Coming off two massive wins against well-regarded undefeated fighters, Chris Smith and Nurhan Suleyman, young welterweight contender David Estrada is looking forward to the toughest test of his career against Shane Mosley on ESPN’s pay-per-view, April 23, 2005.

Estrada's promoter, Lou DiBiella, opened a conference call earlier this week stating, "I want to thank ESPN and Main Events for this great opportunity for David.

I think David's proven in the last few months that he's the real deal and a major contender in the welterweight division. We'd also like to thank Shane Mosley for being the kind of champion who moves down to 147 lbs and takes on a guy like David, who's going to be all that he can handle."

Showing a down-to-earth approach to his first pay-per-view fight, Estrada, (18-1, 9 KOs) offered some insight into his state of mind prior to the biggest fight of his life: "It feels like getting ready for any other fight, because all the other stuff will come after this fight, so now I'm just focused on this fight. I think Sugar Shane is a good fighter, and I think it's going to be a good fight, but basically it's like training for any other fight. So far
I'm pretty much on schedule to make weight."

 

Estrada's last performance was an eye opener for many fans, though he comes in against Mosley as a definite underdog. Estrada had this to say on the matter: "I really don't pay attention to who's going to take me seriously or not.  When I get ready for a fight I do what I got to do and I go into the ring and fight. I feel like I'm getting some respect now, but it really doesn't matter because when it comes down to it, I just got to train and fight.  What everybody thinks doesn't matter."

As for his game plan against Mosley, it boils down to this: "I put pressure on them all night until they break down, and then they stand there and try to fight me, that's what I want."

David Estrada's advisor, the colorful and legendary Angelo Dundee, was answered some questions about his young protégé.

Muhammad Ali's guardian angel seems more and more quotable with age, and here is what The Greatest’s former trainer had to say about the upcoming fight: "I'm happy that Shane Mosley wants to fight this kid. I think we're in a good position, we're one fight away from fighting for a world title, and we're ready. I was waiting for Tommy Hearns to come up but he can't make welterweight no more.  Shane Mosley isn't an easy guy to beat, he's a heck of a fighter. He's been around for quite a while. But you haven't seen this kid [Estrada] like I see him. He's not going to be the same guy you saw before, because he fights according to who he's fighting.

He'll be so ready for Shane Mosley, they could fight at 150 and it wouldn't make any difference, because this kid rises to the occasion. It's going to be a great fight, and he's going to lick this guy.

"Mosley has his own style, his own idiosyncrasies, he switches, he bounces once in a while, he flicks his jab. I've seen Shane fight since he was a preliminary kid, and I have a good idea of what he's going to be doing.  Now David has got to blend. He's got to do his thing and he knows this. And David knows this: if he fights the fight we got figured out, he's going to win and then fight for a title. That's what I'm here for.

Dundee continued, "Estrada's learning something new every time he fights. He listens to what's being told to him. He's an easy guy to work with, because he's been around. He's got a great amateur background, and he's been all over the country. I just think he's got more talent than he realizes he has, I'm making him aware of it. And he's easy to work with because he has  talent .