By Dan Ambrose: WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs) believes that former 4 division world champion Roman “Chocolatito (46-2, 38 KOs) will be able to make a comeback and still be successful with his boxing career.
Gonzalez has lost back to back fights to Rungvisai, and a lot of fans feel that the Nicaraguan fighter is finished at 30. Even HBO commentator Jim Lampley believes “Chocolatito” Is finished as a fighter and won’t be able to come back from his latest loss.
Gonzalez is considering his options for his next fight. He’s deciding on whether challenge WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai or WBO champion Naoya Inoue. Gonzalez has the options of facing either of those guys. That’s how popular Gonzalez still is. The champions are willing to give Chocolatito a world title shot right away despite him despite his back to back defeats to Rungvisai.
“I still think Chocolatito is number one pound for pound. I think he should come back and fight. I think he’s still got it. I would like to meet him again and I will win again!” said Rungvisai to wbcboxing.com.
For Gonzalez to face Rungvisai for a third fight, he’ll need a very good performance against Yafai or Inoue. It’s senseless for Gonzalez to get back into the ring with Rungvisai, because he doesn’t possess the punching power to beat him with his current fighting style. Gonzalez needs to completely revamp his fighting style for him to have a chance of beating the Thailand fighter.
It was thought that Gonzalez would make the changes to his fighting style before the second fight, as he was never going to defeat Rungvisai by standing and slugging with him for 12 rounds. Unfortunately for Gonzalez, he fought with the same game plan as he did in the first fight, and he was quickly obliterated by Rungvisai in just 4 rounds.
Gonzalez was on the deck twice in round 4 of that fight. Gonzalez needs to fight Rungvisai the way that Carlos Cuadras did if he wants to beat him. Cuadras recognized before the fight with Rungvisai on May 31, 2014 that he was never going to beat him by slugging it out. So instead of doing that, Cuadras used an in and out style of fighting that kept Rungvisai from having a stationary target. It worked really well for Cuadas to use that approach for the Rungvisai fight.
The fight ended in the 8th round after Cuadras suffered a cut over his left eye from a clash of head. Cuadas won the fight by an 8th round technical decision. Rungvisai would like a rematch with Cuadras at some point. But for Rungvisai’s next fight, he’ll likely be facing Juan Francisco Estrada, who is now his World Boxing Council 115 lb. mandatory challenger after his 12 round unanimous decision win over Caudras in the WBC title eliminator on September 9 on the SuperFly card at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.