Notebook: Estrada, Chocolatito expect another unforgettable battle in trilogy fight

Hrgovic finds dance partner in rival Yoka; Eubank-Williams gets new date; Bryan foe finalized; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jan 15, 2022

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Of the fights that have been announced so far for the first quarter of the year there is one that stands out among all of them — the third clash between junior bantamweight world champion Juan Francisco Estrada and former champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez.

Their trilogy fight, which is scheduled to headline a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN on March 5 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, was part of the recent announcement made by DAZN of its first-quarter schedule that includes cards on eight consecutive weekends in February and March.

None will be as anticipated as Estrada-Gonzalez III. Their first two fights were classics.

Most recently, Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs), 31, of Mexico, and Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs), 34, of Nicaragua, met in their long-awaited sequel last March in Dallas, where Estrada eked out a controversial split decision — 117-111 and 115-113 for Estrada and 115-113 for Gonzalez, who many thought deserved to win — to unify two 115-pound world titles in an action-packed slugfest. The fight would have been the lock for fight of the year honors if not for the dramatic third heavyweight championship fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder in October.

Estrada-Gonzalez I took place in 2012 and Gonzalez retained his junior flyweight world title by unanimous decision over two-division champion Estrada in another thrilling fight.

They are friendly rivals but looking forward to wrapping up their trilogy.

“This is it this is for all the marbles and to see once and for all who is the best at 115 pounds since we are 1-1 in our first two fights,” said Estrada, the WBA titlist, who since last year’s fight vacated the WBC title. “We’ve had a couple of date changes, but I’ve made sure to stay active in the gym including during the holidays because I know the importance of this trilogy.

“The first two fights were very close and controversial which is why I will make sure I show up as ready as possible and I hope that Gonzalez does too, so that this time we leave no doubt as to who the best man is, and I can’t wait to show everybody that I am the better fighter. The first two were wars and this one will be no different which is why people shouldn’t miss it, it will be another guaranteed war.”

Gonzalez, the former pound-for-pound king and a four-division champion, added, “I believe the winners will be the fans as a great battle will be held March 5 in God’s name.”

How good was the rematch? Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has been ringside for countless fights and proclaimed it as the best fight he has ever attended.

“Their second fight last year was the best fight I have ever seen live, and I have no doubt that this is going to be a spectacular third installment to put this up there with the great trilogies of this sport,” Hearn said. “I am so happy to be taking this fight to San Diego and this is going to be one of the hottest tickets in boxing this year, as everybody knows these two men always deliver excitement. We are all in for a treat on March 5, and that date cannot come around quick enough.”

Hrgovic-Yoka eliminator

Heavyweight contender Filip Hrgovic finally has an opponent willing to participate in negotiations and face him in an IBF elimination bout for the No.1 position, and it is somebody he is awfully familiar with — Tony Yoka, his amateur rival.

Yoka, who defeated Hrgovic by controversial decision in the super heavyweight semifinals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics on his way to winning the gold medal, has notified the IBF in writing that he is willing to face Hrgovic for the right to become the organization’s mandatory challenger for the winner of the expected spring rematch between unified world titleholder Oleksandr Usyk and former two-time titleholder Anthony Joshua.

Hrgovic and Yoka, who fought three times in the amateurs, have until Jan. 28 to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. Previously, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and Joseph Parker turned down the opportunity to face Hrgovic in the eliminator.

I wrote on the particulars and about the amateur fights between Hrgovic and Yoka for World Boxing News. Please read that story here: https://www.worldboxingnews.net/2022/01/14/tony-yoka-heavyweight-ibf-hrgovic/amp

Eubank-Williams rescheduled

Boxxer on Friday formally announced that, as expected, the card headlined by the middleweight fight between contenders Chris Eubank Jr. (31-2, 23 KOs), 32, of England, and Liam Williams (23-3-1, 18 KOs), 29, of Wales, has been rescheduled for Feb. 5 at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The fight will air on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and stream on FITE in the United States.

It was scheduled to take place on Jan 29 at the same venue but because of a surge in Covid-19 cases from the rapidly spreading omicron variant, the British Boxing Board of Control postponed all events in January. The Welsh government also announced this week that indoor sports events can resume in Wales.

The fight was originally scheduled for Dec. 11 but postponed to Jan. 29 because Williams aggravated the shoulder injury he suffered during a unanimous decision loss challenging WBO titlist Demetrius Andrade last April.

Rescheduled along with Eubank-Williams was unified women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields (11-0, 2 KOs), 26, of Flint, Michigan, defending against Ema Kozin (21-0-1, 11 KOs), 22, a southpaw from Slovenia, in the co-feature.

