By: Ste Rowen

In the heat of Hermosillo, home fighter, Juan Francisco Estrada retained his WBC and Ring Magazine Super-flyweight belts with a fiery 9th round stoppage of Dewayne Beamon to satisfy the partisan crowd’s thirst for action.

It didn’t take long for the main event to heat up. One shot to the head and another to the body saw Juan drop the game challenger twice in round two. The American seemed undeterred however as he came flying out for the 3rd, but ‘El Gallo’s’ composure and talent was telling as with every volley of hooks the Mexican threw, Dewayne was struggling to keep out of the way.

Beamon, 16-1-1 (11KOs) was relentless in coming forward, but as the fight moved into the middle rounds, Estrada’s counter shots were clearly the key to him winning the fight. No matter how many punches the challenger threw, he was consistently landed on by the champion’s best shots.

Through to round seven, and Estrada’s pace had slowed somewhat. The American pushed forward with even more venom, and this time the Mexican was either struggling, or unwilling to engage, but as the round came to an end Juan Fran unleashed yet another terrific combination of hooks which sent Dewayne sprawling back, but still standing and just about surviving into the 8th.

Barely a jab had been seen since the first bell, almost as if either fighter would get a point taken off if they attempted to do so, and it was arguably Beamon’s downfall as in round nine, ‘El Gallo’ once again trapped his American foe onto the backfoot and ferociously fired off power shot after power shot until the referee was forced to step in and call an end to the bout.

A brave showing from the much less experienced challenger, but the perfect homecoming for the Mexican champ.

Estrada, now 40-3 (27KOs), will now be aiming to secure his legacy as he chases unification fights with fellow super-fly titlists Jerwin Ancajas (IBF), Kazuto Ioka (WBO), but most likely to be first in the queue, Kal Yafai (WBA).

Tonight’s top undercard bout saw heavyweight Filip ‘El Animal’ Hrgovic take just three rounds to dispatch with Mario Heredia, who headed into tonight as collateral damage for the former Croatian Olympian to announce himself to a wider audience. Hrgovic, now 9-0 (7KOs), seemed to be letting his Mexican opponent attempt to find his feet in the first couple of rounds but once the bell rang for the 3rd, ‘El Animal’ was on top of Heredia, landing with every right hook thrown and eventually dropping Mario into the corner where he struggled to rise and the referee waved it off.

Hrgovic was defending his WBC ‘International’ belt for the third time tonight and currently sits 11th in the WBC rankings, but it’s going to be tough to match the Croatian going forward without willing challengers at the top bracket of heavyweights.

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