Junior bantamweight world champion Juan Francisco Estrada has not boxed in his hometown of Hermosillo, Mexico, since a nontitle fight in 2014, but that will change when he defends his belt against Dewayne Beamon on Aug. 24, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn announced Wednesday.
The fight, which will headline a card on DAZN and take place at the Centro de Usos Multiples, will also be the first bout of the co-promotional agreement Estrada recently signed with Matchroom Boxing.
Estrada (39-3, 26 KOs), 29, a former unified flyweight world titlist and ranked No. 8 on the ESPN pound-for-pound list, will be making the first defense of his 115-pound world title. Estrada won an action-packed unanimous decision against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai on April 26 in a contender for fight of the year at The Forum in Inglewood, California, to take the belt in their rematch.
“Thank God, (with) my talent, effort and discipline I’ve accomplished a lot of dreams that I had as a kid. Now my objective is to defend my title in Hermosillo and break an attendance record of 10,000 persons in CUM (Centro de Usos Multiples) that exists since 1991 in a fight of (Jorge) ‘Maromero’ Paez versus (Jorge) ‘Cocas’ Ramirez,” Estrada said.
Beamon (16-1-1, 11 KOs), 33, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, got a late start to his career, turning pro in 2015. He will be taking an enormous step up in competition against the heavily favored Estrada, who was respectful of his foe.
“We have a risky defense against the American Dewayne Beamon. He has fast hands, but that is good to provide a great fight to all the fans,” Estrada said.
Beamon is no stranger to fighting in Mexico. The title shot against Estrada will be his seventh bout in a row there.
“I’m very excited for getting this world title shot against one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world,” Beamon said. “It will be a memorable fight and I will surprise everyone on Aug. 24 and accomplish my dream of being a world champion. When they offered me the fight against Estrada I had no doubts in accepting it. That night everyone will know my name, the new world champion, Dewayne Beamon.”
The undercard will also include rising heavyweight Filip Hrgovic (8-0, 6 KOs), 27, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Croatia, in a 10-round fight. Hrgovic, who is coming off a first-round knockout of Greg Corbin on May 25 in his United States debut, will face Mario Heredia (16-6-1, 13 KOs), 26, of Mexico, who is coming off an eight-round split decision win against faded former heavyweight world titleholder Samuel Peter in April.
“I’m looking forward to fighting Mario Heredia in Mexico,” Hrgovic said. “Mexico is not a new place for me if you look at my amateur career. I have already fought twice in Mexico in the World Series of Boxing back in 2013 and 2014, and both fights I won, so I’m really looking forward to fighting there again.
“I had three weeks off after my last fight and it was good to rest and recharge my batteries. I have already started my camp in (my hometown of) Zagreb and will continue in Miami. I train hard in Zagreb with Yousef Hassan and Igor Cordas, while (head trainer) Pedro Diaz is waiting for me in Miami with my final tactics. I’m excited to fight in front of the Mexican fans. I know they are huge boxing fanatics and I’m sure they will appreciate my style, no doubt about that.”
The card will also include three other Matchroom Boxing prospects against opponents to be determined: junior welterweight Shakhram Giyasov (8-0, 6 KOs), a 2016 Olympic silver medalist from Uzbekistan; Robert Garcia-trained super middleweight Alexis Espino (3-0, 2 KOs), 19, of Las Vegas; and middleweight Diego Pacheco (4-0, 3 KOs), 18, of Los Angeles.