As the long-awaited rematch between Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada approaches, Boxing Social’s Luke G. Williams is revisiting, fight-by-fight, the nine-bout series between Gonzalez, Estrada, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras, which has provided boxing fans with a 21st Century equivalent of the 1980s Four Kings series… Today he reexamines the superlative rematch between Srisaket and Estrada from 2019…
Juan Francisco Estrada W12 Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (unanimous decision), April 26, 2019, Inglewood, California.
When poverty-stricken Srisaket Sor Rungvisai first made his way to Bangkok from rural Thailand as a wide-eyed teenager seeking a better way of life there was one constant in his life – his girlfriend Patchareewan ‘Kay’ Kanha.
The story goes that when the future world champion arrived in the Thai capital he had no money in his pocket, just a packet of instant noodles – he boiled them in water, and gave the noodles to Kay, leaving himself with just the water to subsist on.
When Srisaket scrounged a living as a garbage collector in a shopping mall, Kay was by his side. When – years later – he lost his hard-earned WBC super-flyweight title to Carlos Cuadras and fell into despair, it was Kay who picked him up and dusted him down.
“The three years before I got to fight for the title again against Chocolatito were really tough,” Srisaket later admitted. “I considered ending my career many times, but [my fiancée] told me and encouraged me to keep on fighting, to keep on boxing because she considered one day it would be our time.”
After his pair of wins against Gonzalez, Srisaket became a national hero in Thailand, and his ongoing love story with Kay captured the public imagination. Finally, after years of struggle, hard work and sacrifice, their happy ending appeared in sight.
“The wedding is going to be later this year,” an excited Srisaket told this writer in 2018 as he prepared to face Estrada for the first time. “My fiancée has been with me for so long. We came together from a rural area of Thailand to Bangkok when we were teenagers. We have been through a lot of tough times together.”
By the time Srisaket faced Estrada for a second time the following year, however, the 14-year relationship was over – to the shock of Srisaket’s fervent fan base. The break-up, first hinted at on social media in May 2018, was then confirmed by Kay herself at a press conference.
In the words of his manager Surachart Pisitwutthinan, Srisaket was left “hurt and very sad”.
“He told me that he would not come to the training camp at the moment,” Surachart revealed to the Bangkok Post. “I feel for him. I understand him and won’t force him to train. We can’t intervene in his personal matters. We can only respect his decision. He is not ready to talk to the press.”
Rumours surrounding the break-up caused a sensation in the Thai media, with competing claims about who was to blame, as well as rumours that both Srisaket and Kay were involved with new partners.
Amid all this tumult, plans for Srisaket to fight in the United States in the summer were shelved, and a potential rematch with Estrada put on the backburner. Instead, the WBC champion had a non-title run-out against 28-6-2 countryman Young Gil Bae in August, blowing him away in one round, before delighting his home fans at the Impact Arena in Bangkok with a wide points win against Mexican Iran Diaz in October.
By now there was a new woman in Srisaket’s life and stability was returning. After a whirlwind romance, the 31-year-old married Pornpimon Sarakaew in November, and began preparing for another potentially titanic battle with Estrada in April 2019.
While the Srisaket soap opera had played out, Estrada had stayed focused and sharp, headlining ‘Superfly 3’ at the Forum in Inglewood with a comfortable non-title victory against fellow Mexican Felipe Orucata.
‘El Gallo’ also squeezed in a short-notice fight before Christmas, forcing a stoppage against an overwhelmed Victor Mendez in seven, a super-bantamweight contest that formed part of HBO’s farewell live boxing broadcast.
Warm-ups and tune-ups out of the way, he fierce but respectful super-flyweight rivals finally met for their eagerly awaited rematch in April. The Forum was once again the venue, with a typically lively crowd on hand to witness a fight that more than matched the first bout for intensity and action.
Bizarrely, Srisaket spent most of the contest boxing from an orthodox stance, rather than his natural southpaw style. It was a tactical decision that was to backfire, with Estrada consistently beating him to the punch, and out-landing and out-throwing his rival.
“He surprised me a bit by that,” Estrada admitted after the fight “Because he is always lefty, it surprised me that he was righty tonight. But I felt him out well when he fought right-handed.”
Another key factor in the fight’s outcome was that Estrada was far more aggressive than in the first contest, throwing 1,019 punches this time around, compared to 671 in the first bout.
In the first half of the fight, Estrada was the Thai’s master on both the inside and the outside, as Srisaket ill advisedly persisted with his odd tactic. When he finally made the switch back to southpaw in the 10th round, he had far more success, scoring with some clubbing shots.
The championship rounds were a rousing affair. A low blow felled Estrada in the eleventh as Srisaket looked for the knockout or knockdown most observers felt was needed to negate the early rounds that he had ceded. But Estrada stood firm, earning a deserved unanimous points victory via scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-112 to dethrone Srisaket and hand him his first loss in 20 fights stretching back to 2014.
“I needed to show the Mexican fans and everyone here tonight that I was going to win that belt,” said the 29-year-old, as he finally added a 115lbs title to his previous world championships won at 112lbs. “Thank you for all of the people in Mexico and here tonight for supporting me.”
On returning to Thailand, Srisaket made his future intentions clear, shelving his honeymoon plans to return to training, motivated by the desire to secure a third fight with Estrada and regain the title.
“I want to train to prepare for my third fight with Estrada. I can’t wait to meet him again. I promise that I will bring the belt back to Thailand. I will train harder. I am confident that I will win in the next fight. I am not disheartened by the loss.”
If he beats unheralded Kwanthai Sithmorseng this Friday, then Srisaket will get the chance to win the 115lbs title for a third time, as the WBC have mandated the winner of Chocolatito-Estrada 2 to face him.
The saga of the new Four Kings looks like it has plenty more capacity for drama in the future…
Main image: Sumio Yamada, WBC.