Juan Fransisco Estrada delivered a masterclass over twelve rounds against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, avenging his loss to the WBC World super flyweight champion and relieving him of his belt in the process.
In front of a capacity crowd at the world-famous Forum in Inglewood, California, the Mexican challenger dominated from the outset, courtesy of a busy jab and sharp combinations.
Rungvisai, who inexplicably elected to fight orthodox for most of the fight, briefly stiffened Estrada’s legs with a right hand in the opening round but was himself staggered by a left uppercut downstairs as Estrada looked to assert his authority from the opening bell.
The fight was threatening to look like a clinic throughout the first nine rounds as a sloppy and relatively static Rungvisai was consistently picked off by his faster and more accurate counterpart.
However, in switching back to his favoured southpaw stance, Rungvisai appeared to be decidedly more competitive in the exchanges and seemingly hurt the Mexican on a number of occasions as the fight inexorably approached its conclusion.
Ultimately, a late spirited rally wasn’t enough for the heavy-handed Thai, as Gallo was unanimously proclaimed the winner with somewhat uncharitable scorecards of 115-113, 116-112 and 115-113 in his favour.
Article by: Navi Singh
