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01/26/2005 Archived Entry: "David Estrada: Show Me the Money; I'll Fight Anybody at 147!"
David Estrada: Show Me the Money; I'll Fight Anybody at 147!
By Juan C. Ayllon
Estrada (left) rocks Smith enroute to stopping him
On Friday, January 21, exciting Chicago welterweight David Estrada (18-1-0, 9 KO’s) fought an inspired and fast-paced fight, stopping tough Chris Smith (19-0-1, 12 KO’s) in the 11th round for the number two spot in the IBF. In the process, not only did he knock Smith down in the seventh, but he impressed many with the manner in which he won the bout. As a result, Estrada is positioned to make a run at a title this next year in the welterweight division.
Trained by the revered Angelo Dundee who was made famous in his work with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and other Hall of Fame fighters, the former Chicago native has scorched a solid path towards the title working out of Miami, Florida.
His lone setback was a 10 round decision loss to Ishe Smith in July of 2003.
In addition to working with Dundee, Estrada has worked as sparring partner for the likes of Fernando Vargas, Sharmba Mitchell, Andrew “Six Heads” Lewis and Zab Judah. He also sparred with fellow Chicago fighter, David Diaz, a 140 pound contender, back when Estrada weighed 140.
With Kermit Cintron and Antonio Margarito fighting for the WBO Welterweight Title on April 23rd and Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley reentering the division, there is a dearth of excitement and talent heating up this division in which Estrada is quickly making his presence known.
Speaking from Miami, David Estrada granted the Cyber Boxing Zone an exclusive interview.
On fellow Chicago fighters, David Diaz and Rita Figueroa sending their greetings:
David Estrada: Tell ‘em I said, ‘hi,’ tell them I hope every thing is going well with them!
On an observation that David Estrada and David Diaz are similar stylistically in that they are prototypical Chicago Mexican fighters: they like to mix it up and aren’t afraid of anyone:
DE: Well, I’m half Mexican, half Guatamalan…[but] Yup. Well, we like to put pressure, we’ll fight anybody, we’re not scared of anybody; we’ll fight anybody anyplace.
On sparring with David Diaz:
DE: That was great, because he had all the experience with the Olympics, so sparring with him boosted my confidence way up!
On whether he’s a southpaw [left-handed] or conventional fighter, as well as his favorite punches:
DE: I’m conventional but I switch. [I like the] left uppercut/left hook—it’s like half uppercut, half hook; its coming at a different angle to the liver. I also like throwing right hooks!
On last opponent, Chris Smith’s power:
DE: Chris had power; he was strong. I don’t know if it was that he didn’t have much power or I had a hard head! But I didn’t get hit that much; I only got hit a couple times. But I could feel the power when I blocked his punches.
On when he knew he had Chris Smith beaten:
DE: Before the fight, cause I knew I was going to go in there and take him apart; I knew that he was going to stand in there and fight. He fights kind of like me in that he likes to go forward and go toe-to-toe. That’s my game. I love it when someone stands there and I don’t have to chase him all over the ring!
[I really knew I had him] in the first round, when I started landing all sorts of punches. Just that I was able to land so easy!
On his experience working with Angelo Dundee:
DE: Oh man, it’s just great. Everything. Him with all his experience and knowledge about the game and him being able to teach me what he knows is a good thing.
He taught my trainer how to train fighters, and he’s the guy who works with me. He’s always around, but about a month to go, he really starts coming in a lot and oversees everything.
On specific things Estrada has learned from Dundee:
DE: Just little tricks here and there, little movements, stuff that I wouldn’t think of. [He taught me] different ways of doing things. Yeah, like one example would be there’s two ways of throwing uppercuts. One way, the regular way [i.e., in an arc], you can block it easier. [The way he showed me], instead of turning it up, just shoot it up! It's hard to explain...
On what he would do differently if he fought Ishe Smith again:
DE: I wouldn’t be sick. That’s the only reason why I lost that fight! I was sick and I threw [virtually] no punches. He has no punching power; Chris Smith had way more punching power and you saw what I did to him! The only mistake I made was taking the fight when I wasn’t 100 percent.
On who he wants to fight next:
DE: Whoever pays me the most money! Whoever wants to fight me. To me it doesn’t matter. I can fight against any style and do good. Anybody in the 147-pound weight class, tall, short, fast strong, whatever kind of shape and size and style, I’m willing to fight anybody. There’s no style I don’t want to fight. I don’t care what record they have or none of that.
On who’s the toughest at 147:
DE: I’m trying to think. I don’t really know, to tell you the truth!
On Oscar De La Hoya:
DE: I think that would probably be the toughest because of his experience, yeah definitely Oscar!
On Shane Mosley:
DE: He’s next after Oscar.
On Kermit Cintron:
DE: Naw, he’s down the list.
On Antonio Margarito:
DE: He would be before Cintron; Cintron would be under him. Yeah. Margarito would beat him.
On the issue of making weight at 147, whether or not he would like to stay at welterweight and long term plans:
DE: I gotta make weight; I don’t make it easy, but I make it. Ever since I started boxing, I had to struggle to make weight. In between big fights, I fight at 154.
I want to move up; I want to be at least another year at 147; I want to see what I can do at 147 first, then go up to 154.
I just play it by ear, because I’m only 26 years old, so I’m not really in a rush. Not really. In the next year, I want to get a title shot; after that, I want to play it by ear. I’m not one to really make plans; I have a goal to become champ, but I don’t have plans as to when and where and who. I just play that by ear.
On what he would like to do after he retires from boxing:
DE: I would like to work with some kids, put a boxing program for kids, like inner city boxing program or something like that. [It would be] probably in Chicago, because that’s where my heart’s at. I miss it over there, but my training is better here than in Chicago. Cause in Chicago I’ve got all the best sparring partners and no trainer and over here I here I have a couple sparring partners and a great trainer. When I was in Chicago, I learned a lot, but that was from the guys I was sparring with. Over here, I’m learning from my trainer.
On whether or not he has any serious women in his life:
DE: The only serious woman in my life is my mom!
Parting comments:
DE: Just that I appreciate all the fans that watch me and support me and hopefully one day soon I will come back to Chicago and fight there instead of always fighting on the road!
Photo of David Estrada courtesy of Tom Casino at: http://www.sho.com/site/boxing/
