Los Angeles– The much-anticipated rematch between former WBC SuperFlyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Mexican contender Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada lived up to the hype possibly making it a Fight of the Year contender. The Thai superstar surprised fans by starting the fight in the orthodox stance and appearing less aggressive than in the first fight. Estrada caught confidence since the early rounds, pummeling Rungvisai with stupendous combinations that earned him the victory via unanimous decision to become the new WBC Superflyweight Champion.
Via DAZN
Both fighters came out of their corners in an aggressive fashion landing vicious shots while also cautiously timing their punches. Estrada got the best of the first round landing beautiful uppercuts on the Thai warrior. Rungvisai came out stronger in the second round as if to challenge Estrada’s gameplan. Throughout the early rounds, Rungvisai caught Estrada with punches which sent him a couple of steps back, but that didn’t stop the Mexican fighter from coming forward and looking for openings.
Though usually a southpaw, Sur Rungvisai switched to an orthodox stand which only seemed to benefit Estrada as he pressed the action and landed multiple-shot combinations to the face and body. In the sixth round. Rungvisai cornered Estrada to the ropes with a brutal right hand, but Estrada responded with an uppercut to escape the corner. Both fighters went toe-to-toe for the last seconds of the round to receive a standing cheer from fans in the arena as they walked back to their corners.
In the seventh round, Estrada taunted Rungvisai motioning him to come forward in a “Vamos, güey!” stance. The Mexican warrior viciously attacked Rungvisai’s body for the remainder of the round, but Rungvisai got the best of the last seconds landing a clean left hook right before the bell. Rungvisai switched to southpaw in the 9th round, clearly slowing down Estrada but not enough as he landed a hook right before the end of the round.
The championship rounds delivered more engaging action with Rungvisai landing the more massive punches that sent Estrada backward across the ring. Estrada took a knee in the 11th round from a low blow from Rungvisai and was given time to recuperate as the referee warned Rungvisai not to do it again. Unlike Amir Khan last week, Estrada continued the fight.
In the final round, Rungvisai switched back to orthodox as chants of “Si Se Puede!” merged with chants of “Srisaket!” After another competitive round, the fight went to the scorecards with judges ruling the match 116-112, 115-113 x2 for Francisco “El Gallo” Estrada.
The co-main event featured a super bantamweight unification bout between WBO champion Danny “Babyface Assassin” Roman and undefeated IBF champion TJ Doheny. The fight had the crowd at the edge of their seats for the entirety of the bout as both men went to war almost stealing the show from the main event. After a grueling close fight, Roman became unified bantamweight world champion handing Doheny his first defeat as a professional.
Early on, Roman set the pressure as Doheny fought going backwards ready to counter Roman’s shots. The Babyface Assasin caught Doheny with a left hook that briefly sent him to the canvas in the second round with the ropes helping him stay up. The Irish fighter targeted the head with clean right hands while Roman pummeled his body and continued to press the action as the aggressor.
There was phonebooth action in the fourth round with both fighters landing tremendous punches at short distance in the middle of the ring. Doheny landed a sharp right hand that popped Roman’s head back as he answered with a body punch.
Doheny had Roman visibly hurt in the seventh round unleashing massive headshots that buckled Roman’s legs. Roman went down in the round, but it was ruled a slip by the referee. Doheny’s validated his nickname “The Power,” throughout the round pressing the US fighter against the ropes as he refused to go down.
The action continued in the late round with Roman stunning Doheny with a left uppercut causing more blood to drip from his nose and mouth. Though Doheny kept countering, Roman continued to come forward and land more punches swelling Doheny’s right eye. In the 11th assault, Roman delivered a crisp left uppercut to the body that sent Doheny to the canvas for the second time in the fight. Roman continued to hurt Doheny for the remainder of the round.
Instead of taking it easy on the last round, Roman pursued the action to make leave no doubt in the judges’ mind. After 12 rounds of crowd-pleasing action, the judges had the scorecards 113-113 and 116-110×2 for Danny Roman.
Nothing But Respect ✊💯#RomanDoheny pic.twitter.com/Sr7lENCnUq — DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) April 27, 2019
The Pride of Las Vegas Jessie Vargas finally caught a break coming off two consecutive draws by scoring an impressive sixth-round knockout victory against Tijuana fight veteran Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto.
Taking the first rounds to test each other out wasn’t needed for former two-division world champions as they initiated the action early in the first round. Soto took a knee from a low blow punch, but the referee ruled it a slip. The second round brought on more action causing “oohs” and “aahs” to the crowd as an accidental headbutt caused a gush of blood to drip down Varga’s left eye for the remainder of the round. Vargas didn’t shy away from trading leather with “La Zorrita,” who responded Varga’s punches with bombs of his own. At his age, Soto entertained the fans with his counters and efficient timing against a much younger Vargas.
In the sixth round, Vargas sent Soto to the canvas as he fainted with the left and caught him with a straight right hand. It all went downhill for Soto with Vargas gaining momentum and continuing to pummel Soto against the ropes until the referee waved it off at minute 1:48. “Zorrita” received a standing ovation from the fans as he exited the arena.
After this fight, boxing fans might not care about the $20 pricetag per month or $100 a year for DAZN if they continue to showcase cards as stacked as the one tonight.
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