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Rodriguez vs. Estrada: A Closer Look at Saturday’s Dream Match-up in Phoenix
The meeting of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (19-0) and Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3) in the Footprint Center, Phoenix this Saturday night is a generational clash so satisfying as to feel improbable. When Estrada, the 115lb lineal champion, turned professional Jesse Rodriguez was eight years old. By the time Rodriguez turned professional, Estrada had already been matched for alphabet belts on seven different occasions, winning six. By the time Rodriguez picked up a strap of his own in early 2022, Estrada had been the legitimate lineal champion of the world for three years. This is the king Rodriguez seeks to topple this weekend, one of boxing’s royal bloodlines, and until recently, one of her greatest champions.
But King Estrada has been inactive, the poison of post-COVID 19 boxing, and generally inadvisable for a thirty-four-year-old super-flyweight. Estrada has been waiting for the perfect money fight, the right contest to bring him out of hibernation and into the arena, but that arrangement is the cousin of retirement. If a fighter is refusing to budge for less than a given amount, he’s really saying he might not fight again, an important psychological step. Estrada has spent all of 2023 and some of 2024 with his feet up and he hasn’t made weight since December 11, 2022. He hit 115lbs dead on the nose and the following day boxed his in his most recent contest, against fellow sub 118lb legend Roman Gonzalez.
Everything Jesse Rodriguez needs to know about Estrada is contained within these twelve rounds of boxing, the good and the bad, the reason to be cautious. Leaping straight to the twelfth round and the reason Rodriguez should be cautious: beaten and having lost every one of the last five rounds on my card, Estrada rallied to win the twelfth on pure heart. His three-time opponent, the man with whom he shared the best trilogy of the twenty-first century, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was naturally more robust than Estrada. Being hit bothers him less than all but a tiny handful of fighters and that more than anything drew him close to victory over his old foe. Estrada resolved to contest the line he had been breaking before Gonzalez in that twelfth round and he did so while dealing some of the highest-class left-handed work that can be seen in boxing today. In the twelfth, as in the first, he jabbed, led with left hooks to the body, pierced with a lead left-uppercut and tied on a final punch, the riskiest punch, to all his combos where he had been stepping out earlier before. It won him the round and the fight; if he’d balked in that twelfth round the fight would have been a draw and the fourth between Gonzalez and Estrada would now have been boxed, to what result is anyone’s guess.
What Rodriguez sees in that twelfth round is the part of Estrada that has been unbreakable. It might be easier to change his mind with punches than it is to change Roman’s, but it is Estrada who is in possession of the truly unbreakable chin. Nobody has even been close to stopping him and when it seemed that Gonzalez had strategically broken him, he found it in him to win the fight’s most important round against the run of action in ninety seconds that may have done more to define his career than any other thirty-six minutes. Estrada must be completely broken to be broken at all.
More, if Rodriguez watches the first half of that fight, he will see style that does not please him. Estrada spent the first six rounds against Gonzalez controlling perhaps the finest ring-general of his generation bar Floyd Mayweather. Estrada’s left-hand is a delight, a paradigm of variety. He will lead with the left hand to the body, probably the second riskiest punch from the orthodox stance, and he will throw it all the way across himself to the far hip of his opponent if the front quarter is properly guarded. Behind this, all punches are possible, hooks and uppercuts abound, and the division’s best power jab is a punch that he must not be allowed to settle behind if he is to be beaten.
Fortunately for Rodriguez, it is a punch that can be disrupted, not least because Estrada wants to throw more hurtful punches in many moments. If he settles behind his left jab he will win, but he has many more routes to victory and he is no slave to that punch. Certainly though, Rodriguez has the tools to disrupt Estrada’s offence generally and his jab especially. I am ready to dismiss Estrada’s jab as a factor in this fight – that is how good Rodriguez is.
