By Sean Jones: Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez outworked and out-landed Juan Franciso Estrada last Saturday night in his controversial 12 round split decision defeat at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
This contest was a textbook definition of a ‘phonebooth war’ with both guys throwing nonstop shots, looking to do damage.
The two fighters threw a combined 2529 total punches in their 12-round rematch on DAZN.
Based on the punch states for the fight, the judges made a mistake in giving the victory to Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs) by a 12 round decision over WBC super flyweight champion Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs).
The 115-113 score for Chocolatito by judge Jesse Reyes stood out as the best of the three that showed what actually happened inside the ring.
The other two scores from the judges that had Estrada winning didn’t match last night’s fight. They scored 117-111, 115-113 for El Gallo Estrada.
Final punch stats
Estrada landed 314 of 1212 punches for a connect percentage of 26, according to CompuBox’s stats. For his part, Chocolatito connected on 391 of 1317 punches for a 30 percent connect rate.
Estrada and Chocolatito disagree on the outcome
“I felt I did enough to win,” said Estrada in giving his post-fight comments after the contest. “Chocolatito is a great fighter; I think he deserves the trilogy.
“I knew it was a close fight, I didn’t know if I was up or down, but I needed to close out the fight in the last two rounds.
“I’m at my weight; I felt a lot better this time around. Rungvisai is the [WBC] mandatory, so I’ll look at that, but I’ll approach the third fight any day with Chocolatito,” said Estrada.
“It was a better fight than the first one,” said Chocolatito Gonzalez in giving his thoughts on his rematch with El Gallo Estrada. “I felt strong, and I felt I won.
“In the last round, I gave it my all; it was a great round. I won both of them,” said Chocolatito when asked if he wants a third fight with Estrada. “I’m very happy with my performance.”
If you’re Chocolatito, you’ve got to be happy with the way you fought, as he performed as well as he did in their first fight in 2012.
This time, the difference was a different setting, with the Estrada-Chocolatito rematch taking place in Dallas, Texas, rather than Los Angeles, California.
What’s important is what the boxing public felt about the fight, and they showed on social media last night and today that they saw Roman as the winner.
Sergio Mora had Roman Gonzalez winning
“I had it 7 rounds to 5 for Chocolatito, but we are in Texas, and I don’t know what to say,” said Sergio Mora of DAZN in reacting to the wide 117-111 score for Estrada.
“We can welcome the trilogy; we can get some good news there. El Gallo came out firing body shots, but that’s something he didn’t do in the second half, landing body shots.
“Chocolatito started getting on the inside, adjusting his game with the uppercuts and body shots, backing up El Gallo. That’s what judges like here in Texas, one fighter going forward, and that’s what Chocolatito was doing most of the time.
“This is where El Gallo was at his best, fighting at a distance behind that jab, landing the shots and not letting Chocolatito get on the inside.
“Clean shots from El Gallo Estrada. But they ended like champions with over 1,000 punches each once again, champions fighting like champions in the championship rounds. The good news is we’re probably going to see a trilogy.
“I’m in awe of these little giants throwing so many punches. I want to see this again,” said Mora about a third fight between Roman Gonzalez and Juan Franciso Estrada.
“I feel the same way,” said Chris Mannix. “A brilliant performance from Chocolatito. At 33-years-old to still be fighting at the same level as he did years ago, it’s nothing short of remarkable.
“We are watching an all-time great. Fair play to Juan Francisco Estrada. Even if you disagreed with the decision, he fought a great fight, and you can easily see him squeaking one out.
“But watching Chocolatito in action, it just makes you feel that you’re watching a legend in real-time.”
Chocolatito put in one of his best performances in many years last night, and it’s too bad that he didn’t get the win. But with the performance Roman put in, he didn’t lose anything from the defeat.
Gonzalez came out the winner by fighting hard and showing the technical ability above Estrada’s paygrade.
Sergio Mora had Roman Gonzalez winning
“The fans at ringside felt that Chocolatito did enough,” said Todd Grisham of DAZN. “Nevertheless, there he [Estrada] is, still the champion.
“Sriskat Sor Rungvisai perhaps awaits him, but Chocolatito will want a trilogy here. He felt very confident after the fight, as did his corner, that he did enough to win.
“But he’s one of the nicest guys on the planet; you’re not going to see him complain. He’s smiling now, he gave his best effort, but in the end, apparently, it wasn’t quite enough.
“El Gallo gets his revenge in Texas. Keep in mind in between rounds nine and ten, it was El Gallo’s corner not only telling him that he needed to win rounds, they were telling him that he needed a knockout.”
Estrada’s corner may have hurt his game by telling him that he needed a knockout because once they did that, he started pressing Chocolatito and getting nailed.
Chocolatito’s inside game was superior to Estrada’s, so when the Mexican warrior upped the pressure after being told he needed a knockout, he got the worst of it during the last championship rounds.
Chocolatito – Estrada threw over 1,000 punches each
“You could see the reserved look on the face of Estrada, but he seemed a little bit surprised himself,” said Grisham. “Either way, Juan Estrada retained his titles. I will say this.
“In a day that we lost a boxing legend in Marvelous Marvin Hagler, this fight would have made him proud.
“Exactly, this is his mantra; he likes to go forward, throwing punches, seak & destroy,” said Mora about Hagler.
“They were breaking records, throwing over 1,000 punches each,” Mora said of the Chocolatito vs. Estrada 2 fight. “Whoever you had winning, whatever happened here, we’re going to see it again with one win apiece.
“We’re watching greatness here with Chocolatito and a two-division world champion in El Gallo Estrada.”
“I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these fights at 115-lbs,” said Chris Mannix of DAZN. “And I think it’s more settled between Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai based on the results of the last fight.
“I don’t think anything is settled between Chocolatito and Estrada. So even if it’s one less title [minus WBC belt to avoid Rungvisai], I’d rather see a third fight between these two guys.”
It’s an incredible fete to see both super flyweight champions Estrada and Chocolatito throw over 1,000 punches each. What made it all the more impressive was the power that they put into their shots.
They were trying to knock each other out with many of the punches they threw, which made it an exciting fight. Roman, 33, threw his shots effortlessly as if he wasn’t exerting himself, but his shots were knocking Estrada’s head back when.
The fight hands that Gonzalez landed during the fight were the ones that did the most damage for him.
Estrada had no defense for those punches because he didn’t know they were coming due to Roman constantly switching angles for his shots. He kept Estrada guessing at all times.