Rom?n Gonz?lez will make his HBO debut against tough Mexican veteran Edgar Sosa as the co-main on the GGG-Monroe card?
?Even if the fight isn?t exactly 50-50 on paper (or close to it), Gonzalez, like headliner Gennady Golovkin, is a fighter you tune in to see anyway, because he?s simply that good and that exciting to watch.??Scott Christ (BLH)
?My father was also a boxer, as well as my great grandfather and my uncle. They were all known by the name ?Chocolate.? So once Alexis Arguello was at the gym he would say, ?We have the old ?Chocolates,? and now we have ?Chocolatito,?? which is like small chocolates.??Rom?n Gonz?lez
Rom?n Alberto Gonz?lez Luna, nicknamed ?Chocolatito,? is an undefeated Nicaraguan professional boxer who is the current the WBC and Ring flyweight champion, as well as a former WBA light flyweight and WBA miniumweight champion. He will make his HBO debut against tough Mexican veteran Edgar Sosa (51-8) as the co-main event on the GGG-Monroe Jr. card, but Roman is quite capable of stealing the show.
For many American fans, it will be the first opportunity to see Gonz?lez, 27, in action. For aficionados and hard core fight fans, it is nothing short of a gift, as Gonz?lez (42-0, 36 KOs) just might be the one of the very best all-around boxers in the world today?and yes, and that includes the recent less-than-exciting version of ?TBE? himself.
Fighting at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in November 2012, Gonz?lez defended his junior flyweight belt for the final time against Mexico?s skilled Juan Francisco Estrada, a 22-year-old fighter with a record of 26-1. Gonz?lez had to go the distance, but won clearly on the scorecards. This was a thrilling shootout. Tellingly, Estrada later upset Brian Viloria to win the WBA and WBO flyweight titles, and now is considered the No. 2 flyweight in the world behind Gonzalez. A rematch has been discussed but remains questionable.
In September 2014, Gonz?lez battled and battered Akira Yaegashi in a fight that some said was ?Gatti vs. Ward with skills.? The Nicaraguan dominated the fight, and stopped his opponent in the ninth round to signal that the flyweight division had a new boss. This was also Gonz?lez ?s 40th win. Yaegashi beat Sosa in December 2013 which does not bode well for Edgar. However, Sosa is no walkover as he held a junior flyweight title from 2007 to 2009 and made 10 defenses.
Style
Chocolatito blends devastating power with uncommon technical skills that includes incredible foot movement. Moreover, as he moved up in weight, his power moved up with him. Here is a superb and must-see breakdown of Gonz?lez?s style skillfully put together by Lee Wylie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rq8iKZnRyc
Inoue
Meanwhile, another super exciting ?little fighter? has emerged onto the boxing landscape ?this one in Japan by the name of Naoya Inoue and uses the same incoming and suffocating pressure that Gonz?lez does. Aptly nicknamed the Monster, he recently blew away junior bantamweight titleholder Omar Narvaez (43-1 coming in). Inoue is a seven-time Japanese amateur national champion who turned pro in October 2012.
Now there are ?Fights of the Century? and there are ?Fights of the Century,? but a potential fight between the Monster and Chocolatito would be an absolutely guaranteed action-packed superlight for as long as it lasted.
As for Gonz?lez, he is one those so-called ?best-kept secret? types but on May 16, mainstream American boxing fans will get a long-awaited look.
Don?t miss him.
