ESTRADA vs ORUCUTA
Kieran Mulvaney sees Estrada get the job done against Orucuta, but does not send out the statement of intent he was hoping for
Mexicans go to war in the main event of a super-flyweight extravaganza
WITH Srisaket Sor Rungvisai choosing to take an interim bout at home in Thailand, and Roman Gonzalez opening the payper-view portion of this coming Saturday’s Gennady Golovkin-canelo Alvarez card in Las Vegas, the stage was set for Hermosillo, Mexico’s Juan Francisco
Estrada to seize the super-flyweight spotlight in the main event of 360 Promotions’ Superfly 3 event at the Forum.
Whether the ex-unified world flyweight champion quite did that is debatable; he certainly didn’t greatly advance his case for a rematch with either Srisaket or Gonzalez, although he likely didn’t harm it, either. He did, however, wind up an ultimately comfortable unanimous decision winner against compatriot Felipe
Orucuta, but allowed himself to be hit more, and found himself labouring more, than he probably would have expected against an opponent who did not appear to be in his class.
Estrada’s power punches landed consistently throughout, at a 34 per cent clip over the course of 12 rounds, according to Compubox. They repeatedly detonated with a force that suggested they should have had a greater impact on Orucuta than they did – and in the final round, they almost finally broke the will of the man from Nicolas Romero.
Orucuta’s shots, in contrast, were slow and looping, and his style was less than aesthetically pleasing. But Estrada seemed disengaged from proceedings while Orucuta was determined, and as a result, the underdog remained in the fight, and in the seventh and eighth rounds began landing with greater frequency and effectiveness, forcing Estrada back to the ropes and threatening to punish him for his apparent insouciance.
Estrada regained the initiative in the championship rounds, however, especially in an impressive closing three minutes, in which he landed 44 of 115 total punches; and in the event, the scores were comfortable across the board. Judge Alejandro Rochin saw it as 118-110, while Eddie Hernandez Snr and Zachary Young submitted tallies of 117-111. Referee was Jerry Cantu.
“It was a good fight, no question,” said Estrada afterwards. “Any time you have two Mexicans in the same ring it’s going to be a good fight. Orucuta is a good fighter, but at the end I got the win.”
In an all-filipino clash for the vacant WBO 115lb belt, veteran Donnie Nietes, unbeaten since 2004, took four rounds to figure out the younger Aston Palicte – like Nietes, from Negros Occidental – who, at 5ft 8ins, is freakishly large for a super-flyweight. But from round five onwards, Nietes appeared to have resolved the problems posed by his foe, staying out of range to encourage his tall opponent to reach for him, and then moving with lightning quickness that belied his 36 years of age to land lead right hands and left hooks with impressive regularity.
Palicte kept coming and kept throwing, but it appeared to most ringside observers at the end of 12 rounds that Nietes had done more than enough to secure the victory. Judge Danny Sandoval saw it that way, declaring Nietes the winner by 118110, but Robert Hoyle adjudged Palicte to be the 116-112 winner, while Max Deluca tallied 114-114, for a split decision draw. Jack Reiss officiated.
Former three-weight world titlist Nietes was unhappy with the decision. “Of course, I won the fight,” he said. “I dealt with his reach, I hurt him, and I controlled the fight.”
After a brief retirement, Tokyo, Japan’s Kazuto Ioka returned to the ring, making his super-flyweight and US debut in an impressive unanimous points win over the always-good-value Mcwilliams Arroyo of Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
Showing no signs of ring rust, despite not having fought since April 2017, Ioka tore into Arroyo from the off, raking him with fast combinations to body and head, and displaying eye-catching movement, handspeed and intensity. Arroyo began to pull himself into the contest in the third, until a beautiful straight right behind a sneaky jab dropped him at the very end of the round. Still Arroyo sought to fight his way into contention, but the intensity and variety of Ioka’s attacks were too much for him to overhaul. Esther Lopez and Pat Russell marked 97-92 after 10 rounds, while Carla Caiz rendered a 99-90 verdict, all in favour of the previous three-division world champ. Thomas Taylor refereed.
THE VERDICT Estrada wins clearly without greatly elevating his standing in a talent-packed division.