By Jim Maltzman: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai sent a message of congratulations to Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez following his 9th round knockout win over WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai last Saturday night. The former WBC 115-lb champion Rungvisai says he wants to face Chocolatito (49-2, 41 KOs) soon in what would be a trilogy match.
Rungvisai, 33, is one of three names that Gonzalez’s promoter Eddie Hearn mentioned at the post-fight news conference on the next opponent for the talented Nicaraguan fighter. The other two names Hearn revealed were Juan Francisco Estrada and Carlos Cuadras. It would be interesting to see Chocolatito fight Cuadras first and then go after Estrada and finally Rungvisai if he wins both of those fights.
“I would like to congrats to ‘Chocolatito’ Roman Gonzalez,” Rungvisai said on social media. “Great performance in this fight. My respect for his skills. Hope we will fight again, and to Estrada, I hope we will meet soon.”
Rungvisai has twice beaten Chocolatito
It’s probably not a great idea for Gonzalez to face Rungvisai ever again. He’s a bad style match-up for him and he always will be. Although Rungvisai can be out-boxed by mobile fighters, Chocolatito doesn’t have that type of game to do that. Rungvisai will always be a problem for Gonzalez, and he would be better off avoiding him altogether.
If Gonzalez’s promoter Hearn is wise and wants to prolong his time at the top of the 115-lb division, he needs to keep him away from Rungvisai. Gonzalez really should be fighting at 112, since that’s a division where he fought well. He moved up in weight to the 115-pound division in 2016 and he’s had a lot of problems against the bigger and stronger fighters in that weight class.
Now that Gonzalez is keeping his weight down and training year-round, it’s likely that he can make 112 again without draining himself. In that case, a fight between Chocolatito and WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez would be a natural one to make. In some ways, that would be a more entertaining fight than a rematch between Gonzalez and Estrada.
Martinez (16-1, 12 KOs) is a slugger, and he would be coming at Chocolatito the entire fight. Estrada is more of a mover, and he’ll be trying to box and stay away from Chocolatito. That wouldn’t be as interesting as a fight between Chocolatito and Martinez.
Hearn didn’t mention Martinez’s name as one of the candidates for Gonzalez’s next fight. It’s possible that he wants to keep them separate so that he can build Martinez into a star. If Roman beats him, then Hearn would have a tougher time building Martinez up.
Estrada edged Rungvisai last April
Rungvisai lost to Estrada by a 12 round unanimous decision last year on April 26 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The large pro-Estrada crowd seemed to bother Rungvisai, as the fans were cheering loudly each time Estrada landed shots.
When Rungvisai would hit Estrada hard, the crowd was quiet. It was the same in their first fight in February 2018, which Rungvisai won by a 12 round majority decision at The Forum. The crowd was pro-Estrada.
Chocolatito has beaten both fighters in the past by hard-fought 12 round decisions. Hearn made it clear that WBC 115-lb champion Estrada (40-3, 27 KOs) is his #1 choice to try and match against Gonzalez next for a summer fight.
If he can’t get Estrada, who is out of action with a hand injury, then he’ll look to match Gonzalez against former WBC super flyweight champion Cuadras (39-3-, 27 KOs) next. Cuadras defeated Rungvisai by an 8 round technical decision in 2014.
Rungvisai fights next month against Ruenroeng
The powerful Thailand fighter Rungvisai (47-5-1, 41 KOs) twice beat Gonzalez in 2017, although the first fight was a questionable decision. In their second fight on September 9, 2017, Rungvisai knocked Roman down twice in knocking him out in the 4th round.
Rungvisai is fighting next month against 40-year-old former IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng (20-3, 6 KOs) in Bangkok. Ruenroeng is a tune-up opponent for Rungvisai, but a tough one. He’s also from Thailand is coming into the contest with a 2-fight winning streak over lower-level opposition. Rungvisai is rated #1 with the World Boxing Council at super flyweight.