Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada, who held unified flyweight world titles for three and a half years, is leaving the division behind.
The WBA announced last week that Estrada vacated its 112-pound title and he has also vacated his WBO version of the belt, according to WBO general secretary Jose Izquierdo II.
“Estrada formally vacated his WBO title on Sept. 13, citing that he could no longer make weight,” Izquierdo told ESPN on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Estrada (33-2, 24 KOs) has not fought since last September, mainly because of a severe hand injury.
After losing a highly competitive decision in a slugfest against Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez in a 2012 junior flyweight title fight, Estrada moved up to flyweight and won a split decision against Brian Viloria to claim two flyweight belts in March 2013.
Estrada made five title defenses of the unified title. He beat opponents such as former world titleholders Giovani Segura and Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, as well as top contender Milan Melindo.
Now Estrada will move up to the 115-pound junior bantamweight division, where a rematch with Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs) is possible. On Sept. 10 Gonzalez, the pound-for-pound king and flyweight champion, moved up to the weight class and outpointed Carlos Cuadras to win a world title in his fourth weight division.
A rematch between Gonzalez and Estrada would be one of the biggest fights that could be made in the boxing’s smaller weight divisions.
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