Roman Gonzalez interested in Kal Yafai fight

Boxingnews24.com

By Jim Dower: The World Boxing Association has moved former 4 division world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez to No.2 in their rankings at 115, and he says he’s interested in facing WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai and WBO champion Naoya Inoue.

Gonzalez, 30, was knocked out in the 4th round in his last fight against WBC World super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs) in their rematch last month on September 9 on HBO Championship Boxing at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. A very shot looking Gonzalez was knocked down twice in round 4, and knocked completely out.

This was Gonzalez’s second straight loss to Rungvisai. Gonzalez looked mentally not the same fighter in that fight compared to in his last fights. Some boxing commentators like HBO’s Jim Lampley don’t believe that Gonzalez can come back from that defeat. Lampleys’ thoughts are echoed by many boxing fans, who think that the Nicaraguan Gonzalez is no longer in his prime and cannot come back from his consecutive losses to Rungvisai.

“I would like to face Yafai,” said Gonzalez to El Nuevo about the news of the World Boxing Association president ranking him No.2 with their organization at super flyweight. “It is a blessing to know that the WBA put me as number 2 in the ranking, I am grateful to Gilberto Mendoza for this opportunity. I have to sit down and talk to my work team and depending on that I will know what can come.”

Gonzalez has essentially been given a world title shot by the WBA with the ranking of him at No.2. Yafai is defending his WBA title against #1 ranked Sho Ishida (24-0, 13 KOs) this month on October 28 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Regardless of what happens in the Yafai vs. Ishida fight, “Chocolatito” will slide into the No.1 spot in the WBA’s rankings immediately after the Yafai-Ishida fight.

Gonzalez will be ranked at No.1 at super flyweight in the WBA’s rankings, and ready for a title shot against the Yafai vs. Ishida winner. Unlike a lot of contenders that must wait for a world title shot for prolonged period of time before they get a title shot, Gonzalez will probably be given the chance to fight for a world title almost immediately.

Yafai, 28, has already made it clear in the past that he wants to fight Gonzalez as soon as possible. With the way that Gonzalez has been looking vulnerable lately in his last 3 fights, Yafai is going to try and make the fight with him as quick as possible so he can get a big money fight against the Nicaraguan star before he loses to someone else. This might be the last chance Yafai has of fighting the former 4-divisioon world champion Gonzalez before he retires from boxing. You’ve got to figure that one more loss for Gonzalez will send him into permanent retirement.

If Ishida beats Yafai, he’ll take the fight with Gonzalez rather than fight a rematch with Yafai. There’s more at stake for Ishida to fight Gonzalez than to face Yafai a second time. Yafai is a young fighter, so he’s not going anywhere. Gonzalez, on the other hand, is 30, and starting to show signs of ring wear from his lengthy career in boxing. Gonzalez is better known than Yafai worldwide. A match between Ishida and Gonzalez would play out big in Tokyo, Japan. You can expect Ishida to make the fight with Gonzalez right away if he can get past Yafai. Gonzalez is still the most popular fighter right now in the super flyweight division despite losing back to back fights to the hard-hitting knockout artist Rungvisai.

Yafai is a big in the UK, but not so much in the U.S. Yafai competed for Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics, but was eliminated in his first match by Andry Laffita of Cuba in a 9-3 loss. Yafai is a much better fighter in the pros, as he’s looked great in his 5-year career. He captured the vacant WBA World super flyweight title in beating former 2 division world champion Luis Conception by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision on December 2010, 2016.

Since winning the WBA title, Yafai successfully defended the belt once in beating Suguru Muranaka by a 12 round unanimous decision on May 13. Yafai will next be defending his WBA belt against the highly talented #1 WBA Ishida on October 28.

The WBA’s ranking of Gonzalez at No.2 with their organization doesn’t make a lot of sense given that he’s coming off of consecutive defeats to Rungvisai. It’s good for Gonzalez’s career that the WBA has decided to rank him at No.2, but it makes no sense when you look at his last 2 fights.

Some in the boxing world felt that Gonzalez would retire from the sport after his knockout loss to Rungvisai on September 9. Gonzalez was a shell of his former self even before the first punch was landed. There was a look of anguish in Gonzalez’s eyes as he made the ring walk. Gonzalez had never looked like that before. He did not look like he was motivated for the second fight with Rungvisai, which is quite understandable given how much punishment he absorbed in the first fight with the Thailand fighter on March 18th of this year. Gonzalez lost that fight by a 12-round majority decision.