Earlier this month, Eddie Hearn revealed that champions Juan Fracisco Estrada, Roman Gonzalez, and Julio Cesar Martinez would likely share an October tripleheader. Now, Mike Coppinger’s got a potential date and suite of opponents: Estrada vs. Carlos Cuadras, Gonzalez against Israel Gonzalez, and Martinez against Maximino Flores on October 23rd.
Nicaragua’s TN8 also reports the date and lineup. ESPN’s Fernando Barbosa claims that the card will take place in Mexico City.
Estrada (40-3, 27 KO) narrowly defeated Cuadras (39-3-1, 27 KO) in 2017 on the strength of a 10th-round knockdown. The two have been on rather disparate trajectories since; Estrada went on to split a pair of wars with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai to claim the WBC title and defend it with a thumping of Dewayne Beamon, while Cuadras suffered a shock loss to McWilliams Arroyo before entering rehab for substance abuse. He’s 3-0 over marginal competition since.
“Chocolatito” (49-2, 41 KO) will be making the first defense of his WBA “super” title, which he took from Kal Yafai in February with a throwback performance. With Joshua Franco and Andrew Selby set to rematch for the “regular” and mandatory status, 23-year-old Gonzalez (25-3, 11 KO) gets his third crack at gold. He fell short in previous efforts against Jerwin Ancajas and Selby, though he recently took a split decision over former title challenger Sho Ishida.
Should Estrada and Gonzalez win, Coppinger reports that they’ve “agreed” to square off in either February or March in a long-awaited rematch.
Martinez (16-1, 12 KO) vs. Flores (25-4-2, 17 KO) could be absolute mayhem. “Max” may not have the prettiest record, but he’s just as much of a Vicious Little Bastard ™ as “Rey.” The guy once threw over 270 punches in a single round; he’ll probably still get merked, but damn if it won’t be entertaining while it lasts.