Notebook: With Estrada out due to Covid, Chocolatito to face Martinez instead
Anthony Joshua discussion; Edwards, Prograis to return in Dubai; Quick hits; Show and tell
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The trilogy fight between junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada and former champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is off, at least for now.
Estrada’s rumored withdrawal was made official on Tuesday as he pulled out due to coming down with Covid-19, which has prevented him from training properly for the showdown with his great rival that was scheduled to headline a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.
However, the show will go on with WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez agreeing to move up one weight class and fill in against Gonzalez in another match that on paper figures to be action-packed.
“What a fight! Julio has ambitions to become a pound-for-pound star, and this is what the greats do — meet huge challenges head on and take them with both hands,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said. “‘Chocolatito’ is a modern great and he’s relishing this test against ‘El Rey.’ I cannot wait for this fight and I’m so happy that both men have signed on the dotted line to deliver this brilliant fight to the fans.”
While there will not be a world title at stake, it is still a notable fight matching the four-division future Hall of Famer Gonzalez with young gun in Martinez, who is one of boxing’s most entertaining fighters.
“I am thrilled that I am able to move up in weight and fight the very best straight away,” Martinez said. “‘Chocolatito’ is a living legend and a fighter I have always admired, so to be fighting him in my first fight (at junior bantamweight) is special, but on the night, it’s going to be war and I am ready for it.
“I have ambitions to unify the flyweight division and that flame still burns, but this fight is so huge for me, and I did not hesitate to accept it – I promise the fans that I will put on a show.”
Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Mexico, has won the vacant WBC flyweight belt by ninth-round knockout of Cristofer Rosales in December 2019 and has made four defenses but been unable to land the unification fight he has wanted. He is coming off a third-round no contest with interim titleholder McWilliams Arroyo on Nov. 19, a fight that ended because Arroyo was unable to continue after an accidental head butt.
Last March in Dallas, Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs), 31, of Mexico, and Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs), 34, of Nicaragua, met in their long-awaited sequel in which Estrada eked out a controversial split decision in an action-packed fight of the year contender many thought Gonzalez deserved to win. It was a WBA/WBC junior bantamweight unification fight, although Estrada later vacated the WBC crown.
It pulled Estrada to 1-1 in his rivalry with Gonzalez, who retained his junior flyweight title by decision against him in their first all-action battle in 2012.
The third bout was initially scheduled to take place this past October but postponed because Gonzalez came down with Covid-19.
Anthony Joshua discussion
I joined my friends at the talkSport boxing show to discuss all things Anthony Joshua. Can he regain the heavyweight belts he lost to Oleksandr Usyk? Should he accept a deal to step aside from a rematch with Usyk to allow Usyk to first face Tyson Fury? We discussed those issues and a whole lot more. Watch the show below:
Edwards, Prograis back in action
Flyweight titlist Sunny Edwards and former junior welterweight titleholder Regis Prograis will return to the ring on March 19 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, Probellum announced on Tuesday.
Probellum will also hold a card on March 18 at the same location but has not announced those bouts.
Edwards (17-0, 4 KOs), 26, of England, made his first defense in Dubai in December by wide decision over Jayson Mama and will return to the same city for defense No. 2 against Muhammad Waseem (12-1, 8 KOs), 34, of Pakistan, in the main event. Muhammad will be getting his second title shot. He has won four fights in a row since a decision loss challenging Moruti Mthalane in 2018. Edwards later dethroned Mthalane.
Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs), 33, of New Orleans, who signed with Probellum in October, will make his debut for the company in a regional title bout against fellow southpaw Tyrone McKenna (22-2-1, 6 KOs), 31, of Northern Ireland.
Prograis lost his world title by majority decision to Josh Taylor in a 2019 unification fight that was the final of the World Boxing Super Series. Since then, Prograis has won two fights in a row, a third-round knockout of Juan Heraldez on a Premier Boxing Champions cad in October 2020 and a sixth-round knockout of Ivan Redkach on a Triller Fight Club card in last April.
Quick hits
Top Rank made official on Tuesday what Fight Freaks United reported weeks ago: That it has secured the United States rights to the welterweight fight between Amir Khan (34-5, 21 KOs), 35, Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs), 35, and it will stream on ESPN+. The fight, well past when it would have been very meaningful, between British rivals and former world titleholders is scheduled to take place on Feb. 19 at AO Arena in Manchester, England. The fight will be shown via Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced that the fight between WBO cruiserweight titlist Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) and Michal Cieslak, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 27 (DAZN), will take place at The O2 in London. Okolie, 29, will be making his second title defense. Cieslak (21-1, 15 KOs), 32, of Poland, suffered his lone defeat by unanimous decision when he challenged Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title in January 2020. He has won two fights since. Hearn also announced that in an undercard fight, Karim Guerfi (30-5, 9 KOs), 34, of France, will make his first European featherweight title defense against Jordan Gill (26-1-1, 7 KOs), 27, of England.
MTK Global announced an extension of his management contract with middleweight contender Liam Williams (23-3-1, 18 KOs), 29, of Wales, ahead of his fight with Chris Eubank Jr. (31-2, 23 KOs), 32, of England, on Feb. 5 (FITE in U.S., Sky Sports in U.K.) at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. “I’m very happy to be signing a new contract with MTK Global. They’ve looked after me and got me some good fights and there is a lot more to come,” said Williams, who is coming off a decision loss challenging WBO middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade this past April. “It doesn’t stop here, and there are a big couple of years ahead.”
Show and tell
After the legendary Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward trilogy concluded, Ward retired but Gatti, my all-time favorite fighter, would fight seven more times. I was fortunate to cover each of them among the 12 Gatti fights overall that I covered at ringside. Gatti, a former junior lightweight titlist, wanted another title shot and he got it. He squared off with Italy’s then-undefeated Gianluca Branco (32-0-1 at the time) for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title, which Kostya Tszyu had vacated, and produced the most entertaining of his post-Ward fights.
Gatti was walked to the ring by Ward, who had become a close friend, and went on to outpoint Branco 116-111, 116-111 and 115-112 while overcoming adversity in a fight that went from a fast-paced boxing match over the first half of the bout to more of a brawl in the second half. After injuring his right hand with a shot to Branco’s hip in the fifth round, Gatti, with his eyes swelling as usual, went to his left hand and dropped Branco to his backside with clean hook late in the 10th round to leave no doubt who had won. The fight was on Jan. 24, 2004 — 18 years ago on Monday. Here is an extremely rare (and very large) cardboard site poster that was displayed at Caesars Atlantic City during fight week that is now in my collection.
Prograis photo: Esther Lin/Showtime
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ANOTHER extension for Fury-Whyte? C'mon WBC are you gonna let this go on forever?
do you think we may start to see the winner of Chocolatito v Martinez on some p4p lists?