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Mike CoppingerESPN
Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez are on the brink of yet another fight.
Promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN on Friday that he’s confident he’ll close a deal for the unified 115-pound championship trilogy fight next week, a bout he’s planning to stage Oct. 16. Hearn is looking at venues in two cities for the Matchroom on DAZN show: Los Angeles and Phoenix.
“When you talk about great rivalries over the years, this is right up there,” Hearn said. “Fight 1 was a classic and Fight 2 was probably the best I have ever seen live. The decider will be historic — hopefully it gets over the line soon.”
Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs) eked out a controversial split decision over Gonzalez in March, a brutal battle that’s the leading candidate for fight of the year. They combined for 2,529 punches, a CompuBox record at 115 pounds.
With the victory, Estrada grabbed a second junior bantamweight title and retained his No. 1 spot in ESPN’s junior bantamweight rankings (Gonzalez is No. 2). The 31-year-old Mexican is also ESPN’s No. 10 pound-for-pound boxer.
The rematch came more than eight years — and two weight classes — after their first fight. When they met in 2008, Gonzalez won a unanimous decision to retain his 108-pound championship in another fire fight.
The 34-year-old Nicaraguan went on to win titles at 112 pounds and 115; he was recognized as the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
That was before Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs) was viciously knocked out by Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a 2017 rematch, not just back-to-back losses but the first two of his career. It wasn’t the end for Chocolatito, though. He mounted a comeback that culminated with a ninth-round TKO of Kal Yafai in February 2020 to reclaim a 115-pound title, before waging war with Estrada once more.
If the two future hall-of-famers meet one again in October, they’ll be fighting for not just 115-pound supremacy, but legacy.