Juan Francisco Estrada was only 22 years old the first time he faced Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. He was still learning about what kind of boxer he was, and he took a big chance against a guy who was already building his legend, owner of a junior flyweight world title and a record of 33-0.
Estrada may have lost that fight, but he handled the loss in a way that seemed to inspire him. He learned, he worked and now he’s ESPN’s No. 9 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, for good reason. The circumstances around this rematch, more than eight years later, are very different.
“I am stronger and have more desire than the first fight,” Estrada said via news release. “We are both champions and we are going to want to win this fight. In the first fight, I was [22 years old] and I had no experience of big international fights, he was a pound for pound star at that time, but now I think this time it favors me.”
Age isn’t the only factor in play. Estrada has grown into his body, gotten stronger, and he’s at the top of his game.
“We are fighting two weight classes above the first fight, so it is already very different,” Estrada said. “I know that I can win this time. I know it’s a tough fight and I think it will be a better fight, but I have already faced him, I know his qualities and I feel that I can beat a fighter who has been knocked out.”
This fight has a lot to live up to, considering some of the fights we’ve seen in the last few months. The Oscar Valdez-Miguel Berchelt fight a few weeks ago was unbelievable and will be a fight of the year candidate. We have been witnessing a lot of guys stepping up, daring to be great, wanting to be great. And I think we’ll see that again with Estrada and Gonzalez.
It’s Estrada’s time to get back that loss that he suffered eight years ago. But no matter how good Estrada is — or how confident — overlooking or underestimating Gonzalez at this point in his career would be foolish. Gonzalez is a former pound-for-pound No. 1, a four-division world champion and a guaranteed future Hall of Famer whenever he hangs up the gloves. He’s won 50 fights.
“I consider myself a man who’s done the best that I could,” said Gonzalez. “I had difficult times growing up, but in the end, it worked out well. Life has taught me a lot of things, and I learned. And I feel and think that I’ve already conquered many things in boxing. What comes now with this title is just extra.”
It’s going to be a different fight this time around, but both of these guys are still high-output fighters. Their first fight still has a few entries in the record books for combined number of punches.
“This is going to be a special fight,” said Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie 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 Carlos Cuadras, and Chocolatito rolling back the years with his clinical KO win over Khalid Yafai and looking razor sharp against Israel Gonzalez [in October].”
If we’re looking for a change in this rematch, it’ll be from Estrada. He’s not just a boxer. He’s not just a puncher. He’s an all-around fighter. In studying this guy, he’s the complete package.
Gonzalez has his blueprint for the kind of fight he wants this to be. At this point, it’s too late to change the game plan, and why would he? He’s gotten this far, and while he’s improved his defense and become a smarter fighter, aggression is the name of the game.
With four straight wins, Gonzalez is in the midst of a career resurgence as well, after many people wrote him off. Even if Estrada is the favorite going in, at this point in his career, Gonzalez has nothing to lose — and that makes him dangerous.
“Many young guys want to be like the champ, like Chocolatito,” Gonzalez says. “But in the end, it’s what gives you your happiness in life. What you want to achieve in your life. When I retire, I will leave very satisfied and very happy to have been able to have so much success for my kids and my family, and also for the people of Nicaragua.” — Timothy Bradley Jr.
Estrada-Gonzalez by the numbers
3,046: Total days between the two world title fights for Estrada and Gonzalez. At eight years, 124 days, it’s the second-longest gap between world title rematches in boxing history. The longest is 3,393 days (nine years,105 days) between the two strawweight (105-pound) world title fights featuring Fahlan Sakkreerin and Andy Tabanas. Sakkreerin won the first fight in 1991, and the pair fought to a draw in 2001.
2,133: Combined total punches thrown by Estrada and Gonzalez in their November 2012 fight. There were 1,622 power punches thrown, and 676 total punches landed. All three marks still stand as third-most all time in a junior flyweight bout (punches thrown is tied for third).
3: Gonzalez is one of just three active Latin American-born boxers who have won world titles in at least four different divisions. The others are Canelo Alvarez and Leo Santa Cruz. Gonzalez has won world titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight.