The Footprint Center is a venue that has been kind to Rodriguez. He was brilliant there in February of 2022 for his arrival in earnest at the top of the sport, out-pointing veteran Carlos Cuadras over twelve rounds to lift an alphabet strap at 115lbs. It was not a close fight; I gave Cuadras three rounds, one of them arguable, and two of the judges saw it the same way. What most impressed about Rodriguez was the very thing that Roman Gonzalez used to his advantage in his third war with Estrada, his indifference to the punishment the supposedly bigger man and puncher, Cuadras, inflicted. Indeed, Rodriguez made a strategic error in spending too much time in the pocket fighting it out with Cuadras, when his greater successes were either at range or moving in to close range and then moving straight back out. He was indifferent to Cuadras and his hitting for the most part, punching all the while.
Rodriguez worked this charm with excellent footwork, taking advantage of his natural excellence in balance to pivot right and open up new vistas for his punches. After losing the first round to Cuadras, Rodriguez won a close second and then in the third stamped his authority on the fight. Cuadras cannot say he wasn’t warned; after landing a good southpaw uppercut in the first thirty seconds of the round, he landed a second only moments later, and Cuadras was deposited neatly on his backside.
This will not work against Estrada – he’d read the runes on the first punch and change the distance or the angles. Estrada doesn’t have quite the talent for balance that Rodriguez does, but he understands where he is in the ring as well as anyone. That is why even Gonzalez couldn’t trap him along the ropes early in the third fight, Estrada was always ready to retaliate or move. That said, Estrada, the slower man, might find himself vulnerable to these pivots and changes of fortune, especially as he’s trying to develop his jab early in the fight. Estrada has an interesting strategic choice to make early in this contest: will he give ground or try to hustle up? Rodriguez has shown a certain vulnerability to infighting ostensibly larger men at the 115lb limit but Estrada has shown brilliance in drawing aggressive fighters into space and punishing them savagely. He could mix these strategies but history has shown that Estrada prefers to box with a real clarity of plan. It may not be wise to compromise that clarity at this late stage.
Assuming Estrada goes with his preferred method of dealing with quick pressure, giving ground and countering the man and the space, he may find himself being out-sped and out-hit; a slow start would be disastrous for him so if he finds Rodriguez is able to make his way in to range and land while Estrada is waiting to counter, he will need to stand his ground and we will have a war on our hands. Either way this feels like a fight that cannot fail to deliver.
I feel quite strongly that Estrada’s time has come. That he has the wrong amount of wear on him, over too many years and now with eighteen months of inactivity making matters more uncertain, he’ll get found out in the second half of the fight and find himself dropping a clear decision in the region of 116-112.
I will be very happy to be proven wrong though. Estrada is a modern wonder and I’ve loved every moment of his hard-charging ambitious career, and I do think that the 2020 version would have been too much for even this summitting Rodriguez.
For the winner, a top five pound-for-pound slot.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 310: Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue and More
Many proclaim super bantamweight world champ Naoya Inoue to be the best fighter in the world today. It’s a serious debate among boxing pundits.
Is he Japan’s best fighter ever?
Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) takes another step toward immortality when he meets Korea’s Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2, 13 KOs) on Friday Jan. 24, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank and Ohashi Promotions card.
Inoue defends the IBF, WBC, WBA and WBO world titles.
This is Inoue’s third defense of the undisputed super bantamweight division that he won when he defeated Philippines’ Marlon Tapales in December 2023.
Japan has always been a fighting nation, a country derived from a warrior culture like Mexico, England, Russia, Germany and a few others. Professional boxing has always thrived in Japan.
My first encounter with Japanese fighters took place in March 1968 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was my first visit to the famous boxing venue, though my father had performed there during the 1950s. I was too young to attend any of his fights and then he retired.
The main event featured featherweights Jose Pimentel of Mexico against Sho Saijo of Japan. Both had fought a month earlier with the Mexican from Jalisco winning by split decision.
Pimentel was a friend of my female cousin and gave my father tickets to the fight. My family loved boxing as most Latino families worldwide do, including those in the USA. It’s a fact that most sports editors for newspapers and magazines fail to realize. Latinos love boxing.
