Juan Francisco Estrada vs Carlos Cuadras

Former world flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada secured the position of mandatory challenger for the WBC super-flyweight championship when he defeated Carlos Cuadras by unanimous decision over 12 rounds at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, on September 9, 2017. All three judges, Max DeLuca, Tim Cheatham and Edward Hernandez Sr, scored the contest 114–113 for Estrada. A knockdown supplied the margin in the tenth round. Jack Reiss refereed the all-Mexican contest, which opened the televised portion of the “SuperFly” programme before a sell-out crowd of 7,418. Estrada weighed 115 pounds and Cuadras 114.

Both men were former world champions seeking a further opportunity at 115 pounds. Estrada had previously held the WBA and WBO flyweight titles, losing them outside the ring when he moved up in weight to pursue larger contests. He entered with 35 victories and two defeats, including a close points loss to Roman Gonzalez in 2012. Cuadras stood at 36–1–1 and had held the WBC super-flyweight championship from 2014 until Gonzalez defeated him by decision the previous year. The winner was promised a challenge against the victor of the evening’s main event between Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Gonzalez.

Cuadras made the better beginning. He boxed behind a quick jab, moved laterally and changed between orthodox and southpaw positions to prevent Estrada settling. The opening round was closely fought until Cuadras landed a firm right shortly before the bell. He controlled the second more clearly with his jab, repeatedly placing it through Estrada’s guard and following with the occasional right cross. Estrada remained composed but was slow to release his punches and had difficulty bringing Cuadras within range.

The same pattern continued through the third and fourth. Cuadras’s speed allowed him to strike first and leave before Estrada could produce a full reply. He varied his attacks with left hooks to the body and long rights to the head, changing stance as Estrada advanced. Estrada landed several accurate punches late in the third, but not enough to offset Cuadras’s earlier work. In the fourth, the former WBC champion continued moving and jabbing, at times dropping his hands and performing small gestures of showmanship. Estrada was beginning to close the distance, although Cuadras remained the busier and more elusive boxer.

Estrada had greater success in the fifth but was still being beaten to the lead by Cuadras, whose hand speed and movement continued to trouble him. The contest shifted in the sixth. Estrada began timing the jab and answering with firmer counters, particularly the straight right and left hook. Cuadras’s movement became less smooth, and his punches lost some of their earlier precision. Estrada advanced behind a tighter guard, took away space and began making his superior physical strength count during the exchanges.

Cuadras began the seventh with useful work from the outside, but Estrada steadily moved closer. A pair of body punches followed by a right to the jaw shook Cuadras, and another right later in the round disturbed him again. Cuadras continued punching and remained competitive, but his early control had gone. In the eighth, he moved and threw more frequently, while Estrada landed the harder and more noticeable blows. A late attack from Estrada rocked Cuadras shortly before the bell and strengthened the impression that the former flyweight champion was taking command.

Cuadras recovered in the ninth and produced one of his best rounds of the second half. He returned to boxing on the back foot, used the jab accurately and switched stances while slipping or blocking many of Estrada’s replies. Estrada continued advancing but couldn't pin him down with the same success. The round slowed Estrada’s progress and left the contest finely balanced entering the last three sessions.

The decisive moment occurred in the tenth. Estrada first hurt Cuadras with a left and then dropped him with a long right hand to the head. Cuadras rose quickly and completed Reiss’s count without appearing seriously disorientated, but Estrada reached him with further right hands after the action resumed. Cuadras fought back before the bell, though the knockdown made it a 10–8 round and ultimately separated the two men on every official card.

Cuadras made a fast start to the 11th, but Estrada soon resumed his advance and landed several clean right crosses and left hooks. The challenger’s punches now carried the greater force, while Cuadras’s attacks came in shorter and less effective bursts. They fought hard through the final round. Cuadras attempted to recover the ground lost by the knockdown, but Estrada remained compact, answered his attacks and appeared to edge the closing exchanges. There were no cuts, serious fouls or further knockdowns.

The statistics showed how closely the contest was fought. Cuadras landed 260 of 886 punches, while Estrada connected with 221 of 773. Both registered a success rate of 29 per cent. Cuadras’s greater number reflected his busier jab and fast early work, but Estrada landed the heavier punches during the second half and produced the only knockdown. HBO’s unofficial scorer Harold Lederman had Cuadras ahead by 114–113, while the three official judges independently reached the opposite score.

Confusion followed the final bell when ring announcer Michael Buffer mistakenly declared Cuadras the winner. Cuadras and his corner began celebrating as the crowd responded with loud disapproval. After consulting the officials, Buffer returned to the microphone and corrected the announcement, confirming that Estrada had won on all three cards. Without the tenth-round knockdown, each official score would have been level. Estrada improved to 36–2 and became the mandatory challenger for Sor Rungvisai’s WBC title. Cuadras fell to 36–2–1 after a contest in which his early speed had established a lead, but Estrada’s patience, stronger late work and single decisive right hand had taken it away.

I had Estrada winning narrowly, and the tenth-round knockdown was the difference. Cuadras started brilliantly. His jab, quick feet and constant switching between stances kept Estrada reaching for the first five rounds. When Cuadras boxed with discipline, he was a nightmare to pin down.

But Estrada is one of those fighters who solves problems as the rounds pass. He didn’t panic or chase blindly. He tightened his guard, shortened the distance and began timing Cuadras with the right hand. Once he found the body, Cuadras’s movement lost its sharpness, and Estrada landed harder punches.

The knockdown was no accident. Estrada had spent several rounds creating that opening, drawing the jab and coming over it with the right. Cuadras recovered well and remained competitive, but he had surrendered too much of the second half.

All three judges scoring it 114–113 for Estrada was fair. The punch statistics favoured Cuadras, but totals don’t tell you who landed the meaningful shots. Michael Buffer initially announcing Cuadras as the winner only added unnecessary confusion. For me, Estrada deserved it because he adapted, finished stronger and produced the fight’s decisive moment.