Old rivals Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez will finally clash again in a long-awaited rematch for the WBC and WBA Super 115lbs titles on March 13 – at a venue to be confirmed.
Estrada and Gonzalez first met in November 2012 in Los Angeles, with the Nicaraguan successfully defending his WBA light-flyweight crown via a unanimous but competitive decision. Now, over eight years later, they will recommence their rivalry.
Mexican star Estrada (41-3, 28 KOs) has since established himself as the premier fighter at super-flyweight and underlined that status with an enthralling 11th round KO of Carlos Cuadras in October in Mexico City, clambering off the canvas in the third to beat his compatriot for a second time.
Former pound-for-pound supremo Chocolatito (50-2, 41 KOs) was also victorious that same night, outpointing Mexican upstart Israel Gonzalez in the first defence of the WBA Super title that he ripped from Kal Yafai in nine rounds in Texas 10 months ago.
Estrada and Gonzalez both harbour ambitions of becoming the undisputed super-flyweight champion by the end of 2021, and promoter Eddie Hearn believes their rematch should prove a fight of the year contender.
“This is going to be a special fight,” said Hearn. “It’s been a long time coming but both men are in their prime now, with Juan Francisco serving up a dramatic stoppage win in his fight of the year contender with Cuadras and Chocolatito rolling back the years with his clinical KO win over Yafai and looking razor sharp against Gonzalez.
“Estrada is the number one in the division but Chocolatito will be looking to repeat his win – the winner will take a massive step to becoming undisputed and I hope that we’re able to have fans in attendance when we chose the venue to host this must-see fight.”