We arrived late at the boxing venue located on Grand Avenue and 18th street. My father was in construction and needed to pick me up in East L.A. near Garfield High School. Fights were already underway when we arrived at the Olympic Auditorium.
It was a packed arena and our seats were fairly close to the boxing ring. As the fighters were introduced and descended to the ring, respectful applause greeted Saijo. He had nearly defeated Pimentel in their first clash a month earlier in this same venue. Los Angeles fans respect warriors. Saijo was a warrior.
Both fighters fought aggressively with skill. Every round it seemed Saijo got stronger and Pimentel got weaker. After 10 strong rounds of back-and-forth action, Saijo was declared the winner this time. Some fans booed but most agreed that the Japanese fighter was stronger on this day. And he was stronger still when they met a third time in 1969 when Saijo knocked out Pimentel in the second round for the featherweight world title.
That was my first time witnessing Japan versus Mexico. Over the decades, I’ve seen many clashes between these same two countries and always expect riveting battles from Japanese fighters.
I was in the audience in Cancun, Mexico when then WBC super featherweight titlist Takashi Miura clashed with Sergio Thompson for 12 rounds in intense heat in a covered bull ring. After that fight that saw three knockdowns between them, the champion, though victorious, was taken out on a stretcher due to dehydration.
There are so many others going back to Fighting Harada in the 1960s that won championships. And what about all the other Japanese fighters who never got the opportunity to fight for a world title due to the distance from America and Europe?
Its impossible to determine if Inoue is the greatest Japanese fighter ever. But without a doubt, he is the most famous. Publications worldwide include him on lists of the top three fighters Pound for Pound.
Few experts are familiar with Korea’s Kim, but expect a battle nonetheless. These two countries are rivals in Asian boxing.
Golden Boy at Commerce Casino
Middleweights Eric Priest and Tyler Howard lead a Golden Boy Promotions fight card on Thursday, Jan. 23, at Commerce Casino in Commerce, CA. DAZN will stream the boxing card.
All ticket money will go to the Los Angele Fire Department Foundation.
Kansas-based Priest (14-0, 8 KOs) meets Tennessee’s Tyler Howard (20-2, 11 KOs) in the main event in a match set for 10 rounds.
Others on the card are super welterweights Jordan Panthen (10-0) and Grant Flores (7-0) in separate bouts and super lightweight Cayden Griffith seeking a third consecutive win. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Diego Pacheco at Las Vegas
Super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) defends his regional titles against Steve Nelson (20-0, 16 KOs) at the Chelsea Theater at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday, Jan. 25. DAZN will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
It’s not an easy fight for Pacheco.
“I’ve been fighting for six years as a professional and I’m 22-0 and I’m 23 years old. I feel I’m stepping into my prime now,” said Pacheco, who trains with Jose Benavidez.
Also on the card is Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz and Southern California’s dangerous super lightweight contender Ernesto Mercado in separate fights.
Fights to Watch (All times Pacific Time)
Thurs. DAZN 6 p.m. Eric Priest (14-0) vs Tyler Howard (20-2).
Fri. ESPN+ 1:15 a.m. Naoya Inoue (28-0) vs Ye Joon Kim (21-2-2).
Sat. DAZN 9:15 a.m. Dalton Smith (16-0) vs Walid Ouizza (19-2); Ellie Scotney (9-0) vs Mea Motu (20-0).
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Diego Pacheco (22-0) vs Steve Nelson (20-0).
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Skylar Lacy Blocked for Lamar Jackson before Making his Mark in Boxing
Skylar Lacy, a six-foot-seven heavyweight, returns to the ring on Sunday, Feb. 2, opposing Brandon Moore on a card in Flint, Michigan, airing worldwide on DAZN.
