NFL
By: Julio Olmo
The Boxing year has started to come alive a bit after a really dead couple of months because March is really picking up the pace.
Rematches dominate the schedule for the month of March in Boxing.
Therefore we have ourselves Juan Francisco Estrada vs Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez 2 on March 13th.
This is a fight boxing fans have wanted to see for years.
Estrada (41-3, 28 KO) and Chocolatito (50-2, 41 KO) met as junior flyweights way back in the ancient year of 2012, with Chocolatito winning.
Over eight years later, after Estrada chasing Gonzalez up the weight classes from 108 to 112 to 115, it’s finally happening.
Rumors of Chocolatito’s demise back in 2017 were obviously greatly exaggerated.
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai just turned out to be “that dude” for him, a guy he just didn’t deal with well. It’s said all the time but it’s always true: styles make fights.
Ricardo Mayorga beat Vernon Forrest twice and Shane Mosley couldn’t handle Vernon Forrest, and so on and so forth.
These things happen in Boxing.
Estrada did better against Rungvisai, losing a close decision in 2018 and coming back to beat him in 2019, but Rungvisai was Hell on Estrada, too, and might have won both fights if not for an all-time puzzling tactical decision in the rematch.
So here we are. Estrada has the WBC belt at 115, Gonzalez has the WBA belt, they’re either the top two or two of the top three, four at worst in the division right now.
It’s a great fight, and it’s time for it to happen. These are excellently skilled boxers, but warriors, too, and when you pit two guys like that because you can get some real fireworks. There may not be a truly better matchup that comes in 2021, quite honestly.
More Boxing Rematches Scheduled for March:
Alberto Machado vs Hector Tanajara Jr (Mar. 18, NBCSN)
The second of the Ring City main events, as former 130-pound titlist Machado (22-2, 18 KO) takes on unbeaten lightweight prospect Tanajara (19-0, 7 KO), with both of them looking to achieve something with a win.
Machado, of course, wants to get his name into that 135 title mix. He hasn’t fought since Dec. 2019, when he moved up and did look strong beating Luis Porozo, following two straight stoppage losses to Andrew Cancio at 130.
For him, it’s still about rebounding to a degree. For the 24-year-old Tanajara, he and his team want to get his name in there with the other young lightweights.
In all honesty, he’s never looked like the sort of prospect that Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, or Gervonta Davis have. There’s a reason he hasn’t gotten the same hype.
But Tanajara is no bum, either. He’s tall (5’10”) and rangy (75-inch reach) and he can box, and he’s passed his tests so far. Machado, 30, is a step up, a guy who can bomb. Good matchup.
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.
You can still form a good argument that Glowacki is the No. 2 cruiserweight in the world. He lost to Mairis Briedis in 2019, yes, but personally felt that he was not ready heading into it.
A southpaw who can box has some pop, and most importantly, has big experience. And he’s been in some damn good fights over the years, dating back to his epic 2015 rally win over Marco Huck, followed by a really fun battle with Steve Cunningham in 2016. Other than Briedis, he’s only lost to Oleksandr Usyk.
But Okolie will have real advantages. At 6’5”, he’s a long, tall cruiserweight, and when he commits to his punches, he can throw with some nasty power. Okolie’s biggest knock hasn’t really been about his talent thus far, just the fact that sometimes he can be dreadfully dull to watch. Glowacki may drag a good fight out of him, though, especially if Glowacki gets down on points and has to go for it. Another thing to note: both of these guys are willing to fight dirty if they must.
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.
But I really think Ortiz might wind up the best fighter of the lot. This is one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport. I love watching Ortiz fight — he’s got a clinical viciousness to him, and we’ve seen him use that in his last four fights, where he has just taken apart solid vets Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Brad Solomon, and Samuel Vargas. And while we still have questions about super middleweight Edgar Berlanga and his 16-fight first-round stoppage streak, Ortiz has gone into some at least slightly deeper waters, and the power was still there. Nobody’s been able to do much with him yet.
Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KO) is a really good step for Vergil, whose options are kind of limited with Golden Boy, similar to what Terence Crawford has faced as a welterweight with Top Rank. The 31-year-old Hooker, a Texan like Ortiz, is a former titleholder at 140. He was stopped in his one loss to Jose Ramirez, a total firefight from 2019. But Hooker can fight, and this is a chance for him to score a big one at 147, maybe make himself attractive for a Bud Crawford fight this year.
Alexander Povetkin vs Dillian Whyte 2 (Mar. 27, DAZN)
This is a Must-See rematch that can basically be summarized like this.
Last August, Povetin got off the canvas twice to brutally KO Whyte for the upset.
Povetkin (36-2-1, 25 KO) and Whyte (27-2, 18 KO) will meet again, the fight having been delayed from January to March 6 to now March 27.
It’s definitely Must-See. Povetkin is 42 now, but all the pressure here is on the 32-year-old Whyte.
