Preview: Juan Francisco Estrada vs Chocolatito II

Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez fight to unify the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine World Super-Flyweight titles on Saturday night.

Estrada and Chocolatito first clashed in November 2012, in Los Angeles, with Chocolatito then successfully defending his WBA Light Flyweight title via a unanimous points decision. Now age 33 and the veteran of 52 professional fights, boasting an impressive overall record of 50-2 (41 KOs), the intrigue is whether, in the gloaming of this decorated career, this diminutive Nicaraguan can once again overcome his younger Mexican opponent.

Estrada (41-3 (28 KOs)) has established himself as the number one Ring-Magazine-Ranked fighter at 115lbs, and he recently underlined his star status with a thrilling 11th round KO win over countryman Carlos Cuadras in October, showcasing a champion’s resolve to climb off the canvas in the third round in defeating Cuadras for a second time.

Former pound for pound number one, and holder of a perhaps rarer accolade, being a darling amongst the hipster element of boxing media/fandom, Chocolatito had been enjoying his own renaissance as of late, recording impressive wins against Mexico’s Israel Gonzalez (26-4) and Britain’s Kal Yafai ((26-1) then-undefeated), the latter of who he stopped in February 2020 to become the WBA world super flyweight champion.

Neither Estrada nor Chocolatito has been reticent in their desire to become the undisputed Super-Flyweight world champion by the end of 2021; prevailing in Saturday’s unification contest, however, is the first essential step for the victor in potentially realising this coveted achievement.

Fighter’s form:

Estrada –

Carlos Cuadras – Win – KO (11/12)

Dewayne Beamon – Win – KO (9/12)

Wisaksil Wangek – Win – UD (115-113, 115-113, 116-112)

Victor Mendez – Win – Retired (7/10)

Felipe Orucuta – Win – UD (118-110, 117-111, 117-111)

Chocolatito –

Israel Gonzalez – Win – UD (118-110, 117-111, 116-112)

Khalid Yafai – Win – KO (9/12)

Diomel Diocos – Win – KO (2/8)

Moises Fuentes – Win – KO (5/10)

Wisaksil Wangek – Loss – KO (4/12)

Date: March 13th 2021

Time: Approx 4am

Venue: American Airlines Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA

Channel: DAZN

Elsewhere on the card, Hiroto Kyoguchi (14-0) and Axel Vega (14-3-1) fight for the WBA light flyweight world title, and Jessica McCaskill fights Cecilia Braekhus for the WBA, WBO, WBC, IBF and IBO female welterweight world titles.