Juan Francisco Estrada Opens Up On His Incredible Journey To Legend Status

Juan Francisco Estrada And Roman ‘Chocolatitio’ Gonzalez

Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez meet in an epic trilogy fight on Saturday night (December 3) at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, live on DAZN – and the Super-Flyweight legends opened up on their remarkable journeys to the pinnacle of the sport.

The rivalry between Estrada and Chocolatito spans a decade with the pair first meeting in Los Angeles in November 2012 and then rematching in Dallas in March 2021 – with Chocolatito winning the first and Estrada levelling in Texas.

Ahead of their trilogy battle “Estrada Chocolatito 3”, Matchroom Boxing sat down with both fighters in camp, and while they both had plenty to say on the fight and their futures, they took time to reflect on their incredible paths from poverty to greatness.

Juan Francisco Estrada

“I’m from Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. I started out in boxing at nine years of age. Prior to that, when I was seven, my mother died. When I went into boxing I followed my path, training, having fights locally and then municipal, interstate contests. At 14 my father passed away and I carried on boxing, my aunt and uncle looked after me and my siblings.

“I thought, now ‘ve lost my parents I have my siblings and family still with me and I must achieve something. Sport was something my aunt and uncle always instilled in me, and my brother and I played every sport but I liked boxing.

My brother, who’s a year older, said, “Come on, let’s do some boxing training.” And two or three months after he’d joined, I said, “Let’s do it!” And I stayed there. After a while my brother stopped going. He wasn’t a fan of the diet and I stayed in boxing.

At 14 I went to a state main event in Hermosillo, I was spotted by the national boxing team trainers, (Jose) Alfredo Caballero was trainer there, too. And they said, “Come to Hermosillo and join the Sonora boxing team.

“I met her at secondary school, we’ve been together since we were 17 and thank God we’re still together today. And they are what motivates me.

They came to visit me a week ago because I’d not see them for a month and I was happy because my kids are growing up and all of them are my motivation and when I go into the ring and even in training, I’m doing it for them. They are the ones that always motivate me.

“I feel like all the sacrifice, the effort and hard training sessions because boxing isn’t easy. I think it’s one of the most difficult sports out there and I’m happy and grateful to my trainer Alfredo Caballero who has been with me since I was 15.

My wife and family have also supported me, and I think that allows me to keep moving forward. And it makes me very happy because I feel I’ve achieved a lot more than I expected to.”

Credit: Matchroom Boxing Press Release “Estrada Chocolatito 3”

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