As this is being written, the bookmakers hadn’t yet posted a line on the bout, but one couldn’t be accused of false coloring by calling the 10-round contest a 50/50 fight. And if his frustrating history is any guide, Lacy will have another draw appended to his record or come out on the wrong side of a split decision.
This should not be construed as a tip to wager on Moore. “Close fights just don’t seem to go my way,” says the boxer who played alongside future multi-year NFL MVP Lamar Jackson at the University of Louisville.
A 2021 National Golden Gloves champion, Skylar Lacy came up short in his final amateur bout, losing a split decision to future U.S. Olympian Joshua Edwards. His last Team Combat League assignment resulted in another loss by split decision and he was held to a draw in both instances when stepping up in class as a pro. “In my mind, I’m still undefeated,” says Lacy (8-0-2, 6 KOs). “No one has ever kicked my ass.”
Lacy was the B-side in both of those draws, the first coming in a 6-rounder against Top Rank fighter Antonio Mireles on a Top Rank show in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and the second in an 8-rounder against George Arias, a Lou DiBella fighter on a DiBella-promoted card in Philadelphia.
Lacy had the Mireles fight in hand when he faded in the homestretch. The altitude was a factor. Lake Tahoe, Nevada (officially Stateline) sits 6,225 feet above sea level. The fight with Arias took an opposite tack. Lacy came on strong after a slow start to stave off defeat.
Skylar will be the B-side once again in Michigan. The card’s promoter, former world title challenger Dmitriy Salita, inked Brandon Moore (16-1, 10 KOs) in January. “A capable American heavyweight with charisma, athleticism and skills is rare in today’s day and age. Brandon has got all these ingredients…”, said Salita in the press release announcing the signing. (Salita has an option on Skylar Lacy’s next pro fight in the event that Skylar should win, but the promoter has a larger investment in Moore who was previously signed to Top Rank, a multi-fight deal that evaporated after only one fight.)
Both Lacy and Moore excelled in other sports. The six-foot-six Moore was an outstanding basketball player in high school in Fort Lauderdale and at the NAIA level in college. Lacy was an all-state football lineman in Indiana before going on to the University of Louisville where he started as an offensive guard as a redshirt sophomore, blocking for freshman phenom Lamar Jackson. “Lamar was hard-working and humble,” says Lacy about the player who is now one of the world’s highest-paid professional athletes.
When Lacy committed to Louisville, the head coach was Charlie Strong who went on to become the head coach at the University of Texas. Lacy was never comfortable with Strong’s successor Bobby Petrino and transferred to San Jose State. Having earned his degree in only three years (a BA in communications) he was eligible immediately but never played a down because of injuries.
Returning to Indianapolis where he was raised by his truck dispatcher father, a single parent, Lacy gravitated to Pat McPherson’s IBG (Indy Boxing and Grappling) Gym on the city’s east side where he was the rare college graduate pounding the bags alongside at-risk kids from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
Lacy built a 12-6 record across his two seasons in Team Combat League while representing the Las Vegas Hustle (2023) and the Boston Butchers (2024).
For the uninitiated, a Team Combat League (TCL) event typically consists of 24 fights, each consisting of one three-minute round. The concept finds no favor with traditionalists, but Lacy is a fan. It’s an incentive for professional boxers to keep in shape between bouts without disturbing their professional record and, notes Lacy, it’s useful in exposing a competitor to different styles.
“It paid the bills and kept me from just sitting around the house,” says Lacy whose 12-6 record was forged against 13 different opponents.
As a sparring partner, Lacy has shared the ring with some of the top heavyweights of his generation, e.g., Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte. He was one of Fury’s regular sparring partners during the Gypsy King’s trilogy with Deontay Wilder. He worked with Joshua at Derrick James’ gym in Dallas and at Ben Davison’s gym in England, helping Joshua prepare for his date in Saudi Arabia with Francis Ngannou and had previously sparred with Ngannou at the UFC Performance Center in Las Vegas. Skylar names traveling to new places as one of his hobbies and he got to scratch that itch when he joined Whyte’s camp in Portugal.
