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Estrada vs. Cortes Fight Results: Gallo Pulls UD In Mexico
In what was a main event that was under-promoted, it turned out to be one of the better fight cards of the year. Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada (43-3) continued to add to his legacy by defeating Argi Cortes (23-3-2) by way of a unanimous decision (115-112, 115-112 & 114-113) in front of a lively crowd from the Centro de Usos Multiples in Hermosillo, Mexico.
During the first round, things started off a little slow as both men were throwing left jabs to get a sense of the distance. Cortes warmed up quickly and, in the middle of the round, was landing some crisp right uppercuts. That woke up Estrada, who was then landing some left hooks and putting together short combinations. Things started to heat up in the second, and Estrada pushed the action as he changed the right hand's levels when throwing it and would mix in the left hook. Cortes was doing a good job at countering but was getting hit more than he was landing.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
A war broke out in the third round, resulting in a crowd roar. Estrada immediately closed the distance as if he knew Cortes could not hurt him. Although Estrada was pouring it on, Cortes was standing his ground and was returning fire. Then Gallo slowed a bit, which is when Cortes started to counter with the right uppercut and hook. Estrada finished the round with a hard left hook.
Starting off the fourth round was slow as both men seemed to be catching their breath from the previous round. Then something happened where Cortes landed an overhand right which caused Estrada to have a delayed reaction. Cortes followed it up with two consecutive overhand rights that landed, and it seemed like Estrada was buzzed. Cortes jumped on him, but Estrada finished the round like the warrior he is. Round five was another case where the round started slow, but then all of a sudden, while Estrada was on the ropes, it was another toe-toe battle with Cortes countering cleanly and Estrada trying to keep up with the young bull.
In the sixth, Cortes started to use his feet and circle around Estrada while landing a solid left jab and overhand right. Estrada's face started to bleed a bit, and he kept touching his nose almost as if it was potentially broken. Towards the end of that round, Estrada began to come on, but Cortes, with a power left jab, kept Estrada from doing anything else. Estrada came out looking to find an opening in round seven, and he did as he landed a hard left hook to the body. That started a chain reaction of punches as Cortes clearly felt the power of the blow. Then later in the round, Estrada landed the left hook to the body again, sending Cortes down for the first and only knockdown of the fight. Estrada tried to finish him but ran out of time.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
Then in the eighth round, we started to see Estrada doing what he does best, landing hard one-punch shots and keeping the pressure on Cortes. It looked as though Cortes was just trying to survive in there. The ninth round was a little slow as the open scoring in Mexico was used in this fight, and during the round, it was announced that Estrada was up on two of the three cards. Many felt this may have affected how Estrada performed in the round as there wasn't a sense of urgency.
Cortes had a better tenth during the championship rounds as he was moving and landing those overhand rights. Cortes' success would bleed into the last two rounds as Estrada followed him but wasn't throwing as much. Cortes was dictating the action and landing some big right hands, which would temporarily stop Estrada in his tracks. They both had moments in the final round, and towards the end, they went blow for blow while throwing non-stop punches at each other. Estrada pulled out the victory, but it was much tougher than he expected.
What’s Next for Juan Francisco Estrada?
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom.
Shortly after the fight, Estrada was being interviewed, and the graphic came up announcing the third fight between him and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez will be taking place on December 3rd. It will be on DAZN, but no venue information was provided during the interview. This is a much anticipated third fight between the two, and wherever they decide to host it, it will be one hot ticket for the purists.
