Notebook: Estrada-Chocolatito 3 on tap as part of tourney with Sor Rungvisai, Cuadras

Mthalane, Conlan share card; April 10 TR bouts; Quick hits

It looks like there will be a third fight between rivals Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

The WBC on Friday issued a ruling based on a unanimous vote of its board of governors that paved the way for the bout as it ordered what amounts to a four-man tournament in the junior bantamweight division.

The WBC said that unified champion Estrada asked to be designated as a so-called “franchise champion” and that mandatory challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai has requested to fight for the now-vacant WBC world title. He was already the mandatory challenger and entitled to the next title shot against Estrada but agreed to step aside to allow for an Estrada-Gonzalez rematch to take place first.

Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs), 30, of Mexico, and Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs), 33, of Nicaragua, met to unify their 115-pound belts on March 13 in Dallas and Estrada won a highly controversial split decision in an action-packed candidate for fight of the year to even his rivalry with Gonzalez, who had outpointed him in a 2012 junior flyweight title defense. Both fighters said afterward they were interested in a rubber match.

The WBC said it granted Estrada’s request for the “franchise” title and agreed to sanction a third Estrada-Gonzalez fight.

It also ordered Sor Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs), 34, of Thailand, to meet former titlist Carlos Cuadras (39-4-1, 27 KOs), 32, of Mexico, for the vacant WBC title and said that the winners of Estrada-Gonzalez III and Sor Rungvisai-Cuadras II “shall fight each other to determine the sole WBC world champion.”

If the bouts are finalized, Sor Rungvisai will have the opportunity to avenge an eighth-round technical decision loss to Cuadras that ended his first WBC 115-pound title reign in May 2014.

All four fighters have already faced each other a total of 10 times in a round robin of bouts that has produced one action battle after another.

Gonzalez is 1-1 against Estrada, 0-2 against Sor Rungvisai and has beaten Cuadras. Estrada is 1-1 against Sor Rungvisai and 2-0 against Cuadras, who is 1-0 versus Sor Rungvisai.

Mthalane, Conlan on ESPN+

Flyweight world titlist Moruti Mthalane and Sunny Edwards will meet April 30 (ESPN+ in the U.S., BT Sport in the U.K., 2 p.m. ET) at the Copper Box Arena in London, promoter Frank Warren and Top Rank announced on Friday, confirming a Fight Freaks Unite report from last week.

Mthalane has made three successful title defenses in his second title reign. Edwards will be moving down one division from junior bantamweight.

In the co-feature, Michael Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs), 29, of Northern Ireland, will move down in weight to junior featherweight and face Ionut Baluta (14-2, 3 KOs), 27, of Romania, in a 12-rounder.

“This is a big step up for Mick, as Baluta has pulled off quite a few upsets and is motivated to do so once again,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, Conlan’s promoter said. “Mick is close to a world title shot, and I expect him to be at his very best April 30. I am also pleased that American fight fans will have an opportunity to watch the sensational Mthalane, who is in tough against the young Edwards.”

Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs), 38, of South Africa, has fought around the world and not lost since then-flyweight titlist Nonito Donaire stopped him in a 2008 title bout in Las Vegas.

Edwards (15-0, 4 KOs), 25, of England, has fought his last two bouts at junior bantamweight, but he returns to flyweight for the title shot he has wanted.

“Moruti is the most criminally underrated fighter, having not lost in 13 years, and he is a proper, proper threat,” Edwards said. “This is no gimme or easy world title fight. It is very, very far from that. I asked for this fight and, if you look back at press conferences or interviews, you can see that I have wanted it for some time. In my head, this is what was coming to me and it is finally here, and I have got what I wanted.”

Baluta has notched back-to-back upsets and is looking for a third. Last March, Baluta outpointed heavily favored former junior featherweight titlist TJ Doheny via eight-round unanimous decision. Six months later, he knocked out Conlan’s 2016 Irish Olympic teammate Davey Oliver Joyce in the third round.

“I know how tough of a fighter Baluta is, but I've been training hard since shortly after my last win in August and will be well prepared for victory,” Conlan said. “I'm looking forward to putting on a great show and can't wait to get back in the ring.”

April 10 Top Rank undercard

Blue-chip heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson will face Jeremiah Karpency in one of the key bouts on the non-ESPN portion of the Joe Smith Jr.-Maxim Vlasov vacant light heavyweight title fight on April 10.

The card will take place at the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and will be Top Rank’s first card during the coronavirus pandemic outside of the bubble of the conference center MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fights not part of the main card on ESPN will stream on ESPN+ beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET.

“Jared Anderson is a superstar in the making,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “He is the world’s most exciting young heavyweight, and I can’t wait to see what he shows next. When you watch Jared, you are watching a future world champion.”

Anderson (8-0, 8 KOs), 21, of Toledo, Ohio, who knocked out five opponents inside the MGM Grand bubble, will face Karpency (16-2-1, 6 KOs), of Adah, Pennsylvania, in a six- or eight-rounder.

“I began 2021 on a high note against (Kingsley) Ibeh (with a sixth-round knockout on Feb. 13), and I’m looking forward to carrying over my momentum against Karpency,” Anderson said. “The fans love big knockouts, and my goal is to deliver that every time I fight.”

Also on the undercard:

• Junior lightweight Robson Conceicao (15-0, 7 KOs), a 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Brazil, fights Mexico’s Jesus Antonio Ahumada (17-3, 11 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

• Toledo, Ohio, junior lightweight Albert Bell (17-0, 5 KOs) faces Manuel Rey Rojas (20-4, 6 KOs), of Dallas, in an eight-rounder.

