Welterweight Contender David Estrada stops undefeated Lora at Agua Caliente Casino on ESPN
April 10, 7:19 PM, Anaheim Boxing Examiner, Brent Alderson
On Saturday evening at the beautiful Agua Caliente Resort and Casino in Rancho Mirage, California, long time welterweight fringe contender David Estrada dominated the previously unbeaten Orlando Lora 26-1 (18) to earn an eighth round stoppage. Estrada, 147, was intent on pressing the action and came out swinging from the opening bell, diversifying his attack and alternately from the head to the body as he controlled the tempo of the fight and pushed Lora around the ring. The previously undefeated Lora, 145.5, just couldn't keep up with the determined Estrada who's punches seemed quicker and more powerful and his corner stopped the bout at the conclusion of the eighth round. The Mexican Welterweight was completely outclassed through the entire fight and was bleeding from numerous lacerations that tinted the color of his entire upper body. Even though Lora was undefeated, he hadn't faced the level of competition that Estrada had and primarily built his record against non-descript opponents in Mexico.
By comparison David Estrada has fought some of the best fighters in the 147 pound division, having traded leather with Andre Berto, Shane Mosley and Kermit Cintron, but the Chicago based fighter has come up short against the division's elite even though he has accounted for himself well in those bouts, going the distance with Shane Mosley and battling on even terms with Cintron in a war that was chosen as ESPN's 2006 fight of the year. On this night Estrada was intent on pressing the action from the opening bell and made a concerted effort to keep up the pace so as not to leave the outcome in the judges' hands since he had lost a controversial split decision to the undefeated Luis Abregu two fights before.
Afterwards Estrada commented, "I just imposed my will on him and, just did what I said I was going to do. I think the most important thing was the pressure I put on him" knew he hasn't fought nobody like me and wasn't gonna' be familiar with type of fight I was going to bring to him which was world class." The win re-establishes Estrada as one of the weltwerweights division's gate keepers and someone young up and coming welterweight contenders will have to beat if they want to break into the top ten.
In an exciting co-main event, late-substitute Leo Miranda 31-2 (29) scored a sixth round stoppage over a game Andre Wilson 11-4-1 (9). The super-bantamweights traded leather the entire way , but Miranda's harder punches kept pushing the determined Wilson back, but the Missouri native kept trying and used his southpaw jab and straight left to ward of Miranda's advances, but the Mexican just kept coming and stopped Wilson in the sixth with a powerful right hand. At first Wilson got up, but when he saw that Miranda was going to come in for the kill he took a knee and the referee stopped the fight. This was a big win for Miranda, 125, a native of Sonora, Mexico, since it was his first win after two consecutive losses which had been proceeded by thirty consecutive victories.
