Chocolatito ends layoff with beatdown of Barrera
Roman Gonzalez is reportedly eyeing a year-end title shot in Japan
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez’s first homecoming bout since 2015 proved a triumphant one last night when he broke down Colombia’s Rober Barrera en route to a 10th-round stoppage.
Gonzalez (52-4, 42 KO) entered the ring on the heels of a 19-month layoff dating back to his majority decision loss to Juan Francisco Estrada in their rubber match. Barrera (27-6, 17 KO) took advantage of his rust to land some solid blows in the opening rounds, but once Gonzalez got into gear, there was no stopping him. The 37-year-old’s avalanche of offense turned the second half of the fight into an absolute beating, with Barrera hitting the deck in the eighth and ninth before the bloodthirsty ref finally saved him in the final round.
He was obviously facing a low-level opponent, but for a 37-year-old in a lower weight with almost 60 fights under his belt and an all-action style that should by all accounts have racked up alarming levels of attrition, Gonzalez looked pretty damn good. Those nonstop combinations of his are still a sight to behold, lacking the truly venomous snap of his prime but still beautifully executed.
Previous reports claimed Gonzalez was targeting a year-end title shot against the bantamweight division’s Japanese hegemony. Junto Nakatani is due to fight Vincent Astrolabio next week, while Takuma Inoue and Yoshiki Takei are reportedly gearing up to meet Seiya Tsutsumi and Daigo Higa, respectively. That leaves the skilled but light-punching Ryosuke Nishida, who’d make for a quality scrap with Gonzalez.
That said, Levi Luna claims Gonzalez is now targeting WBO super flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka, who faces “Titan” Rodriguez on that same Nakatani vs Astrolabio show. That would be a fight and a half, and if Tanaka doesn’t meet Fernando Martinez in a unification, I’m 100% here for it.
There are also rumblings of Gonzalez meeting fellow legend Nonito Donaire in the coming months, but nothing is official.