Mexicos Juan Francisco Estrada wins WBC rematch against Roman Gonzalez

Mexican boxer Juan Francisco Estrada
won his rematch against Roman ‘chocolatito’ Gonzales on Saturday, redeeming
himself from a loss he suffered to Gonzalez he suffered about eight years back.
In the long-awaited rematch, the Mexican went at it for 12 rounds against Nicaraguan
Gonzalez, winning by a split-decision, AFP reported.

“I did enough to win. I knew it
was a close fight. I didn’t know if I was up or down.

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I needed to close out the fight in
the last two rounds. If he threw two or three punches then I had to throw two
or three punches as well. Chocolatito is a great fighter. He deserves a
trilogy”, AFP quoted Estrada as saying post-fight.

The Mexican retained his World Boxing
Council (WBC) belt, as well as acquired Gonzalez’ World Boxing Association
(WBA) belt, by way of the 117-111 and 115-11 3 result. While two of the judges
voted in favour of Estrada, another voted for Gonzalez with a 115-113 score.

Th decision seemingly did not go down
well with the fans in the arena, as loud boos erupted immediately after the decision,
especially the 117-111 score which had a substantial gap.

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“It was a better fight than the
first one. I felt strong and I felt I won. In last round I gave it all. It was
a great round,” Gonzales was quoted as saying.

The fight saw more than 2,000 fists
thrown.

There was a memorable recall prior to
the match to Boxing legend and Hall of Famer Marvin Hagler who died on Saturday
in his New Hampshire-home, with ring announcer Michael Buffer noting that it was
“the way Marvin Hagler would have wanted it”.