Future Hall of Famer Roman Gonzalez will return to the ring in July, “Chocolatito” to have his first fight in 19 long months. Gonzalez, 51-4(41) will fight at home in Nicaragua for the first time since back in 2015. The former five title champion will face TBA at the Roman Arguello Arena, capacity 15,000, and a sell-out is expected.
Gonzalez, who thrilled us with so many epic fights at flyweight and at super flyweight, was last seen boxing his rematch thriller with Juan Francisco Estrada. As was the case in their first fight, Gonazlez fell short on the cards, dropping a majority decision against Estrada. Now, after a long layoff, and at age 37 (come fight night), we will see how much Gonzalez has got left.
Apparently, there are five possible opponents being looked at for the July 12 fight. Gonzalez, who has been stopped just once, this by Wisaksil Wangek in their return fight, this in September of 2017, showed so much smooth boxing, so much great ring craft when he was at his absolute best. Who knows if Gonzalez can roll back the years and if he can win yet another world title.
“It will be a dream come true if I can crown myself a six-time champion in five different divisions here in Nicaragua,” Gonzalez said.
Certainly, Gonzalez looked to have plenty left when he was rumbling with Estrada in December of 2022. Of course, we have seen, and will continue to see, far too many great fighters fight on for too long and get beaten by a lesser opponent as a result. We don’t want to see this happen to Gonzalez. But both “Chocolatito” and his team feel the long rest has done him nothing but good, and that he is fresh and ready to go to war again.
Whoever it is that stands across Gonzalez on July 12, they will face a genuinely hostile crowd. Gonzalez is a hero in Nicaragua the way Alexis Arguello was. Let’s see who Gonzalez’s dance partner is when the official press conference to announce the fight takes place this week. Also, let’s hope there is good TV coverage of this fight, both in the US and the UK.