As to the hardest puncher he ever faced, he has no hesitation: “Ngannou,” he says. “I negotiated a nice price to spend a week in his camp and the first time he hit me I knew I should have asked for more.”
Lacy is confident that having shared the ring with some of the sport’s elite heavyweights will get him over the hump in what will be his first 10-rounder (Brandon Moore has never had to fight beyond eight rounds, having won his three 10-rounders inside the distance). Lacy vs. Moore is the co-feature to Claressa Shields’ homecoming fight with Danielle Perkins. Shields, basking in the favorable reviews accorded the big-screen biopic based on her first Olympic journey (“The Fire Inside”) will attempt to capture a title in yet another weight class at the expense of the 42-year-old Perkins, a former professional basketball player.
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Mizuki Hiruta Dominates in her U.S. Debut and Omar Trinidad Wins Too at Commerce
Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta smashed through Mexico’s Maribel Ramirez with ease in winning by technical decision and local hero Omar Trinidad continued his assault on the featherweight division on Friday.
Hiruta (7-0, 2 KOs), who prefers to be called “Mimi,” made her American debut with an impressive performance against Mexican veteran Maribel Ramirez (15-11-4) and retained the WBO super flyweight world title by unanimous decision at Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.
The pink-haired Japanese southpaw champion quickly proved to be quicker, stronger and even better than advertised. In the opening round Ramirez landed on the floor twice after throwing errant blows. On one instance, it could have been ruled a knockdown but it was not a convincing blow.
In the second round, Ramirez again attacked and again was met with a Hiruta check right hook and down went the Mexican. This time referee Ray Corona gave the eight-count and the fight resumed.
It was Hiruta’s third title defense but this time it was on American soil. She seemed nervous by the prospect of getting a favorable review from the more than 700 fans inside the casino tent.
For more than a year Hiruta has been training off and on with Manny Robles in the L.A. area. Now that she has a visa, she has spent considerable time this year learning the tricks of the trade. They proved explosively effective.
Though Mexico City’s Ramirez has considerable experience against world champions, she discovered that Hiruta was not easy to hit. Often, the Japanese champion would slip and counter with precision.
It was an impressive American debut, though the fight was stopped in the eighth round after a collision of heads. The scores were tallied and all three saw Hiruta the winner by scores of 80-71 twice and 79-72.
“I’m so happy. I could have done much more,” said Hiruta through interpreter Yuriko Miyata. “I wanted to do more things that Manny Robles taught me.”
Trinidad Wins Too
Omar Trinidad (18-0-1, 13 KOs) discovered that challenger Mike Plania (31-5, 18 KOs) has a very good chin and staying power. But over 10 rounds Trinidad proved to be too fast and too busy for the Filipino challenger.
Immediately it was evident that the East L.A. featherweight was too quick and too busy for Plania who preferred a counter-puncher attack that never worked.
“He was strong,” said Trinidad. “He took everything.”
After 10 redundant rounds all three judges scored for Trinidad 100-90 twice and 99-91. He retains the WBC Continental Americas title.
Other Bouts
Ali Akhmedov (23-1, 17 KOs) blasted out Malcolm Jones (17-5-1) in less than two rounds. A dozen punches by Akhmedov forced referee Thomas Taylor to stop the super middleweight fight.
Iyana “Roxy” Verduzco (3-0) bloodied Lindsey Ellis in the first round and continued the speedy assault in the next two rounds. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight in favor of Verduzco at 1:34 of the third round.
Gloria Munguilla (7-1) and Brook Sibrian (5-2) lit up the boxing ring with a nonstop clash for eight rounds in their light flyweight fight. Munguilla proved effective with a slip-and-counter attack. Sibrian adjusted and made the fight closer in the last four rounds but all three judges favored Munguilla.
More Winners
Joshua Anton, Tayden Beltran, Adan Palma, and Alexander Gueche all won their bouts.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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