By Allan Fox: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai has no interest in stepping aside to allow WBA/WBC super flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada to face Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez in an immediate trilogy match after their thrilling 12-round war last Saturday night on DAZN.
Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs) is the WBC mandatory to Estrada’s newly won 115-lb title, and he’s already been waiting a year for his mandated title shot. The 34-year-old former two-time WBC champion Rungvisai doesn’t wish to wait any longer at this point.
Promoter Eddie Hearn appears to be torn between having Estrada give Rungvisai his title or setting up what would likely be a lucrative trilogy match between him and Chocolatito.
Rungvisai fought last Saturday night on DAZN in stopping tune-up opponent Kwanthai Sithmorseng in the third round in Thailand.
The fight was supposed to set the table for Rungvisai to fight the winner of the Estrada vs. Chocolatito 2 rematch, but Hearn is having second thoughts about making that match.
Hearn brought up the possibility of Estrada vacating his WBC title so that he doesn’t need to worry about Rungvisai getting in the way of the trilogy match with Chocolatito.
Ultimately, it will come down to money as far as which direction Estrada goes in. It’s a no-brainer that the Chocolatito fight will bring in more fans and interest in Los Angeles against Estrada than a trilogy with Rungvisai.
Rungvisai wants title shot against Estrada
“Sor Rungvisai has been the WBC mandatory challenger of Estrada for over a year now,” Rungvisai’s promoter Bank Thainchai Pisitwuttinan said to Badlefthook.
“The WBC announced that the winner of the Estrada-Chocolatito fight has to fight Sor Rungvisai next or he has to vacate, so that’s where we are now.
“Estrada is fast on his feet which will require Srisaket to chase him more, but Srisaket does not have any concern with fighting Estrada.
“He really wants the trilogy with Estrada next. He thinks that it is an unfinished business, and wants to prove who is the best at 115 pounds.”
It would be risky for Estrada to fight Rungvisai now because he’s already been beaten once by him.
Estrada did avenge his loss to Rungvisai in 2019 in winning a close 12 round decision, but it was a hard one for him. Juan Francisco surprised Rungvisai by using a lot of movement in the first half of the contest
When Rungvisai made the adjustments to all the movement that Estada was using, he was already well behind in the fight. In a third fight, movement by Estrada likely won’t work again. He would need to stand and fight.
That didn’t work for Estrada in the first fight with Rungvisai in 2018, as he took a lot of punishment and wasn’t strong enough to win.
Hearn ready for Estrada vs. Chocolatito 3
“Going into the 12th, I wasn’t sure,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV about the Estrada vs. Chocolatito 2 contest last Saturday. “I felt that Chocolatito won the last round. Perhaps 115-113 for Chocolatito.
“The problem is again, I know we get accused of being biased in Britain, but an American judge scored it 117-111 [for Estrada], which I can’t see.
“When you get a card like that, it amplifies. I don’t think there were many people that were watching that didn’t say, ‘115-113, either way, I can accept,’ what I can’t accept is 117-111.
“I mean, it was the best fight I’ve ever watched live. Just the most incredible fight and I’d like to see it again. It’s 1-1. Some people feel like Chocolatito should have gotten the decision.
“I thought he was incredible, as was Estrada. And you know, being allowed a full crowd in California for that fight would be tremendous, but obviously, there’s [Srisaket Sor] Rungvisai, who is the [WBC] mandatory.
“We’ve got to make sure he’s delivered a world title shot as well. From the polls, I guess like 70-30, Chocolatito won the fight or something like that.
“But it was a very, very close fight with a lot of close rounds. I felt like 117-111 was another one of those scorecards that you couldn’t see,” said Hearn.
We’re probably going to see Hearn have Estrada vacate his WBC title and face Chocolatito next.
