By Dan Ambrose: Juan Francisco Estrada is reportedly struggling with his training for his March 5th trilogy fight with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and will need to have the fight postponed.
The March 5th Estrada vs. Gonzalez III fight is supposed to occur at the Pechanga Arena, San Diego, California.
According to ESPN Deportes, the 31-year-old ‘El Gallo’ Estrada’s lack of energy may be from COVID-19. More will be learned in the coming days for the cause of the WBA/WBC Franchise super flyweight champion Estrada’s lack of energy.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is expected to reveal the cause of Estrada’s physical problems this week and advise fans what the new target date is for the Estrada-Chocolatito trilogy match.
You can argue that the postponement will give Estrada an advantage over Chocolatito because the talented Nicaraguan will need to reset his camp.
He may end up overworking himself while waiting for Estrada to get well or rested. If you’re Chocolatito, you can’t be pleased with Estrada wanting more time to train.
Due to the risk involved with Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs) facing the punching machine ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs), he’s not going to chance-it by going into the contest at less than 100%.
A year ago, Chocolatito threw over 1000 punches in his rematch with Estrada on March 13th, 2021 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Given how much punishment Estrada took in that fight en route to winning a controversial 12 round split decision, he’s going to push the trilogy fight back.
It’s unclear what Estrada will do if his body still doesn’t respond by April or May. We don’t know whether Eatrada’s situation is an illness, natural aging, or the wear & tear from the war he had with Chocolatito.
Estrada took a lot of headshots in the fight and wilted in the second half of the contest. While two of the judges shockingly gave Estrada the win, the boxing world saw the fight as a clear victory for Chocolatito.
The two judges that gave Estrada the win did him no favors because he was dumped on by fans afterward as having been given a gift by the two judges that gave him the win.
Last year, Chocolatito, 33, came down with COVID, resulting in the Estrada fight being pushed from late 2021 to March 5th, 2022.
“According to some close sources, ‘Gallo’ has been trying to train, but his body has not responded as he would like, and aware that it is a fight with a high dose of danger, they do not intend to lead him to the competition without being fully [ready]. COVID could be the cause of the discomfort, the sources indicated, but a medical report is still expected,” via ESPN Deportes.
“The physical condition of ‘Gallo’ Estrada is not in optimal condition and that would prevent his fight against Román ‘Chocolatito’ González from being canceled.”
The downside of this news is that it could lead to Estrada’s fans have an excuse for him should he lose the trilogy match with Chocolatito. If Estrada gets beaten, fans will say it was because of him being ill, and less than 100% optimal condition.
Gonzalez beat Estrada in their first fight in November 2012, winning a 12 round unanimous decision.
