RING 115-pound champion Juan Francisco Estrada addresses the media after a June 27 press conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo credit: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom Boxing
Juan Francisco Estrada is ready to go through the present to revisit the past.
The reigning Ring/WBC junior bantamweight champion aims to once again share the ring with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. The pair of future Hall of Famers have offered three memorable clashes, with Estrada ahead 2-1 in their series.
A fourth fight was not ruled out after their terrific Dec. 2022 clash, won by Estrada (44-3, 28 knockouts) via majority decision. The 34-year-old from Hermosillo, Mexico first has to get past one of the sport’s very best young talents in 24-year-old Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs).
Needless to say, he is up for the challenge.
“People sometimes disrespect fighters like me when they say, ‘Gallo Estrada is too old now’,” stated Estrada. “But I’m going to show on Saturday that it isn’t true and my career will keep progressing for a good while. “Lots of people say we’re too old now but if Chocolatito becomes a champion at bantamweight, a fourth fight would be great.”
Estrada-Rodriguez headlines a four-fight DAZN telecast Saturday evening from Footprint Center, home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Estrada attempts his seventh defense of The Ring junior bantamweight championship.
The fight is the first for Estrada since his trilogy clash with Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs). Injuries and an inability to secure a unification bout led to his 18-month layoff.
Interestingly, targeted divisional titlists Kazuto Ioka (31-2-1, 16 KOs) and Fernando ‘Puma’ Martinez (16-0, 9 KOs) will instead face each other. Their July 7 WBA/IBF unification bout pits The Ring’s No. 2 and No. 3 junior bantamweights in a terrific matchup in Tokyo.
Estrada still seeks legacy fights in the post-prime portion of a career destined for the Hall of Fame. The two-division champ enters his fourteenth career fight with a major belt or The Ring championship at stake.
It’s a tall task versus the nearly perfect Rodriguez. Still, Estrada is unbeaten in more than six years and has a proven track record at the elite level.
Meanwhile. Gonzalez embarks on his own comeback. The former four-division champion faces Rober Berrera (27-5, 17 KOs) at bantamweight on July 12 at home in Managua, Nicaragua. With a win, the expectation is to race ‘Chocolatito’ to a bantamweight title shot.
A fifth divisional title for the legendary Nicaraguan would the perfect enticement for Estrada to move up in weight.
“I think to win any world title in any division at our ages would be nice,” said Estrada. “Not just anyone could do that. If Chocolatito becomes a champion at bantamweight, we’ll go after him or any champion at that weight.”
Of course, there remains the matter of upsetting the odds on Saturday.
“We can have plans and make plans but we have to focus on the fight we have in front of us first,” acknowledged Estrada. “If they say they’re going to knock me out, beat me and then they’re going up a division to face [WBA 118 titlist Takuma] Inoue that’s their business but let’s see on Saturday.
“If Jesse Rodríguez beats me it will because he’s a better boxer, not because of anything else like my age. They’ve been saying a lot that I’m old now, that I’m on my way out and on Saturday, I’m going to show that this isn’t the case.”