You absolutely should tune in for Friday night’s big boxing card on DAZN, headlined by a Fight of the Year contender from 2018.
MMA fans (perhaps rightfully so) criticize many boxing cards for being incredibly top-heavy. For pay-per-views in particular, you see plenty of underwhelming undercards filled with non-competitive fights, then it’s compounded with some underwhelming but heavily promoted main events.
Friday night’s Matchroom Boxing on DAZN card is exactly what boxing fans should tune in for, and it’s an event that should capture the attention of MMA fans who are casual boxing observers. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-4-1, 41 KOs) defends his WBC super-flyweight title against Juan Francisco Estrada (38-3, 26 KOs) in the evening’s headliner, and there’s more to look forward to even on the prelims.
Here’s a quick preview and a last-minute case for you to check this show out, because I do not think it will disappoint.
1.) Sor Rungvisai vs. Estrada I was an awesome fight
Known as the slayer of Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, Thailand’s Sor Rungvisai further established himself as the world’s best 115 lbs boxer (and one of the best pound-for-pound) in February 2018 with an incredible battle with Mexico’s Estrada. Sor Rungvisai won a majority decision in a back-and-forth war that featured both excellent, high-level boxing and some moments of brawling. Round 12 in particular was savagery and was the WBC’s Round of the Year.
This is the best fighting the best, no bullshit negotiations or “marinating” that creates frustrating stalling. It certainly helps that their combined disclosed purses are $700,000 and not, say, $70 million, but the point remains. They are both outstanding boxers who fight at a pace as fast as you would expect at 115 lbs. This is a coin-flip bout where you can make a case for Sor Rungvisai winning again, or Estrada avenging his defeat.
2.) Danny Roman vs. T.J Doheny – A battle for super-bantamweight supremacy
First of all, T.J. Doheny is not T.J. Dillashaw in disguise. The Irishman (21-0, 15 KOs) won the IBF super-bantamweight strap in enemy territory last year, winning a close decision over Ryosuke Iwasa in Japan. He signed with Matchroom Boxing and won what was a tune-up title defense vs. Ryohei Takahashi in January, and now he’s already getting a unification bout with WBA champion Danny Roman (26-2, 10 KOs).
Roman is a Los Angeles kid, so this is a home fight for him down in Inglewood. He is coming off a TKO of Gavin McDonnell back in October, as he showcased more power than his knockout ratio suggests. Roman is a high-volume puncher who loves going to the body. Doheny is a significant underdog, so this isn’t a 50-50 bout on paper, but they both are seeking to “steal the show” and they are certainly capable of doing that. The winner is a unified champion and potentially in line for bigger unifications down the line.
3.) Jessie Vargas vs. Humberto Soto – There’s still life in the old dog
Former welterweight world champion Jessie Vargas (28-2-2, 10 KOs) is making his debut at 154 lbs against Humberto Soto (69-9-2-1 NC, 37 KOs). Technically speaking this is at a 150 lbs catchweight, but you get the point. Vargas should win, and I certainly think he hits harder than the paucity of KOs indicates, but Mexico’s Soto is still hanging around at 39 years old. Soto has been in the professional ranks since 1997! He was a featherweight back in the day, challenging and winning world titles at 130 lbs and 135 lbs. Soto has only been stopped twice in his career and engaged in an awesome scrap with Brandon Rios in February, setting this fight up.
Vargas has his eyes on challenging WBO champion Jaime Munguia, who’s looking increasingly vulnerable with each passing bout. With all due respect to him, Soto is an underdog story that you have to root for.
4.) The prospects – Diego Pacheco, Shakhram Giyasov, Anthony Sims Jr
The free live stream of the prelims is filled with prospects who are in different stages of their respective careers. Diego Pacheco (2-0, 1 KO) is only 18 years old and an eight-time national amateur champion who was the #1 ranked amateur middleweight in the USA and Mexico. He’s taking on Guillermo Maldonado (1-0, 0 KO), who’s 32 years old and hasn’t fought in four years. This is supposed to be a walkover.
Anthony Sims Jr (18-0, 17 KOs) is a hard-hitting super-middleweight who could be a contender in the near future. The 24-year-old is getting a step up in competition against veteran Vaughn Alexander (14-2, 9 KOs), and Matchroom has high hopes that he’ll breakthrough as a future title challenger.
The man you should be paying attention to is Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov. He won Olympic silver in 2016 and turned pro in March of 2018. Thus far he’s torn through his competition in a slew of six-rounders, but now the heavy-handed Giyasov is getting at en-rounder vs. veteran Emanuel Taylor (20-5, 14 KOs), who has admittedly not fought since a KO loss to Lucas Matthysse in May 2017. That said, Taylor has been in there with a lot of quality competition, including Adrien Broner, Chris Algieri, and Victor Cayo. He’s still just 29 years old and Matthysse is the only guy to stop him. Giyasov is one of many elite amateur prospects out of Eastern Europe and Central Asia that is skipping the process of spending several years fighting low-level opposition, and instead looking to make a splash at a pace we’re more used to see in in MMA than in boxing.
The coverage of Sor Rungvisai vs. Estrada 2 starts at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT on DAZN.