• Philadelphia heavyweight prospect Sonny Conto (6-0, 5 KOs) returns from a 15-month layoff to face Arizona’s Waldo Cortes (6-3, 3 KOs) in a four-rounder. Conto was supposed to fight Feb. 20 but a medical issue forced Cortes out of the fight, but he is now recovered.

•  Alexandria, Virginia, middleweight prospect Troy Isley (1-0), a former amateur standout, faces Philadelphia’s LaQuan Evans (4-1, 2 KOs) in a four-rounder.

• Cincinnati featherweight prospect Duke Ragan (3-0, 1 KO), a silver medalist at the 2017 world amateur championships, meets Charles Clark (3-6-1, 1 KO), of Dallas, in a six-rounder.

• Tulsa heavyweight Trey Lippe Morrison (16-0, 16 KOs), the son of the late heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, returns from nearly two years out of the ring. He will face a foe to be named in an eight-rounder.

• Heavyweight Jeremiah Milton (2-0, 2 KOs) will have a hometown fight against Jayvone Dafney (2-2, 2 KOs), of McComb, Mississippi, in a four-rounder.

Inoue returning to U.S.

Naoya Inoue, The Ring Magazine bantamweight champion and unified titleholder, will next face Michael Dasmarinas in a mandatory defense, but instead of the fight taking place in Inoue’s native Japan as originally planned, it will take place on June 19 at a venue to be determined in Las Vegas.

I spoke to Top Rank chairman Bob Arum about the plans for the fight and what might be in Inoue’s future after that, including a possible move up in weight and potential opponents if he elects to remain at bantamweight, for a story in which I broke the news for the Ring website. Please read the story here: https://www.ringtv.com/619596-bob-arums-monster-plan-naoya-inoue-michael-dasmarinas-set-for-june-19-in-las-vegas/

Next on Ring City USA

After three quality cards in March, Ring City USA returns for two cards on NBCSN in April and both main events look very good.

One will pit junior middleweight prospect Charles Conwell against Ivan Golub in a 10-round bout. The other is a rare clash of undefeated American heavyweight hopefuls as Jermaine Franklin will take on Stephan Shaw.

I broke the news in a story on BoxingScene, which you can read here for more details: https://www.boxingscene.com/source-conwell-golub-franklin-shaw-headline-ring-city-usa-cards-april--156404

Quick hits

Former welterweight titlist Shawn Porter was unable to work in his normal role as an analyst on Thursday night’s Ring City USA card because of a Covid-19 diagnosis. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to call the fights as I received bad news on Tuesday that I tested positive for Covid-19,” Porter wrote on social media. “Thankfully my only symptoms are loss of taste and smell. I’m now in quarantine for 10 days and will continue to follow all recommended procedures. I just want to encourage everyone to stay safe and continue to follow the guidelines and talk to y’all soon!!”

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Oscar Rivas and Bryant Jennings, longtime heavyweight contenders, will meet in a rematch as they vie for the newly created WBC bridgerweight title on June 18 at a site to be determined in Montreal, promoter Yvon Michel told the Montreal Journal and confirmed to Fight Freaks Unite, adding that the bout would be streamed on ESPN+ in the U.S. The WBC created an 18th weight division for fighters between 200 to 224 pounds, and has taken plenty of criticism for it. Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs), 33, a Colombia native fighting out of Montreal, stopped Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs), 36, of Philadelphia, in the 12th round of a sleep-inducing bout in January 2019. After that fight, Rivas lost a decision to Dillian Whyte for the WBC’s vacant interim heavyweight title and bounced back with an easy third-round knockout of Sylvera Louis on March 16. Jennings has lost two in a row, to Rivas and then by decision to Joe Joyce in July 2019.

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Thompson Boxing’s next “3.2.1. Boxing” card will take place April 18 (Thompson Boxing Facebook and YouTube, 5 p.m. ET) at the Omega Products International Event Center in Corona, California. Los Angeles junior welterweight prospect Ruben Torres (14-0, 11 KOs) headlines against Mexico’s Diego Contreras (11-3, 5 KOs) in an eight-rounder. There are two other bouts on the card: Whittier, California, lightweight George Acosta (10-1, 1 KO) against an opponent to be named in a six-rounder and Spain’s Petr Petrov (41-6-2, 22 KOs) versus Costa Rica’s Bergman Aguilar (15-6-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round junior welterweight fight.

Show and tell

For many boxing fans the best part of the 1980s was the legendary round robin of fights between all-time greats Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran. They all faced each other in a total of a nine fights that stretched the entire decade — from Leonard-Duran I in 1980 to Leonard-Duran III in 1989. In June 1984, then-junior middleweight champion Hearns defended his title against Duran in Las Vegas at the famed outdoor arena at Caesars Palace, where so many of the 1980s mega fights took place. Hearns is one of the best punchers in boxing history and Duran had one of the best chins of all time, but on that night, power trumped chin as Hearns scored perhaps the most devastating knockout of his career, flattening Duran face first with a single right hand to the chin in the second round. Of all the programs from the nine fights among the ‘80s “Four Kings,” the Hearns-Duran one is by far the toughest to find and even more so in top condition because the thin black cover shows every little blemish. I managed to find one in supreme condition a few years ago. Here is the one in my collection.