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The WBA orders Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Joshua Franco

Juan Francisco Estrada. Photo by Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing
Fighters Network
10
Feb

The WBA has ordered titlist and The Ring Magazine junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada to make a mandatory defense of his title against Joshua Franco, the sanctioning body announced Wednesday afternoon.

Both Zanfer Promotions, which promotes Estrada, and Golden Boy Promotions were sent correspondence with yesterday’s date. Golden Boy promotes Franco.

Both sides have until March 11 (30 days) to finalize a deal. If a deal cannot be reached, a purse bid will be sent out. The WBA committee could also call for a purse bid “if any of the parties refuses to sign the contract.”

This is the latest move by the WBA in an attempt to reduce the number of its titleholders in each weight division. This was done after welterweight contender Mykal Fox lost a controversial unanimous decision to Gabriel Maestre on August 7. The WBA had been criticized for having four titleholders in several weight classes, including “super,” “regular,” “interim” and “gold.”



Estrada (42-3, 28 knockouts), who resides in Hermosillo, Mexico, won the WBA title on March 13, defeating Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez by split decision in an all-out war. The rubber match was scheduled to take place on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego but Estrada backed out of the fight a few weeks ago after testing positive for COVID-19.

Juan Francisco Estrada (right) fires away at Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in their March 2021 rematch. Photo by Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing.

Juan Francisco Estrada (right) fires away at Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in their March 2021 rematch. Photo by Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing.

WBC flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez, who is ranked No. 1 by The Ring at 112, agreed to step in and face Estrada.

Estrada has won major titles at 112 and 115 pounds. Besides the Gonzalez win, Estrada holds notable victories over Brian Viloria, Milan Melindo, Giovani Segura, Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, Carlos Cuadras (twice) and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

Franco (18-1-2, 8 KOs), who resides in San Antonio, Texas, holds the WBA secondary title, (Editor’s note. Regular titles are unrecognized by The Ring). In his most recent bout on August 14, Franco defeated Andrew Moloney, of Australia, by unanimous decision. Other than a no-decision in November 2020, Franco also has another win over Moloney and a split-decision win over former title challenger Oscar Negrete.

The 26-year-old is currently ranked No. 5 by The Ring at junior bantamweight.

Franco is the older brother of Jesse Rodriguez, who defeated Carlos Cuadras by unanimous decision this past Saturday, in Phoenix, to win the vacant WBC junior bantamweight title.

Both Franco and Rodriguez are trained by Robert Garcia.

 

 

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‘FIGHTING WORDS’ — CHOCOLATITO AND ESTRADA GOT ALMOST EVERYTHING THEY DESIRED

JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA EDGES ROMAN GONZALEZ IN INSTANT CLASSIC

ANDREW MOLONEY PRAISES JOSHUA FRANCO ON TRILOGY TRIUMPH, PLOTS COMEBACK

 

 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing.

 

 

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