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs) and ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs) since their fight eight years ago in November 2012, which was a thrilling match from start to finish.
Chocolatito won that fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112.
Many boxing fans felt that Estrada had done enough to deserve the win, but the judges felt different. Gonzalez outworked Estrada with his combination punching and the heavy pressure.
Unfortunately, it’s taken this long for a rematch to finally get put together between the two Mexican warriors, but it’s better late than never.
Hearn says Gonzalez vs. Estrada close to being done
“In the next few hours we will have news, we will see what Christmas brings us,” Hearn said to ESPN Deportes about the Roman Gonzalez vs. Juan Francisco Estrada rematch. “We have big plans, there are many fights, we hope to give them good news.”
If Hearn can get this deal done between the 33-year-old WBA super flyweight champion Chocolatito Gonzalez and Estrada, it would be a huge fight for DAZN, and it would help bring in many new subscribers.
Chocolatito has looked great in his last four fights in returning his career around, and he’s going to be hard for Estrada to defeat.
The boxing fans had given up on the Nicaraguan fighter Gonzalez after he lost consecutive fights to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017, but he’s looked sensational lately.
In Gonzalez’s last four fights, he’s beaten these fighters:
- Diomel Diocos
- Moises Fuentes
- Khalid Yafai
- Israel Gonzalez
Chocolatito pulled off an upset in stopping previously unbeaten WBA ‘regular’ 115-lb champion Yafai in the ninth round earlier this year in February in Frisco, Texas. The Yafai vs. Gonzalez fight was shown on DAZN, and a lot of boxing fans were impressed with what they saw from the Nicaraguan great.
Juan Estrada coming off win over Cuadras
Estrada is coming off of a big 11th round knockout victory over former WBC super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras on October 23 in their rematch in Mexico City.
Earlier in that fight, Cuadras knocked Estrada don in the third round and looked like he was on his way to winning the fight. Estrada was able to come on and dominate the second half of the fight until stopping Cuadras. It was an excellent fight.
Roman Gonzalez isn’t the young fighter that beat Estrada eight years ago, but he still throws combinations and he’s highly skilled. It could be that Roman still has Estrada’s number.