This Saturday is a good day for boxing. We’ve already detailed the WBSS Super Middleweight semifinal pitting Callum Smith against Nieky Holzken (!) – here, we turn our attention to HBO. Saturday night they present Superfly 2, a stacked triple-header from the 115 pound Super Flyweight division. Superfly 2 airs live on HBO this Saturday, February 24 with a fight time of 9:30 p.m. ET. Bloody Elbow will have live coverage. Here are the fights:
SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI (44-4-1; 40 KOs) vs. JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA (36-2; 25 KOs)
Srisaket is the #2 ranked WBC champion, while Estrada is ranked at #3, making this a key battle for the division. Only Naoya Inoue ranks above them – hopefully the winner here will see him across the ring next. Srisaket burst onto the international scene last year with his two fight series with Roman Gonzalez. In those fights, Srisaket proved to be the dominant force against the man many considered to be the sport’s #1 fighter. Srisaket scored a close decision win in the first fight, then cemented his status with a 4th round KO in the rematch. It’s hard to find a better pair of wins last year. Estrada meanwhile was seen by many as the next opponent for Gonzalez before Srisaket came along. Estrada is on a 10-0 run dating back to a 2012 loss to, yes, Gonzalez. He comes in off a great win over fellow top 5 fighter Carlos Cuadras. This is a great, close fight. What it will mainly tell us is what to make of Srisaket. Was he a bad match-up for Gonzalez and/or was Gonzalez faded? Or is he really as good as he looked in those fights. Estrada will test that in a terrific battle.
CARLOS CUADRAS (36-2-1; 27 KOs) vs. MCWILLIAMS ARROYO (16-3; 14 KOs)
Two years ago, Cuadras was an undefeated fighter with a strong resume that was only getting stronger. He held a win over Srisaket and seemed to be moving up. He’s now on a 1-2 streak, but that is a bit deceiving – the 2 losses were Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada. No shame in either of those. At the same time, Cuadras is ranked #4 in the division, and if he wants to maintain that ranking, he needs to get back in the win column here. Standing in his way is the unranked Arroyo, a solid Puerto Rican fighter who gave a good showing in his own 2016 loss to Gonzalez (in case you haven’t noticed by now, pretty much everyone in the division has a loss to Gonzalez). That fight was in April 2016 and he hasn’t fought since, which is a huge detriment here. I might consider him as a spoiler under better circumstances, but this is a brutal fight to come back to after 2 years away. Of note, Arroyo has fought primarily in Puerto Rico. There, he is a perfect 15-0. On the road, he’s just 1-3.
DONNIE NIETES (40-1-4; 22 KOs) vs. JUAN CARLOS REVECO (39-3; 19 KOs)
Opening the card is this interesting match-up that shifts the focus to the 112 pound Flyweight division. Nietes is a 15 year veteran of the sport and one of the top Filipino boxers of all time not named Manny Pacquiao. He’s moved up in weight over the years, capturing various world titles, and is undefeated since 2004. Currently, he holds the IBF Flyweight title, and is ranked #1 in the division by Ring Magazine. Challenging him here is Reveco, who is a 14 year veteran himself. Reveco is ranked at #3 in the division, though has not been quite as hot as Nietes lately; he went 1-2 in 2015 and has bounced back to go 3-0 since. Nietes is the definite favorite here, even though this is not a blowout.
Top to bottom it’s a stacked card that should deliver some terrific action. UFC is on Fox Saturday night so will end early – you’ll want to keep your night going by watching this one. Bloody Elbow will have live fight night coverage Saturday night.