FIGHT WEEK
Juan Francisco Estrada and roman ‘chocolatito’ gonzalez will meet in a compelling title-unification rematch of their 2012 fight
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BRANDUN LEE (21-0, 19 KOs) VS.
SAMUEL TEAH (17-3-1, 7, KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8A1FSbDBio
- When: Wednesday, March 10
- Where: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
- TV/Stream: Showtime
- Division: Junior welterweight (140 pounds)
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Misael Lopez vs. Jordan White, junior lightweights; Steven Ortiz vs. Jeremy Hill, lightweights; Victor Padilla vs. Thomas Velasquez, lightweights
- Prediction: Lee KO 4
- Background: Lee, a rising 21-year-old knockout artist from Southern California, has said he wants 2021 to be his breakout year. He hopes to receive a shot at a world title within three fights. All that begins with a ShoBox bout against Samuel Teah, a 33-year-old Liberian who lives and trains in Philadelphia. Teah is 5-2 against second-tier opposition in his last seven fights. Lee has stopped his last 12 opponents, including eight in the first round. He’s coming off a third-round knockout of Dakota Linger in December. Lee had a successful amateur career, reportedly finishing with a record of 196-5.
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SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI (49-5-1, 42 KOs)
VS. KWANTHAI SITHMORSENG (50-7-1, 27 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSjJMC7-hDU
- When: Friday, March 12
- Where: Workpoint Studio, Bang Phun, Thailand
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Junior bantamweight (115 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: Sor Rungvisai, Honorable Mention
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Chainoi Worawut vs. Pungluang Sor Singyu, junior featherweights; Phongsaphon Panyakum vs. Karoon Jarupianlerd, junior bantamweights
- Prediction: Sor Rungvisai KO 10
- Background: Sor Rungvisai fights Sithmorseng in Thailand on the day before arch rivals Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman Gonzalez do battle in the U.S. The 34-year-old former two-time 115-pound champ is 3-1 against Estrada and Gonzalez, although he lost a unanimous decision to Estrada in the most-recent bout in the series. He hopes to face the winner of Saturday’s fight. Of course, he must beat countryman Sithmorseng first. Sithmorseng, 38, held a strawweight title a decade ago but has had mixed results in recent years, including two failed attempts to win a junior flyweight title. He’s only 3-4 in his last seven fights, which makes him a stay-busy opponent for Sor Rungvisai. Sor Rungvisai has won two fights since the loss to Estrada, a unanimous decision against formidable Amnat Ruenroeng in August and a second-round knockout of journeyman Jomar Fajardo in October.
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JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA (41-3, 28 KOs)
VS. ROMAN GONZALEZ (50-2, 41 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIYBqfDXPto
- When: Saturday, March 13
- Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas
- TV/Stream: DAZN (and pay-per-view for nonsubscribers)
- Division: Junior bantamweight (115 pounds)
- At stake: Estrada’s WBC and Gonzalez’s WBA titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: Estrada No. 10
- Odds: Estrada 1½-1 (BetMGM)
- Also on the card: Hiroto Kyoguchi vs. Axel Aragon Vega, junior flyweights (for Kyoguchi’s WBA title); Jessica McCaskill vs. Cecilia Braekhus, welterweights (for McCaskill’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO titles)
- Prediction: Estrada UD
- Background: It doesn’t get much better than this. Then-108-pound titleholder Gonzalez and Estrada fought back in 2012, when Gonzalez was blossoming into one of the best fighters in the world and Estrada was a relative unknown contender. ‘Chocolatito’ won a unanimous decision but a competitive Estrada gave notice that he was a force to be reckoned with. A lot has happened since. Gonzalez climbed to No. 1 on many pound-for-pound lists only to lose back-to-back fights to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017. The Nicaraguan rebounded to win four consecutive fights, including a KO of Khalid Yafai to win a 115-pound title in February of last year. Estrada went on to win titles in two divisions and make his own pound-for-pound claim. The Mexican is coming off an impressive 11th-round knockout of former titleholder Carlos Cuadras this past October. The winner of Estrada-Gonzalez will hold two of the four belts in the division and become the man to beat.
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DAVID BENAVIDEZ (23-0, 20 KOs)
VS. RONALD ELLIS (18-1-2, 12 KOs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rohyvIb6MVM
- When: Saturday, March 13
- Where: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Conn.
- TV/Stream: Showtime
- Division: Super middleweight (168 pounds)
- At stake: No titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: NA
- Also on the card: Kudratillo Abdukakhorov vs. Javier Flores, welterweights; Issac Cruz vs. Jose Ramero, lightweights; Jamontay Clark vs. Terrell Gausha, super middleweights
- Prediction: Benavidez KO 7
- Background: Benavidez is already a two-time 168-pound titleholder at 24, having most-recently lost his belt on the scale before stopping Roamer Alexis Angulo in August. The strapping, hard-punching Arizonan is a prime candidate to face one of the super middleweight titleholders – currently Canelo Alvarez, Caleb Plant and Billy Joe Saunders – but he must keep winning the meantime. Ellis is a capable boxer-puncher who is coming off a fourth-round stoppage of Matt Korobov that ended prematurely when Korobov injured his ankle in December. He outpointed Immanuwel Aleem a year before that. Benavidez has stopped J’Leon Love, Anthony Dirrell and Angulo after back-to-back decisions over Ronald Gavril in 2017 and 2018.
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Also fighting: Welterweights Lewis Crocker (12-0, 7 KOs) and Deniz Ilbay (22-2, 10 KOs) face off on March 12 in Bolton, England on ESPN+.