Estrada-Chocolatito 2, more: Boxing TV schedule for Mar. 10-13
The long-awaited rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez headlines the week in boxing.
Wednesday, Mar. 10
SHO, 9:00 pm ET, ShoBox: Brandun Lee vs Samuel Teah. Nice little four-fight card from ShoBox which if recent tradition holds will probably be whittled down to three by the time we get there. Lee is one of my favorite “ShoBox Guys” to come down the pike in a while now, and I don’t in any way mean “ShoBox Guys” as an insult. This series has produced a lot of quality fighters, and I think Lee might be someone the power promoters whiffed on, he’s an exciting prospect to watch. Teah’s a good test for him at this stage. BLH will have live coverage.
Friday, Mar. 12
ESPN+, 1:00 pm ET, Lewis Crocker vs Deniz Ilbay, Gary Cully vs Viktor Kotochigov, Sahir Iqbal vs Liam Wells. Some solid mid-level matchmaking on this MTK card from Bolton, England, with regional WBO belts on the line in the top two fights. Crocker and Cully are both undefeated, taking on decent vets in Ilbay and Kotochigov. BLH may have live coverage.
DAZN, 3:00 pm ET, Estrada-Chocolatito 2 weigh-in. Scales, underpants, the usual. BLH will have live coverage.
DAZN, 9:30 pm ET, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Kwanthai Sithmorseng. Don’t know how much if any televised undercard this will have. Former 115-pound champ Rungvisai returns for what is really a tune-up on paper, and more him staying busy at the same time as Estrada and Chocolatito, hoping to fight the winner, which would be a trilogy bout either way. Kwanthai is a 38-year-old veteran with a fluffed-up W-L record who gets stopped every time he fights someone halfway decent in the last six years, but what a career of experiences — he’s been in the ring with Muhammad Rachman, Kazuto Ioka, Ryoichi Taguchi, among other good fighters since turning pro in 2005. He’s had title shots. He’s getting another crack to do something here, but he’s not been signed up to be a huge roadblock for Rungvisai, let’s put it that way. BLH will have live coverage.
Telemundo, 11:35 pm ET, Ali Akhmedov vs Scott Sigmon, Dennis Contreras vs Hairon Socarras, Jonathan Gonzalez vs Carlos Buitrago.
Saturday, Mar. 13
DAZN, 8:00 pm ET, Juan Francisco Estrada vs Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez 2, Jessica McCaskill vs Cecilia Braekhus 2, Hiroto Kyoguchi vs Axel Aragon Vega. Three world title fights from Dallas, headlined by a long-awaited rematch between Estrada and Chocolatito, who hold the WBC and WBA belts, respectively, at 115 pounds. This fight sells itself if you know the fighters, and it’s our No. 1 most-anticipated bout of the month. If you don’t know the fighters, just trust us and tune in. McCaskill-Braekhus 2 is another rematch worth getting done, as McCaskill ended Braekhus’ long title reign a bit controversially last August. And Kyoguchi comes to the States for his first fight under the Matchroom banner, defending his WBA 108-pound title against Vega. BLH will have live coverage.
SHO, 9:00 pm ET, David Benavidez vs Ronald Ellis, Isaac Cruz vs Matias Romero, Terrell Gausha vs Jamontay Clark. Benavidez is returning at 168, where he missed weight and was stripped of the WBC title last summer. Ellis is a decent fighter but a clear underdog here. Cruz is an exciting lightweight also in the IBF mix, might wind up the next mandatory for that belt if he keeps winning. Normally we’d have live coverage, but we’re short-handed and the Estrada-Chocolatito show is just much bigger, so we’re putting full focus there.