A young Puerto Rican flyweight named Jonathan Gonzalez has not even turned pro yet but he must be feeling like a heavyweight tonight.
A standout amateur, teenager Gonzalez hooked up with steady PR Best promoter Peter Rivera and Rivera in turn hooked the 112-pounder up with Bob Arum and Top Rank.
“I just met the kid today,” Arum said by phone from Bayamon Thursday night. “He’s a very nice kid and he said to me, ‘Mr. Arum, I have two goals in my life. One, I want to become a world champion and, two, I want to see Manny Pacquiao fight in person.
“So I turned to (Top Rank VP) Carl Moretti and I said, ‘Do we have a spot open for a four-rounder on the May 7 Mosley-Pacquiao show?’
“Carl said we do and I told the young man he can turn pro on Manny’s undercard. The kid almost fainted,” Arum said.
Arum said Gonzalez’s fascination with Pacman is something he sees often in both Mexico and Puerto Rico.
“It’s a worldwide fascination now, one of the greatest Third World personal success stories ever told. In Mexico, they accept Manny like a Mexican now and down here it’s the same story.” Advertisement
Arum added that he’s hearing of prime ringside tickets for Mosley-Pacman being sold now for sky high prices of $15,000.
“This fight is a real sellout, a clean sellout, and I think it’s drawing the kind of excitement that we haven’t seen since De La Hoya fought Felix Trinidad.”
Trinidad, of course, was also once a young Boricua boxer with a big dream.
Arum is in Bayamon, close to San Juan, for undeefeated WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez’s title defense against plucky Mexican Orlando Salido (Showtime).
The big dream matchup fight fans yearn for is Lopez fighting flashy Cubano Julio Gamboa.
Arum keeps saying he needs to keep building the profile of both before he can “show them the money.”