32.3: Punches landed by Gonzalez per round in his career — No. 1 among all active boxers, according to CompuBox. Gonzalez is also No. 1 for punches thrown per round (87.7), power punches thrown (65.7) and power punches landed (27.6) among all active boxers. Estrada is fifth among active boxers in punches landed per round (25.4) and power punches thrown (53.8).
26-4: Combined record in title fights for Estrada and Gonzalez. Three of those losses happened at the hands of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (once for Estrada, twice for Gonzalez). The fourth is Estrada’s loss to Gonzalez in their first fight.
‘First lady’ Cecilia Braekhus wants her titles back
On the Estrada-Gonzalez 2 undercard on Saturday, Cecilia Braekhus gets a rematch against Jessica McCaskill for the undisputed welterweight championship she lost in August, after defending it 10 consecutive times in a seven-year span. ESPN spoke to Braekhus in the lead-up to the fight to discuss what happened in her first career loss and how she prepared for her chance at redemption.
When you lost to Jessica McCaskill last summer, it was a new experience for you — your first career loss. How did that affect you?
Well, it was a very special circumstance. I had spent six months training in Big Bear [California]. I was up there right before the pandemic broke out, so I hadn’t seen my family and friends and everyone for such a long time. The fight was the second priority. I just needed to get home and reassure, just see and hug everyone. That was my first concern.
After the fight, I soon started to think about the rematch. I watched [the fight]. This wasn’t a loss. I’m better than her. I felt that in the fight and after the fight too. I just needed to get a little bit of distance from it. I need to make this right again.
Right after the fight, one of the first things you said was that “she was busier.” It seemed like you recognized what gave her an advantage in the eyes of the judges. But did you think the judges were wrong in their scores?
I did what I needed to do to keep my belts, but we were in her home country. She had all home judges. I don’t think without the surroundings that she would have walked away with all the belts.
It was a fight for all the belts … and I’ve done this so many times. I’ve done this for so long. I knew what I had to do to just win the fight on points. But it was not to be on that night. On Saturday, I will just have to make a bigger statement.
That’s what I think about — this Saturday. I don’t think about what happened. I don’t think about the last fight at all, to be honest.
After the fight, you gave some hints that it might have been your final fight. How long did it take you to decide that you wanted the rematch?
I think that kind of reveals my state of mind at that time. People don’t understand that — and Jessica could never understand this because she was always home in Chicago before the fight — but I have to travel away from home to train because it’s not in Norway. So before that fight I was struggling with a lot of guilt — for my friends, for my family, for everyone at home. I was away for six months to train in Big Bear.
When I was talking about retirement, it was more about those feelings than what actually had happened in the boxing ring, you know? As soon as I got home to Norway and I was able to hug my people, my family, my friends, and they said, “You have to go back and make this right,” then it was easy to make that decision.
What do you have to do differently to get back the titles?
I just have to be myself, you know? I just have to box and be relaxed and be happy. And I am. This is a completely different situation than last time. I had a normal camp — seven weeks. I had time in Norway too, with my people, my friends and family. I don’t have that issue anymore in camp, no feeling of guilt. I can just enjoy boxing and do what I love to do the most. I’m happy now, and I’m looking forward to Saturday. That is going to make all the difference.
If you do win on Saturday, that would make you and McCaskill 1-1. And everybody in boxing loves trilogies. Is that in the back of your mind?
That’s not a concern for me. I haven’t thought past this fight. I’ve just been thinking about Saturday. That’s what I am focused on right now.
Your name always comes up among the list of boxing greats, and another fighter who’s always mentioned is Claressa Shields. Is that a fight that at some point you’d like to have?
Yeah, definitely, that would be a big fight. She’s said she’s willing to go to 147 [pounds] and that she wants to get into talks. I mean, of course, if that’s possible, we are always willing to sit down and talk.
Is it still important for you to build your legacy with bigger and bigger fights?
