DALLAS – Juan Francisco ‘Gallo’ Estrada Yes Roman ‘Chocolatito’ González face off in a unification fight for World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association titles at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
More than eight years and three months ago, González successfully defended the Mini Fly World Championship against Estrada in his first world championship opportunity.
Now promoter Eddie Hearn has organized this rematch with the chance that the winner will face the Thai. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Regardless of the result, tonight’s card paid special attention to a category that traditionally does not enjoy this level of spotlight.
Here are the details of the matches that have already ended:
Kyoguchi keeps his title against Aragón Vega
Japan’s Hiroto Kyoguchi left the American Airline Center in Dallas with his Mini Fly Association belt of the World Boxing Association, defeating Mexican Aaron Pérez by technical elimination on Saturday.
Unfortunately for him, Pérez injured his right hand in the fifth round, when the fight was very uniform, full of action, with force and the desire to please the public of both fighters.
Thus, the Mexican Pérez (14-4-1) sold more than expensive the defeat against the Japanese.
He started from the first round with an aggressiveness and a speed that, fortunately for him, physically diminished him as the rounds passed.
The Japanese champion was more cerebral, she succeeded, but she never avoided the fight, which sometimes put the fans, mostly of Mexican origin, on their feet in the Dallas Mavericks arena.
Reaching the first third of the fight, Ensenada Perez and Kyoguchi (15-0, 9 kb) seemed to be very equal, despite the obvious advantage at the disposal of the Japanese.
In the fifth round and with more than uniform fighting, the Mexican injured his right hand; his guard fell, which the Japanese took advantage of to try to hit him, given the referee’s slowness to realize that he was injured.
A few seconds later, he stopped the fight, when even Kyoguchi noticed Pérez’s injury in front of the referee.
Williams takes over Douglin
Austin Williams dominated Denis Douglin in an action-packed middleweight showdown that ended in a unanimous decision victory.
Williams, originally from Houston, got big fists during the eight-round fight and was close to winning a knockout victory. In the seventh, Williams (8-0, 6 KOs) landed a big upper right that sent Douglin (22-8, 14 KOs) back to the ropes; However, Douglin, the Las Vegas veteran, managed to land enough fists to stifle Williams’ attack, stand up and reach the bell without falling.
Douglin stepped in to replace Aaron Coley, who was the opponent originally scheduled to face Williams, who has won for the third time in three months, while Douglin has lost four of his last six fights.
Cissokho eliminates Echeverría
The fight between Souleymane Cissokho and Daniel Echeverria had two main goals. First, Cissokho had to be in the ring to work after being inactive for all of 2020, and second, DAZN and Matchroom Boxing had to spend some time on Saturday’s event card.
Cissokho (12-0, 8 KOs) went undefeated and won in the sixth round over Echeverría (21-10, 5 KOs). Cissokho, France’s Olympic bronze medalist, used straight and precise shots to overwhelm Echeverría.
It was Cissokho’s first fight in the United States since he appeared on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. 1 underground card at Madison Square Garden in June 2019.
Ford and Pérez were left with a split draw
In a fight between two undefeated fighters, Raymond Ford’s growing outlook was better than his opponent, Aaron Perez. However, Perez eventually did enough to win a split draw in an eight-round featherweight fight that kicked off the card under Estrada-Chocolatito on DAZN.
Perez (10-0-1, 6 KOs), from El Paso, Texas, was aggressive at first, using unorthodox hooks and angles to get Ford in trouble in the first rounds. Perez slowed in the second half of the fight when Ford (8-0-1, 4 Kos) from Camden, NJ, found success with a pair of strong body blows.
But that damage was not enough to end Pérez. In the eighth and final round, Perez and Ford engaged in big shifts.
One judge scored 78-74 for Pérez, while another scored 77-75 for Ford. A judge produced a score of 76-76, which led to a draw.
Fighting in development: Cecilia Braekhus Vs. Jessica McCaskill, 10 rounds, for the undisputed Welterweight Championship (CMB, AMB, OMB, FIB).
This is the complete book of battles:
• Championship fight: Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Román “Chocolatito” González, for the Estrada WBC junior bantamweight title and González WBA junior bantamweight title.
Information from ESPN.com writer Ben Bay was used in this report.