Juan Francis Estrada has chosen to not use his rematch clause for a second battle towards Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez. As an alternative, the previous two-division world champion Juan Estrada (44-4, 28 KOs) will transfer as much as 118 [bantamweight] in quest of new alternatives for his profession.
Salvador Rodriguez is reporting on X that the 34-year-old Estrada is transferring as much as bantamweight subsequent and received’t be taking the rematch to attempt to avenge his seventh-round knockout loss to Bam Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) from earlier this yr on June twenty ninth in Phoenix, Arizona.
It’s a smart transfer by Estrada as a result of he seemed overmatched towards Bam Rodriguez, besides the knockdown he scored. If Estrada stayed at 115 for a rematch, it might probably finish the identical means, with Bam knocking him out once more and hurting his marketability. Juan Estrada has had an extended 16-year profession, and the three fights towards Roman Gonzalez have taken lots out of him.
Estrada misplaced his WBC tremendous flyweight title in his defeat towards Bam, however it might have been pointless for him to train his rematch clause as a result of he doesn’t have the scale or the youth to win. You’ll be able to’t blame that loss for Estrada on his struggles to make the 115-lb weight. Age, inactivity, and ring put on had caught as much as him.
Going into that battle, Estrada had been out of the ring for almost two years and had fought poorly in his earlier fights towards Roman ‘Choclatito’ Gonzalez and Argi Cortes.
With Estrada selecting to not use the rematch clause, this frees Bam Rodriguez as much as concentrate on preventing one of many different champions at 115, akin to IBF/WBA Fernando Rodriguez or WBO champion Kosei Tanaka.
Juan Estrada might make good cash preventing WBC 118-lb champion Junto Nakatani or WBA champion Takuma Inoue. Nonetheless, these two might face one another subsequent in a unification. Naoya Inoue just lately mentioned that Nakatani must battle his brother, Takuma, earlier than he’ll entertain the concept of preventing him at 122.
Final Up to date on 09/12/2024
