Tag Archives: Juan Francisco estrada

Posted on 03/15/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Roman Gonzalez didn’t want to sound like a sore loser immediately after. The future Hall of Famer respects the judge’s decision to hand the victory to Juan Francisco Estrada this past weekend but he vehemently disagrees with the result.

Both Estrada and Gonzalez battled it out at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas, in front of a sparse crowd. Those who were watching were mostly acrimonious as Estrada was given the split decision victory.

For Gonzalez, he could care less about the official decision this weekend, much like their first contest in which Gonzalez was handed the win, he believes he’s 2-0 against his long-time rival.

“I won both of them. It was a better fight than the first one,” said Gonzalez to DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “I felt strong, and I felt I won. In the last round, I gave it all. It was a great round. The result is what God wanted. And I’m happy because I’m going back home to see my family.”

As things currently stand, Gonzalez isn’t the only one who believes he should have won, or, at the very least, should have been handed a closer decision loss. WBA President Gilberto Mendoza Jr. suspended judge Carlos Sucre while an evaluation of his performance is currently being conducted.

While the remaining two judges scored the bout 115-113 for Estrada and 115-113 for Gonzalez, Sucre saw things completely differently and handed Estrada the win with a lopsided scorecard of 117-111.

Nevertheless, Gonzalez believes that much like his first contest against Estrada in 2012 that went his way, that he should have been given the nod once again.

Not one to dwell on the past however, Gonzalez has chosen to look at the bright side. Reviews from their contest have come in and by all accounts, it was an overwhelming success.

Although he could push forward and pursued an immediate rematch, Gonzalez has ultimately left the ball in Estrada’s court. Whichever direction his long-time rival decides to go in is alright by him.

“Whatever [Estrada] wants, we’ll do it. I’m very happy with my performance and the crowd enjoyed the fight.”

Posted on 03/14/2021

Juan Francisco Estrada waited nearly ten years before he was given a shot at revenge. While the wait may have been long, it was also worth it.

Both Estrada and former pound-for-pound star Roman Gonzalez met in the main event slot at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas. After sharing the ring with one another nearly a decade ago, neither man would be interested in a feel out round.

Estrada started off fast. The WBC super flyweight champion owned the center of the ring and immediately let his hands go. The first two rounds appeared to be banked by Estrada but Gonzalez was seemingly just getting warmed up.

After finding his distance, the multiple division champion began letting his hands go. Estrada found little success in the third and Gonzalez followed that same blueprint in the fourth.

With things starting to heat up, Estrada could no longer sit back and allow his man to get his shots off first. Instead, he began outboxing Gonzalez and was consistently first to the target. As the rounds ticked by, picking a winner became almost an impossible task. With that said, it appeared as though Gonzalez was just one step ahead.

Despite putting forth what appeared to be a winning effort, all three judges scoring the contest ruled in favor of Estrada via unanimous decision. While their contest was close throughout, the numbers pointed favorably in the direction of Gonzalez as he out-landed his opponent 391 to 314, threw more punches overall than his man 1,317 to 1,212 and also connected on a higher percentage of his punches, 30% to 26%.

Still, Estrada walked away with his WBC title still wrapped safely around his waist. Now, next up will more than likely be a third matchup against Wisaksil Wangek later on this year.

Posted on 03/12/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Roman Gonzalez remembers the aches and pains that came from his contest against Juan Francisco Estrada in 2012. He also remembers getting his hand raised in the end.

For the multiple division world champion, he’ll look to recreate that same winning feeling when they face off against one another this Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas. The bumps and bruises that came shortly after his victory is something he recalls vividly.

But while most would shy away from the impending train wreck that is set to take place, Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs) simply smiles and welcomes the guaranteed carnage.

“It’s going to be a beautiful fight,” said Gonzalez during a recent press conference.

Since their first fight, things have changed. No longer is Gonzalez a constant fixture on virtually every pound-for-pound list. Ironically enough, Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs) has taken his place.

With to back losses at the hands of Wisaksil Wangek, the latter coming of the knockout variety, many are under the impression that Gonzalez is on the backend of his career. Whether he’s closer to retirement or not, he proved that he still has something left to give as he outclassed, dropped and later knocked out Khalid Yafai for his WBA super flyweight world title in February of 2020.

Gonzalez has since followed that emphatic win up with a one-sided decision victory over Israel Gonzalez to close out the pandemic-stricken year.

Despite the recent success, the betting public is still siding with Estrada come fight night.

Never has Gonzalez been one to argue with anyone. With that said, he simply believes he knows his opponent inside and out. That experience, coupled with his still elite skills, has him firmly under the impression that he’ll get the job done once the opening bell rings.

“We’re ready for this fight. Juan is a good champion but we know what we have to do.”

Throughout the entire buildup to their showdown, Gonzalez has been stoic and at times immobilized. Come Saturday night, however, he’ll let his hands go and engage in what could turn out to be a fight of the year candidate as most of the world sits back completely numb and in awe.

While Gonzalez knows that his Nicaraguan countrymen will cheer for him until their throats are sore, he is also fully aware that Estrada’s supporters will back their man to no end.

“I think both countries are going to be paralyzed watching this fight. It’s going to be a great fight.”