Juan Francisco Estrada vs Carlos Cuadras 2

An early knockdown put the champion in danger, but sustained body punching eventually decided a demanding rematch between two former opponents. Juan Francisco Estrada recovered from being dropped in the third round to stop Carlos Cuadras in the eleventh at the TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City on 23 October 2020, retaining his WBC super flyweight championship. Promoted by Matchroom and Zanfer, the contest took place behind closed doors under coronavirus restrictions. Estrada entered with 40 wins and three defeats; Cuadras, a previous holder of the championship, brought a record of 39 wins, three defeats and one draw.

Their first meeting, in September 2017, had been decided by the narrowest possible unanimous verdict. Estrada won 114–113 on each card, with his tenth-round knockdown of Cuadras proving decisive. Since then, Estrada had taken the WBC championship from Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and defended it against Dewayne Beamon. Cuadras approached the return determined to regain the belt he had held between 2014 and 2016. His opening work reflected that purpose. He doubled his jab, followed by straight rights and put his combinations together quickly enough to prevent Estrada from settling into his usual measured rhythm. Estrada began finding the body in the second, but Cuadras continued to answer with effective jabs and right hands.

The first major interruption came late in the third. Cuadras connected with a right uppercut followed by a left hook, sending Estrada backwards towards the ropes and down for a count. When boxing resumed, Cuadras landed the same combination again and pressed the champion against the ropes. Estrada was forced to exchange while recovering, answering sufficiently to keep his challenger from finishing the contest. He returned in the fourth with a more aggressive approach, advancing behind punches rather than allowing Cuadras to dictate the distance. Rights to the head and hooks underneath began driving the challenger backwards, although Cuadras continued to counter.

By the fifth, Estrada’s attacks were becoming more effective. He repeatedly placed his left hook into the body before changing his target to the head. Cuadras stood his ground and replied, including with a left uppercut, but the champion’s heavier blows were beginning to tell. The sixth maintained the same demanding pace: Estrada advanced, Cuadras answered, and neither enjoyed much opportunity to rest. Cuadras recovered his jab during the early exchanges of the seventh, only to come under renewed pressure. A left hook and following right shook him shortly before the bell. His early command of distance was becoming harder to sustain as Estrada forced him into longer exchanges.

There was no straightforward collapse. Through the eighth and ninth, Cuadras continued to interrupt Estrada’s attacks with rapid combinations, even as his own punches lost some authority. Estrada’s head and body work was reducing the challenger’s ability to move away and start afresh. Nevertheless, Cuadras produced a substantial recovery in the tenth. He caught Estrada with a left hook, stepped around him and scored with double jabs and quick bursts. Both men carried visible damage by the interval. Cuadras was marked around his right eye and cheekbone, while Estrada had sustained a cut below his left eyebrow during the round.

Estrada settled the contest in the eleventh. A combination of hooks dropped Cuadras beside the ropes early in the round. The challenger regained his feet and attempted to fight back, but Estrada followed him with further combinations. A heavy right brought the second knockdown, pitching Cuadras forwards onto the canvas. He again rose and resumed exchanging, although his remaining resistance was brief. Another unanswered attack left him staggering backwards, and referee Lupe García intervened. The recorded finishing time was two minutes and 22 seconds. Estrada improved to 41 wins and three defeats, with 28 victories inside the distance; Cuadras fell to 39 wins, four defeats and one draw, suffering his first stoppage loss. On the same programme, Román González retained his WBA super flyweight championship against Israel González, leaving a unification rematch with Estrada as the principal prospect emerging from the evening.

For me, this rematch showed why Estrada was so difficult to beat: hurt him, and he could still change the terms of the fight. Their first meeting had needed a late knockdown to separate them on the cards. This time, Cuadras landed a clever uppercut and left hook in the third, knocking Estrada down and taking an early lead.

What impressed me was Estrada’s response. He stepped forward and worked underneath, particularly with the left hook to the body. Cuadras kept answering with quick combinations, but throwing plenty doesn’t cancel out the heavier punches you’re taking. Estrada made him work, then made that work increasingly expensive.

Cuadras deserves respect. His strong tenth round showed he still had skill and ambition, despite the punishment. But the body attack had taken too much out of him. Two knockdowns in the eleventh settled it, and the stoppage was right. For me, Estrada won through accurate punch selection and sustained pressure, with Cuadras making him earn every bit of it.