Bryan-Guidry finalized

Promoter Don King announced that Trevor Bryan will defend his WBA “regular” heavyweight belt against Jonathan Guidry on Jan. 29 (FITE) at the W.D. Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, on the card headlined by WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga Makabu (28-2, 25 KOs) against Thabiso Mchunu (23-5, 13 KOs) in a mandatory defense.

Bryan was supposed to face Mahmoud Charr (32-4, 18 KOs), the so-called titleholder “in recess” in a mandatory fight, but Charr was stripped of his status and ranking due to not obtaining a visa within the time frame outlined by the WBA.

So, unknown Dulca, Louisiana, club fighter Guidry (17-0-2, 10 KOs), 32, who turned up in the new WBA heavyweight rankings despite a resume devoid of a notable fight, got the shot with Bryan (21-0, 15 KOs), 32, of Schenectady, New York. King had previously announced Guidry would be on the undercard.

King petitioned the WBA for a special permit to put on the optional Bryan defense and it was approved on Thursday.

The WBA said it will order the winner to face winner mandatory challenger Daniel Dubois (17-1, 16 KOs), one of the interim titleholders the WBA stripped this past summer as part of its plan to reduce titles.

Quick hits

Weights from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y., for the Top Rank on ESPN card on Saturday (10 p.m. ET): Joe Smith Jr. 174.25 pounds, Steve Geffrard 173.5 (for Smith’s WBO light heavyweight title); Abraham Nova 126.75, William Encarnacion 127; Omar Rosario 139.25, Raekwon Butler 138.25; Jahi Tucker 146.75, Akeem Black 145.75; Troy Isley 156.25, Harry Keenan Cruz-Cubano 156.25; Lyubomyr Pinchuk 194.5, Jose Mario Flores 197.5.

The postponed middleweight title unification fight between Gennadiy Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) and Ryota Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) is on course to be rescheduled this spring. “We expect the government’s restriction of foreign visitors to enter Japan to be over in the end of February, and the Murata-GGG event will take place in April,” Murata co-promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Boxing said this week. The fight was scheduled for Dec. 29 (DAZN) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, but postponed in early December when then Japanese government stopped allowing foreigners into the country because of the spread of the Covid-19 omicron variant, which left GGG unable to travel to Japan.

Lightweights Gustavo Lemos (27-0, 17 KOs), 25, of Argentina, and former featherweight titlist Lee Selby (28-3, 9 KOs), 34, of Wales, who were ordered to meet in an IBF title eliminator on Dec. 1 for the right to become a mandatory challenger for unified champion George Kambosos Jr., failed to make a deal by the IBF-imposed deadline. So, on Thursday, the IBF scheduled a purse bid for Jan. 25 and notified its registered promoters. Selby hasn’t fought since losing a split decision to Kambosos in a title eliminator in October 2020. The bid is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET at the IBF offices in Springfield, New Jersey, although they can make a deal until 15 minutes before the bids are unsealed.

Top Rank signed Freddie Roach-trained lightweight Giovanni Cabrera, 27, a southpaw from Chicago, to a multi-year promotional contract. Cabrera, who is managed by Steve Feder, will make his Top Rank on the Robson Conceicao-Xavier Martinez undercard Jan. 29 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cabrera (18-0, 7 KOs) will face Mexico’s Alejandro Frias (13-5-2, 6 KOs) in an eight-rounder on the ESPN+-only part of the card. Cabrera, who has been idle since October 2019 due managerial and promotional issues, has sparred with Manny Pacquiao, Gary Russell Jr., Jose Zepeda and Ray Beltran. “Giovanni is a legitimate lightweight contender who just needs an opportunity to showcase his talents,” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “He has sparred the top fighters, and with Freddie Roach in his corner, I am confident Giovanni will rise to the occasion.”

Show and tell

James DeGale has been retired for nearly three years and Badou Jack is in the twilight of his career trying to make a go of it at cruiserweight, but there was a time when they were the two best super middleweights in the world vying for 168-pound supremacy when they met in a title unification fight that headlined an outstanding Showtime card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. DeGale and Jack put on a sensational action-packed fight in which Jack was knocked down in the first round and DeGale in the 12th round. In the end, the judges ruled it a majority draw — 113-113 twice and 114-112 for DeGale — and they never did meet in a rematch. In the co-feature, Gervonta Davis notched what still ranks as his best victory when he steamrolled Jose Pedraza for a seventh-round knockout to win his first world title at junior lightweight. I was ringside to cover the card, which was on Jan. 14, 2017 — five years ago on Friday. Here is a scarce thin cardboard site poster in my collection.

Estrada-Gonzalez II photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing; Hrgovic photo: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Smith-Geffrard photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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