By Jim Dower: Former 3 division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-1, 38 KOs) weigned in at 119.9 pounds for his World Boxing Council mandated 7-day weigh-in for his rematch against WBC super flyweight champion Srisakat Sor Rungvisai (42-4-1, 38 KOs) on September 9 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Rungvisai (42-4-1, 38 KO’s) weighed in at 119 lbs. The maximum allowable limit for the two fighters to weigh-in at was 121 lbs., and they both had no problems staying under that limit.
Rungvisai, 30, outslugged Gonzalez in beating him by 12 round majority decision in their previous fight on March 18. It was the first career defeat for Gonzalez, who was knocked down in round 1. Gonzalez never changed his fighting style in the fight.
Gonzalez started off slugging, and he didn’t have the punching power or the size to match Rungvisai. The only reason the fight was close was because Gonzalez kept attacking the Thailand fighter throughout, wearing him down with body shots in the later rounds.
Rungvisai adapted in the 11th and 12th rounds by getting on his bike and getting the better of Gonzalez with jabs. Gonzalez’s face was cut up from the frequent head-butts from Rungvisai. In round 6, Rungvisai lost a point for a head-butt, but that was nothing compared to the damage he did to Gonzalez’s face. If Gonzalez is going to have any chance of beating Rungvisai, the referee is going to need to control the frequent head-butting from the Thailand fighter. It’s no good if Gonzalez is dealing with eye injuries the entire fight from being rammed by Rungvisai’s head.
Gonzalez and Rungvisai will be fighting on HBO Boxing After Dark next Saturday night. The start time for the televised is at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT. It should be a good fight as long as it lasts.
This fight is going to be difficult for Gonzalez to win unless he uses his boxing skills to fight in Rungvisai with an in and out attacking style. That’s how Carlos Cuadras beat Rungvisai in 2014. Cuadras realized he didn’t have the size or the power to beat Rungvisai by trading bombs with hi. Besides, Rungvisai tends to lower his head when attacking, causing a lot of head-butts that injure his opponents but not him. He hits them with the crown of his head.
Former WBC super flyweight champion Carlos “Principe” Cuadras (36-1-1, 27 KOs) was on target with his 7-day weight check in coming in at 119.9 lbs. for his fight against former flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada (35-2-0, 25 KO’s). Cuadras wants to fight the winner of the Rungvisai vs. Gonzalez 2 fight.
Cuadras has already fought both of them in the past, beating Rungvisai by an 8th round technical decision win on May 31, 2014. The fight was halted in round 8 after Cuadras suffered a bad cut over his left eye from a head-butt. Rungvisai lost a point due to the clash of heads. Estrada weighed in at the WBC limit at 121 lbs.
WBO World super flyweight champion Naoya “Monster’ Inoue (13-0, 11 KOs) is the undercard in defending against Antonio “Carita” Nieves (17-1-2, 9 KOs). Inoue could fight a unification fight against WBC champion Rungvisai in the near future.