IF THERE is anyone that knows pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez all so well, it is experienced former world title challenger Rocky Fuentes.
Fuentes fought Gonzalez last year and before that was the Nicaraguan champion’s sparring partner.
The 29-year-old Fuentes, a former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super bantamweight champion, believes that Filipino-Hawaiian Brian Viloria’s chances of beating current World Boxing Council flyweight titleholder Gonzalez on Oct. 17 at the Madison Square Garden in New York are very little.
“His (Viloria) chances are slim. But we can’t say that he has no chance because both of them have hands and Viloria also has power,” said Fuentes in Cebuano.
Nobody has come close to beating Gonzalez, who was recently elevated as the best boxer in the world following the departure of Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The 28-year-old Gonzalez has beaten some of the elite names of the lower weight divisions, the likes of Akira Yaegashi, Francisco Rodriguez, Juan Francisco Estrada, Ramon Garcia-Hirales, Katsunari Takayama and Yutaka Niida.
“He is a great guy. On top of the ring he is a complete fighter. I really admire him, he has no flaws and he is really on a different level than me. He was very technical and he really caught me,” praised Fuentes.
Fuentes worked as Gonzalez’s sparring partner for a fight against Yaegashi in Japan in September of last year. Gonzalez stopped Yaegashi in nine.
Two months after, Gonzalez defended his crown against Fuentes and demolished him in the sixth round.
Fuentes returns to action on Nov. 28 in an eight-rounder at the Hoops Dome after coming off a year out of the ring.