No, I feel like my legacy is written. I have done everything, I really have. On Saturday, I’m just going to take back what’s mine. I’m going out there for me. I know that I’m better. I know that I deserve to have those belts.
Of course, big fights with Claressa Shields, [Cris] Cyborg, Katie Taylor are always something that a champion is going to be hungry for. There are a lot of huge fights that can be made. — Jeff Wagenheim
McCaskill-Braekhus by the numbers
10: Braekhaus, the former undisputed welterweight champion, made 10 successful world title defenses in a row (dating to September 2014) before losing to McCaskill in August 2020.
25: Braekhus made 25 successful WBC title defenses before losing to McCaskill.
1: McCaskill is making the first defense of the undisputed welterweight title she won by defeating Braekhus.
0: McCaskill has not won a fight by stoppage since July 2017 vs. Natalie Brown. She’s currently on a four-fight winning streak, all world title fights (4-1 overall in world title fights).
David Benavidez leaves weight problems in the past, looks to the future
David Benavidez heard all the chatter.
He wasn’t dedicated. He was fat. Essentially, that he was unfit to be a champion.
It was a small price to pay for missing weight by more than 2 pounds against Roamer Alexis Angulo last August. The more expensive cost was being stripped of the WBC super middleweight belt.
That’s why Saturday’s fight against Ronald Ellis carries twofold significance. It’s a chance for Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) to prove that he is serious about being a champion. It’s also another opportunity to build his case to eventually face the top fighter in the 168-pound division, Canelo Alvarez.
“As long as I keep going out there, stopping people and putting some great performances in, the people are going to keep asking for it,” Benavidez told ESPN. “It’s in demand.”
To prepare for Ellis (18-1-2, 12 KOs), Benavidez has been training in Big Bear Lake, California, for the last three months, working to overcome one of the biggest setbacks in his pro career.
When he missed weight against Angulo, Benavidez said, the moment was “extremely disappointing” and something he had never felt before. He said had he tried to lose any more weight, he was at risk of passing out and missing the fight — and a much-needed paycheck during a pandemic. Even though Angulo quit in the corner after the 10th round, the victory still left a bitter aftertaste and sparked all the comments from fans about his work ethic.
“I also want to thank the people who are telling me this over and over again,” Benavidez said. “Because at the end of the day, I did realize I messed up. I didn’t want to leave any room for people to say anything [bad] about me this camp.”
Weight won’t be an issue for Benavidez this time. He said he was already at 171 pounds a week before the fight, 4 or 5 pounds lower than where he usually is. And that’s still eating three meals and drinking a gallon and a half of water a day.
The weight mishap also knocked him out of the group of champions at 168 pounds headlined by Alvarez, who is coming off his second win in four months after an easy stoppage victory over Avni Yildirim. The spoils of Alvarez’s win included the WBC super middleweight title that used to belong to Benavidez.
And it doesn’t appear as if Alvarez is leaving the division any time soon.
On May 8, WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders will be the latest person to try to knock Alvarez off his perch in the division. Benavidez has full confidence that if he fought Canelo now, he could win.
“The people Canelo has fought, they’ve been very standard,” Benavidez said. “They just stay there. They have no head movement. They have no combinations. They don’t even throw jabs, you know what I mean? I feel like I’m a completely different type of fighter from all the people Canelo has faced.”
But a fight against boxing’s best seems unlikely, even with a win over Ellis this weekend in Uncasville, Connecticut. Benavidez said he wants to face IBF titleholder Caleb Plant, middleweight champion Jermall Charlo or even rising prospect Edgar Berlanga, who has 16 wins all via first-round knockouts. Any of those opponents would give Benavidez a high-profile win that is currently lacking on his résumé.
When Benavidez steps on the scale on Friday and then in the ring on Saturday, he will be looking to show the world he can eventually accomplish something that only Floyd Mayweather Jr. has done — beat Canelo.
“People can believe me,” Benavidez said. “People won’t believe me. But I know exactly what I can do. And I know what limits I’m willing to push myself to get a victory.” — Ben Baby