Juan Francisco Estrada edges Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez in rematch war

Super flyweights Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez put on a show in their rematch, but Estrada won a controversial decision.

They had to wait 9 years for the rematch, but Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada put on a super flyweight war that ended in a controversial decision.

Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs) is a living boxing legend and four-division champion. He defeated Estrada by unanimous decision back in 2012. That was Estrada’s first world title fight, and he has won titles in two divisions since his defeat to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez’s career took a momentary dip in 2017 when he lost back-to-back fights against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Rungviasi knocked him out in their second fight, and Gonzalez’s career was in question.

However, Gonzalez bounced back and won the WBA super flyweight title by stopping Khalid Yafai in round 9 in 2020.

Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs) added to his reputation by beating Rungvisai in 2019 to win the WBC super flyweight title to avenge his loss to Rungvisai. The March 13 rematch with Gonzalez from the American Airlines Center in Dallas was Estrada’s chance for redemption against Gonzalez.

Juan Francisco Estrada received some beneficial scoring against Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez to win on the cards.

Gonzalez and Estrada are both elite champions who like to mix it up. Their fight lived up to the hype as they combined to throw 2,529 total punches, according to CompuBox, which is a division record.

Gonzalez was the sharper boxer during the first five rounds. He backed Estrada up and was out-landing the WBC champion, but the momentum changed in round 6.

Estrada came back and targeted Gonzalez’s body which opened up the head for Estrada’s uppercuts. He pushed Gonzalez back, and Gonzalez’s punch output drastically decreased.

The tide changed again in round 9 as Gonzalez found his second wind. He pressed forward and forced Estrada to fight on his back foot. That trend continued until the final bell, but both fighters regularly exchanged punches.

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Having gone all 12 rounds, the fight came down to the judges’ scorecards. They returned scores of 115-113 for Gonzalez, 117-111, and 115-113 for Estrada, giving Estrada the split decision victory.

The 117-111 card for Estrada was poor scoring, but it was a close fight. Still, Gonzalez appeared to do enough to deserve the win, but the judges disagreed. The CompuBox stats favor Gonzalez. He threw 105 more punches than Estrada and landed 77 more.

Estrada owes Rungvisai a mandatory bout but said he would welcome a trilogy bout with Gonzalez after the fight. Both fights are desirable, and both opponents deserve a trilogy bout. It will be interesting to see which fight gets made next.