Estrada close enough to home to be the hometown fighter in Trilogy bout with Ramon Gonzalez

By Norm Frauenheim –

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Juan Francisco Estrada will enter the ring for perhaps the greatest moment in his long career closer to home than he ever might have imagined.

Estrada, who faces Ramon Gonzalez in the third fight of a compelling SuperFly trilogy at Desert Diamond Arena Saturday (DAZN), is the son of a fisherman who lived and worked in the Mexican town of Puerto Penasco at the top of the Sea of Cortez.

The village is about 215 miles down the road from the urban sprawl that surrounds Phoenix. For years, it’s been Arizona’s beach, a place the Gringos call Rocky Point.

They go to eat the shrimp. They go to party on a unique shoreline where the desert meets the sea. It’s a beautiful place, full of stark contrasts. Deep blue water alongside sand dunes.

Estrada was born there 32 years ago. He grew up there. Learned how to fight there. He also learned about grief. He lost his parents there. First, his mom to leukemia. Then, his dad.

“Like so many, he fished for a living,’’ Estrada said. “He died fishing.’’

His dad, Estrada said, drowned while diving during a long day of working the rich waters off Puerto Penasco. His scuba tanks failed.

Estrada moved on, living with uncles, aunts and others in his family. Mostly, he fought, fought off the grief and fought for a chance to make a living by fighting instead of fishing. He moved to Las Mochis and then Hermosillo, where today he has own family, a wife and three kids

He fights for Mexico, he says

“For all of Mexico,’’ said Estrada, who faces a Nicaraguan in Gonzalez, who grew up in in a Managua neighborhood called Esperanza – Hope.

Mexicans are expected to fill the arena Saturday for Estrada in his bid to beat Gonzalez for a second time at 115 pounds. Gonzalez won the first bout at 108, junior-flyweight.

It figures to be an Estrada crowd, in part because the defending World Boxing Council champion is close enough to his birthplace to be the hometown fighter.

“I still have family there, yes,’’ he said. “But I don’t know how many can come.’’

This time, the traffic figures to be traveling north, up the road away from the water, shrimp, beaches and into the arena

“I was 15 when I went to Hermosillo,’’ Estrada said. “I would see family and siblings there and would say: ‘Well, I have no parents. I have to give it everything to become someone in life.’ ‘’

For one night, they’ll be there to see him, a 32-year man who has arrived at the moment when only everything will achieve the someone he envisions.