The world’s best flyweight got an opponent a few days ago, and now the second-best has one as well.
WBA “Super” and WBO regular flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada returns to the ring on September 26th, taking on perennial contender Hernan “Tyson” Marquez in Puerto Penasco, Mexico.
Despite being just 22 at the time, Estrada (32-2, 23 KO) turned heads in 2012 by giving Roman Gonzalez perhaps his stiffest test to date. He’s won six straight since then, including a decision over Brian Viloria and a savage beating of the brutal Giovani Segura. “El Gallito” is an absolute beast, one I’m eager to see against the likes of Naoya Inoue and the aforementioned Gonzalez in a rematch.
I’m rather less eager to see Marquez (39-5-1, 28 KO), who seems to be at the end of his run as a lighter-weight elite. The 26-year-old has suffered knockout losses to Brian Viloria, Giovani Segura, and McJoe Arroyo in the last three years, not to mention the fact that he went to a split draw with 9-5-2 Ricardo Roman last December. The Segura loss was particularly troubling, as Marquez left the ring on a stretcher after nearly twelve full rounds of war against “El Guerrero Azteca.”
And Segura has the kind of power that can take years off your life.
He’s still got the power and machismo, but Estrada’s probably going to hurt him bad. Here’s hoping we at least get the Gonzalez rematch out of this.
