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Maybe the judges did or didn’t get it right in the end, but one thing was clear after Saturday night’s junior bantamweight showdown between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman Gonzalez: the boxing world had just witnessed one heck of a fight.
Estrada was awarded the split-decision victory by the judges (117-111, 115-113, and 113-115). While Gonzalez threw and landed more punches over the 12-round slugfest, two of the judges seemed to favor Estrada’s boxer-puncher style over Gonzalez’s come-forward aggression.
So “El Gallo” picked up the stunning win over “Chocolatito” at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.
The two fighters are now knotted 1-1. Estrada won on Saturday, but Gonzalez had beaten him by unanimous decision in a junior flyweight bout back in 2012.
Over eight years later, Estrada entered his rematch with the WBC’s 115-pound title around his waist. He left with that as well as his opponent’s WBA belt. Additionally, Estrada retained his status as The Ring magazine and TBRB’s junior bantamweight champion.
According to CompuBox (per ESPN), the two fighters combined for the most punches ever thrown in a 115-pound boxing match.
You can watch the full highlights of the back-and-forth battle below.
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‘Best Fight I’ve Ever Seen’ and Other Reactions
Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn promoted the fight, so he obviously would look at the result of his matchmaking in a very positive light. Still, Hearn suggested after it was over that it was the best fight he had ever seen, and he’s seen a ton of them.
Hearn posted, “The best fight I have ever seen!! Could go either way!!!”
While that might be a bit of hyperbole, there were several people in the boxing community who were sure they had just witnessed the Fight of the Year for 2021 after the Estrada vs. Gonzalez rematch was complete.
BoxingScene’s Corey Erdman seemed to agree with Hearn’s post-fight analysis. He posted, “That’s as good as the sport gets, period.”
CBS Sports’ Brian Campbell called the fight an “instant classic”. He posted, “The pace, the technique, the artistry of both — this is an instant classic. What a masterpiece.”
The Ring’s Francisco A. Salazar posted, “Tonight’s rematch between Chocolatito and Estrada is the front runner for Fight of the Year. #EstradaChocolatito2 is going to be tough to beat ..”.
Fightful’s Sean Ross regretted missing the big fight, and people who watched the epic showdown, such as boxing journalist Carlos Toro, weren’t about to disagree with him.
ESPN’s Max Kellerman posted his thoughts, too. He posted, “Chocolatito jumped out to an early lead with his boxing brilliance, and came back late in the fight with his boxing guts.”
You can watch the reaction from “Real Talk With Kelsey and Rachel” below.
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Angry Reactions from Boxing World Over Scorecards
Some people in boxing were super upset with Estrada winning the fight, and that led several social media posters to hone in on the 117-111 scorecard.
Retired boxing champ Andre Ward sure wasn’t happy about it. Ward posted, “Estrada had momentum that he lost in the last 3-4rds. Chocolatito showed more than I thought he would. Thought Chocolatito edged it. But there were at least 3-4 swing rds that could have gone either way. Can’t argue with 115-113 for Estrada, but the 117-111 was way off.”
NBA star Damian Lillard was also upset with the score being that wide. Lillard posted, “117-111!? No F’n way… I had chocolatito winning that”.
Boxing writer Dan Rafael shared his displeasure with the number, too. Rafael posted, “A great fight, a horses*** decision.”
But nobody hated the big gap between what he saw in the fight and how the one judge scored it more than boxer Caleb Truax. The super middleweight contender posted it was “one of the worst f****** scorecards” he had ever seen in the sport.
Heck, even Hearn ended up wondering who the winner should be.
The good news?
At least Hearn is someone who can actually do something about it. Hearn suggested a third fight could be on its way soon. He said, “117-111 a shocker..115-113 either way. Number 3?”
DAZN seemed to agree with that line of thinking.
So whatever the case with the scorecards in the fight, Estrada did officially beat Gonzalez on Saturday and now it seems like a third fight could be on the way.
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Twitter: @Kelsey_McCarson
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