Estrada to Defend WBA Title Against San Diego’s Salud

The Forum, better known for basketball and hockey, will present its ninth world championship boxing match of the year tonight when Juan Jose (Dinamita) Estrada of Tijuana defends his World Boxing Assn. junior featherweight title against Jesus Salud of San Diego.

The bout, scheduled for 12 rounds, twice has been postponed because of a cut lip Estrada suffered in training in October.

Estrada (36-7, 30 knockouts) is favored to make a fourth successful defense of the title he won on a split decision over Bernardo Pinango last year. Since then, he has stopped Takuya Muguruma and Jesus Poll and decisioned Luis Mendoza.

Salud (31-3, 16 knockouts), the seventh-ranked contender at 122 pounds, was born in the Philippines and began his career in Hawaii, where he won his first 18 fights. He is best known at the Forum for his 10th-round loss to Frankie Duarte in a bloody slugfest three years ago.

The undercard includes a 12-rounder between Edgar Castro and Manuel Medina for the vacant WBA intercontinental super-featherweight title. That bout begins at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the main event.