‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez Delights the Home Folks: TKOs Barrera in 10

Former pound-for-pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez retuned to the ring last night (Friday, July 12) after a 19-month absence and scored a 10^th-round TKO of Colombia’s Rober Barrera. The match was staged in the sports arena named for Alexis Arguello in the old town district of Managua. It was a homecoming for Chocolatito who was making his first start in his native Nicaragua since February of 2015 and making his debut as a bantamweight. He previously held titles at 105, 108, 112, and 115.

Barrera was 27-5 heading in, but his last three wins came against opponents who were a combined 12-55-4, suggesting he would be easy meat for the hometown hero. But the Colombian proved to be a lot tougher than expected. He wasn’t afraid to exchange with Gonzalez but was gradually worn down. He slumped to the canvas after taking a left to the rib cage in round eight and was felled by a combination in the next frame. Referee Ramon Gonzalez was remiss in not stopping the fight sooner. The official time was 0.51 of the 10^th and final round.

Chocolatito Gonzalez (pictured on the left next to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez after a sparring session at the Garcia Boxing Academy in Riverside, CA) turned 37 in June. That’s an advanced age for a prizefighter, in particular a prizefighter who competes in one of the smallest weight classes and Chocolatito began his boxing career in the very smallest class.

In October of 2015, he was elevated to #1 pound-pound-pound by The Ring magazine and also by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, displacing long-reigning king Floyd Mayweather. Chocolatito was then 43-0 with 37 KOs and competing in the flyweight (112-pound) class. Since then, Gonzalez is 9-4, losing twice to Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (L MD 12; L KO 4) and twice to Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada (L SD 12; L MD 12).

Scottish boxing historian Matt McGrain, writing about Chocolatito’s “coronation” at the top of the P-F-P list, had this to say: “[Gonzalez] is the antithesis of Floyd…a destroyer who does not seek to hit and not be hit, but rather to hit, hit, hit…he breaks people.”

There were shades of the 2015 version of Gonzalez tonight. He still throws punches in bunches, but he also gets hit more often than he would have earlier in his career. Now a veteran of 22 world title fights who has answered the bell as a pro for 305 rounds, he would be wise to call it a career and rest on his laurels.

But he won’t and his next fight will inevitably be a bantamweight title fight in Japan. In an unprecedented development, all four of the belt-holders at 118 are Japanese: Junto Nakatani (WBC), Takuma Inoue (WBA), Ryosuke Nishida (IBF), and Toshiki Takei (WBO). On top of that, Chocolatito’s promoter is Japanese boxing kingpin Akihiko Honda.

With his win tonight, Gonzalez, a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer, advanced his record to 52-4 (42 KOs).

Photo credit: Supreme Boxing

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