NFL
By: Julio Olmo
Recap Estrada vs. Chocolatito 2:
Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman Gonzalez had a war, and Estrada edged Gonzalez- surprise! In another debatable win in 12 rounds.
“El Gallo” waited for over eight years to get his rematch with “Chocolatito”, and in the end was able to edge a controversial split decision victory for a measure of revenge, unifying the WBC and WBA titles at 115 pounds.
This was simply a magnificent fight, and I think boxing fans would absolutely welcome a third fight between the two stars, who are two of the most wonderfully skilled fighters in the sport.
@GregCowboys #EstradaChocolatito2 rematch had "Fight-of-Year" written all over it and lived up to our expectations👏 #Boxeo #Boxing 🥊 pic.twitter.com/3y5JbrlIBC
— The Voice of One! (@jeolmoz2) March 14, 2021
It was non-stop action from the opening bell of the first round through the final bell of the 12th round, and everyone pretty much took their hats off to these two outstanding fighters.
“I think I did enough to win. ‘Chocolatito’ is a great fighter and I think he deserves the trilogy,” El Gallo said through an interpreter. “I knew it was a close fight, I didn’t know if I was up or down, but I knew I needed to close out the fight in those last two rounds.”
“Whatever happened had to happen, but I gave it a good fight. I would have been happy either way with the result. I did my work,” Chocolatito said through an interpreter. “It was a better fight than the first one. I felt I won. In the last round, I gave it all, it was a great round. I’m happy because I’m going back home to see my family.”
Gonzalez, of course, does want a third fight.
“I won both of them. Whatever Estrada wants, we’ll do it. I’m very happy with my performance and having the crowd enjoy the fight.”
However, scheduling fights Boxing’s really want to see – Surprise Again!, are never easy.
The plan is for Estrada to face Srisaket Sor Rungvisai — who won a much less impressive fight on Friday — for the third time, even though there is more demand to see #EstradaChocolatito3.
Rungvisai is the mandatory for Estrada, so if Estrada wants to keep the WBC half of his unified championship, that has to come next, unless Rungvisai were to surprise everyone and step aside.
Rematch March in Boxing Continues: Watch it on DAZN and ESPN.
Lawrence Okolie vs Krzysztof Glowacki (Mar. 20, DAZN)
The 28-year-old Okolie (15-0, 12 KO) has won British, Commonwealth, and European titles at cruiserweight. He’s not a young boy in his early 20s, and he’s done as much as he’s going to really do at the domestic or regional kind of level. It’s time for him to go after a world title, and he’s doing that here, facing the 34-year-old Polish veteran Glowacki (31-2, 19 KO) for the vacant WBO belt.
Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Maurice Hooker (Mar. 20, DAZN)
22-year-old Golden Boy welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr (16-0, 16 KO) hasn’t really made the sort of loud, clanging noises that, say, Teofimo Lopez or Ryan Garcia have, or even Devin Haney who has been tremendous at promoting himself since he turned pro.
Artur Beterbiev vs Adam Deines (Mar. 20, ESPN)
Much-delayed, maybe will actually get done this time. For a fight that doesn’t shape up to be much and that nobody was asking to see, it’s been a lot of trouble to get Beterbiev-Deines in a ring.
The TL;dr version is that Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KO) was supposed to face mandatory challenger Meng Fanlong last year, but that didn’t happen with visa issues, etc., and then Deines (19-1-1, 10 KO) — the man Meng beat to become mandatory — was instead the new mandatory. And then that didn’t happen for this reason or that, injuries to Beterbiev, other stuff, whatever. It is slated for Moscow on the 20th now.
Beterbiev is a huge favorite here and will be expected to steamroll Deines, in all honesty, but two things: there aren’t that many really good matchups set for this month, and it is a chance to see Beterbiev back in action, which is always fun.
BOXING
