Leroy Estrada: Boxing Career and Notable Fights
Leroy “El Sensacional” Estrada is a Panamanian professional boxer who challenged for the WBC minimumweight title in 2018. Before that opportunity, he earned his mandatory challenger position by defeating Saúl Juárez in a WBC title eliminator.
A title eliminator and a trip to Thailand
Estrada met Juárez in Panama City on May 27, 2017. He won a unanimous decision despite being knocked down, securing the right to face champion Wanheng Menayothin. In their May 2, 2018 title fight in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Menayothin stopped Estrada in the fifth round and recorded his 50th straight win.
That title shot was a significant milestone in Estrada’s career, but he did not win the WBC belt. His eliminator win and subsequent championship challenge marked the transition from Panamanian competition to a world-title opportunity in Thailand.
Further career results
Estrada began his professional career in September 2010 with a unanimous-decision victory over Davis Reyes. His early opponents included Julio Canastuj, whom he defeated twice, and Mercedes Concepción, against whom he recorded a majority-decision win before losing their return by knockout. He beat Gilberto Pedroza in November 2012 and Carlos Melo twice, in 2013 and 2015, as his career developed on Panamanian cards. The title fight in Thailand was a much harsher assignment. Menayothin scored five knockdowns: two in the third round, two in the fourth and another in the fifth. Estrada had entered after the Juárez eliminator victory, but could not reproduce that full-distance success against the champion. He continued boxing after the defeat. His subsequent record includes a stoppage loss to Azael Villar in Panama City in July 2019 and a stoppage win over Roger Saldaña in David in October 2022. Those results extend his chronology beyond the 2018 world-title challenge and show that the Thailand bout was a major setback within an ongoing career.
The Juárez victory improved Estrada’s record to sixteen wins and two defeats before the Thailand challenge.
Sources
Additional sources: https://boxerlist.com/boxer/leroy-estrada/405768; https://fightnews.com/wanheng-joins-mayweather-in-the-50-0-club
- WBA boxer profile: Leroy Estrada
- BoxingScene: Menayothin stops Estrada for win No. 50
- AS: Menayothin reaches 50-0 against Estrada
- BoxerList: Leroy Estrada results
