By Jim Dower: The World Boxing Association has moved former 4 division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez to No.2 in their rankings at 115, and he says he’s interested in facing WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai and WBO champion Naoya Inoue.
Gonzalez, 30, was knocked out in the 4th round in his last fight against WBC World super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs) in their rematch last month on September 9 on HBO Championship Boxing at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. A very shot looking Gonzalez was knocked down twice in round 4, and knocked completely out.
This was Gonzalez’s second straight loss to Rungvisai. Gonzalez looked mentally not the same fighter in that fight compared to in his last fights. Some boxing commentators like HBO’s Jim Lampley don’t believe that Gonzalez can come back from that defeat. Lampleys’ thoughts are echoed by many boxing fans, who think that the Nicaraguan Gonzalez is no longer in his prime and cannot come back from his consecutive losses to Rungvisai.
“I would like to face Yafai,” said Gonzalez to El Nuevo about the news of the World Boxing Association president ranking him No.2 with their organization at super flyweight. “It is a blessing to know that the WBA put me as number 2 in the ranking, I am grateful to Gilberto Mendoza for this opportunity. I have to sit down and talk to my work team and depending on that I will know what can come.”
Gonzalez has essentially been given a world title shot by the WBA with the ranking of him at No.2. Yafai is defending his WBA title against #1 ranked Sho Ishida (24-0, 13 KOs) this month on October 28 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Regardless of what happens in the Yafai vs. Ishida fight, “Chocolatito” will slide into the No.1 spot in the WBA’s rankings immediately after the Yafai-Ishida fight.
Gonzalez will be ranked at No.1 at super flyweight in the WBA’s rankings, and ready for a title shot against the Yafai vs. Ishida winner. Unlike a lot of contenders that must wait for a world title shot for prolonged period of time before they get a title shot, Gonzalez will probably be given the chance to fight for a world title almost immediately.
Yafai, 28, has already made it clear in the past that he wants to fight Gonzalez as soon as possible. With the way that Gonzalez has been looking vulnerable lately in his last 3 fights, Yafai is going to try and make the fight with him as quick as possible so he can get a big money fight against the Nicaraguan star before he loses to someone else. This might be the last chance Yafai has of fighting the former 4-divisioon world champion Gonzalez before he retires from boxing. You’ve got to figure that one more loss for Gonzalez will send him into permanent retirement.
If Ishida beats Yafai, he’ll take the fight with Gonzalez rather than fight a rematch with Yafai. There’s more at stake for Ishida to fight Gonzalez than to face Yafai a second time. Yafai is a young fighter, so he’s not going anywhere. Gonzalez, on the other hand, is 30, and starting to show signs of ring wear from his lengthy career in boxing. Gonzalez is better known than Yafai worldwide. A match between Ishida and Gonzalez would play out big in Tokyo, Japan. You can expect Ishida to make the fight with Gonzalez right away if he can get past Yafai. Gonzalez is still the most popular fighter right now in the super flyweight division despite losing back to back fights to the hard-hitting knockout artist Rungvisai.
Yafai is a big in the UK, but not so much in the U.S. Yafai competed for Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics, but was eliminated in his first match by Andry Laffita of Cuba in a 9-3 loss. Yafai is a much better fighter in the pros, as he’s looked great in his 5-year career. He captured the vacant WBA World super flyweight title in beating former 2 division world champion Luis Conception by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on December 2010, 2016.
Since winning the WBA title, Yafai successfully defended the belt once in beating Suguru Muranaka by a 12 round unanimous decision on May 13. Yafai will next be defending his WBA belt against the highly talented #1 WBA Ishida on October 28.
The WBA’s ranking of Gonzalez at No.2 with their organization doesn’t make a lot of sense given that he’s coming off of consecutive defeats to Rungvisai. It’s good for Gonzalez’s career that the WBA has decided to rank him at No.2, but it makes no sense when you look at his last 2 fights.
Some in the boxing world felt that Gonzalez would retire from the sport after his knockout loss to Rungvisai on September 9. Gonzalez was a shell of his former self even before the first punch was landed. There was a look of anguish in Gonzalez’s eyes as he made the ring walk. Gonzalez had never looked like that before. He did not look like he was motivated for the second fight with Rungvisai, which is quite understandable given how much punishment he absorbed in the first fight with the Thailand fighter on March 18th of this year. Gonzalez lost that fight by a 12-round majority decision.
WBA president, Gilberto Jesus Mendoza’s ranking of Gonzalez at No2 at 115, now puts him in a situation where he needs to decide whether to take the fight with the winner of the Yafai vs. Ishida fight or take on WBO champion Naoya Inoue. Chocolatito has the option of taking either of those fights. Inoue is the future star in the super flyweight division. However, it remains to be seen whether Inoue has the chin and the toughness to beat the big punching Rungvisai. Inoue is not in a rush to make that fight happen, which is quite understandable. Rungvisai is looking hard to beat right now. Even if Inoue were to defeat Rungvisai, it would likely be a grueling fight for the Japanese fighter. Inoue didn’t look so great beating David Carmona by a 12 round unanimous decision on May 8.
The WBA has given Gonzalez the red-carpet treatment in paving the way for him to take on the winner of the Yafai vs. Ishida fight. Now it’s up to Gonzalez to decide whether he wants to take that fight or not. It’s different kind of fight for Gonzalez to take on Yafai than facing the highly technical Inoue. Yafai looks huge after he rehydrates for his fights. The size of Yafai would be a real stumbling block to Gonzalez beating him.
Yafai would probably walk into the ring with a 10-pound weight advantage over Gonzalez at the very least, and he would use that weight advantage to punish him with big shots. Gonzalez started his career out at minimumweight at 105 lbs. in 2005, and he’s moved up in weight steadily ever since. Gonzalez’s best weight division right now would be for him to go back down to 112 to compete at flyweight, but there’s talk in boxing circles that it’s too hard for him to make weight for that division at this point in his career. So, for better or worse, Gonzalez is stuck at 115 fighting guys that are bigger than him when they rehydrate.
“I would be delighted to face English champion Khalid Yafai, but there is also a chance to fight with WBO champion Naoya Inoue,” said Gonzalez to El Nuevo. “It could be in February, make a fight.”
Gonzalez will have his work cut out for him no which of the two guys he faces between Yafai and Inoue. Those are both talented fighters. Of course, Gonzalez would gain a lot more credit for beating Inoue than he would for beating Yafai. The fallout of losing to Inoue would be far less than it would be for Gonzalez to get beaten by Yafai, who isn’t talked about as being the best fighter in the super flyweight division by boxing fans. Inoue is already seen as being the best fighter at 115 by fans. As such, Gonzalez wouldn’t lose as much standing in the sport if he were to be outclassed by Inoue than he would if he loses to Yafai.
Inoue isn’t scheduled to fight anyone right now. If Gonzalez wants the fight with the Japanese star, it’s one that can be made straightaway without needing to be ranked or to wait. Gonzalez’s promoter can make the fight with Inoue.
Regardless of who Gonzalez faces in his next fight, if he loses, it could be the end of his career. Gonzalez is in a must win situation for his next match. A loss would be Gonzalez’s 3rd consecutive defeat and a clear signal that the Nicaraguan native needs to hang up his gloves.