Strange Career of Southpaw Colombian Boxer Walter Estrada
Editorial By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Featherweight and lightweight veteran Walter Estrada, Miami, Florida by way of Canalete, Colombia, sports a pro record of 46-33-1 with 30 knockouts. Estrada has been around the ring, around the block and then some.
On March 12, 1999, the career of then featherweight Walter Estrada began with a four-round points decision over Henry Mestre, also debuting, in Puerto Escondido, Colombia. Estrada opened his career at 20-0, including knocking out Armando Cordoba in Panama City, Panama, in November 2001, to win the World Boxing Council Fedebol Featherweight Latin regional championship. Estrada opened his career 26-2 overall to win a shot at World Boxing Organisation World Featherweight champion Scott Harrison in March 2004 at Braehead Arena, in Glasgow, Scotland, but got knocked out in the fifth round.
Estrada rebounded in December 2004 with a third-round stoppage of Jose Miranda to win the World Boxing Association Fedecaribe regional Latino Featherweight title at Arena Panama Al Brown, Colon City, Panama. Estrada went 8-2 in his career at that point, including a stoppage loss to future World Boxing Association World Super Featherweight champion Vincente Mosquera in December 2005, who lost his WBA world title to the late Edwin Valero. Estrada then went 1-7-1 in his next eight fights.
Estrada, a strange fighter, then took on five ranked opponents with a combined record of 121-19-4, and though expected to lose, went 3-1-1 between July 2010 and June 2011. The streak went as follows: 10-0 Logan McGuinness, Majority Draw 6; 21-3-3 Verquan Kimbrough, Win TKO 3; former WBA Super, IBF and WBO World Lightweight champion Nate Campbell, Win Split Decision 8; former world title challenger 22-3 Vincente Escobedo, Lost Decision 10; 20-2-1 Tyrese Hendrix, Win 8.
After getting knocked out in the second round by 15-0 future World Boxing Organisation World Welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, Estrada then went 7-1 with no contest, getting stopped in the second round of that streak in a PABA Regional Lightweight title bout by 12-0 future IBF and IBO World Lightweight champion Eduard Troyanovsky.
Between 2014 and 2021, Estrada then lost 17 bouts in a row to fighters with a combined 248 wins, including getting knocked out in a South American Super Featherweight title bout, and getting stopped in a World Boxing Organisation Latino Featherweight title bout. In 2020 and 2021, Estrada fought three times during the Coronavirus Pandemic between October 2020 and July 2021, getting knocked out three times in the second round. The last time Estrada went the distance was in October 2019, when he lost an eight round decision in Columbia to the then 12-0 Victor Julio.
Estrada, age 45, will return on February 17, 2022, in an eight rounder against 10-1 Encarnacion Diaz, age 41, a Nicaraguan fighting out of San Jose, Costa Rica. Only one fighter on the 10-1 record of Diaz has a winning record, so the matchup is neutral and fair. Estrada is no spring chicken. Estrada is no Canelo Alvarez, Jose Napoles, Carlos Monzon, Alexis Arguello or Antonio Cervantes for sure. During the Pandemic, paycheck journeymen boxers are getting their share of work from promoters with fighters who want to stay busy, without coming under the normal scrutiny of local boxing commission, besides the basic prefight physical checkup (if even that), COVID-19 vaccination requirements and travel quarantine upon arrival rules. In any case, Estrada, at this point in his “career” does not seem to mind the circumstances of any bout offer he accepts. Estrada at least got to fight for a world title once at the best point in his career, and beat a former world champion by hard fought decision later in his career, which many boxers never achieve.
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