HBO's upcoming "Superfly 2" card will also feature the next chapter in the legendary Mexico vs. Puerto Rico boxing rivalry.
It has been announced that the "Superfly 2" card, scheduled to take place at The Forum in California on February 24, will feature a battle between former world champions Carlos Cuadras and McWilliams Arroyo. Promoter Tom Loeffler said the fight is a great bout in the 112-pound division and that he had to diligently lobby HBO to get Cuadras on this card.
“It’s a great matchup any time you match a world-class Mexican fighter against a world-class Puerto Rican. Cuadras has been in two very close [HBO] fights — if he didn’t have the knockdown against Estrada [in the 10th round], it would’ve been a draw — and I lobbied [HBO executive vice president] Peter Nelson hard to get him back on this show,” Loeffler said.
The February card is a follow-up to the "Superfly" card in September, where Srisaket Sor Rungvisai knocked out Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez in their WBC super flyweight rematch. Sor Rungvisai will headline the February card, defending his WBC title against Juan Francisco Estrada.
Estrada beat Cuadras in the first 112-pound heavy card HBO produced last fall. Estrada narrowly beat Cuadras via unanimous decision (114-113, 114-113, 114-113) to earn the opportunity to challenge for the WBC title.
One more fight is left to fill out the HBO tripleheader, but it will be a world title fight. The two options being looked at to fill the card are WBO champion Naoya Inoue and WBA champion Kal Yafai. Inoue vs. Yafai was on the table, but monetary issues caused the unification fight to falter.
