Way back in March, the WBC announced a four-man box-off at 115 pounds that would see Juan Francisco Estrada face “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in a rubber match and mandatory challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai rematch Carlos Cuadras. Nearly a year later, one of those bouts is finally on the horizon. Dan Rafael reports that Srisaket-Cuadras 2 will co-headline DAZN’s freshly revealed Liam Smith vs. Jessie Vargas show on February 5th.
It’s been 7.5 wild years since Srisaket (50-5-1, 43 KO) and Cuadras (39-4-1, 27 KO) first met in a fight that saw a clash of heads derail the trailing Srisaket’s potential comeback. Srisaket went on to score two wins over the then-unbeaten Gonzalez, one by controversial decision and the other by definitive knockout, before edging out Estrada to establish himself as the top 115-pounder in the world. He’s 3-0 since falling to Estrada in their rematch, most recently stopping former world title challenger Kwanthai Sithmorseng in March.
Cuadras’ road proved rockier. A 1-3 skid against Gonzalez, Estrada, and McWilliams Arroyo combined with substance abuse issues to seemingly end his time as an elite super flyweight. Despite this, he gave Estrada absolute hell in their October 2020 rematch, proving he’s still a handful for anyone at 115.
I guess I can understand the logic behind having this fight play second fiddle, but I’ll be astonished if it doesn’t steal the show. Superfly never die.