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Chocolatito’s Trainer Arnulfo Obando Dead at 54

Arnulfo Obando, the man behind the best boxer on the planet Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, died Monday, a week after suffering a stroke and undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm.

July 25, 2016 , Los Angeles, Ca. --- Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World and WBC Flyweight World Champion Roman "Chocolatito Gonzalez", (L) (45-0-0, 38 KOs) will move up one weight class and challenge undefeated WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Carlos "Principe" Cuadras, (R)(35-0-1, 27 KO’s) on Saturday, September 10 from the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. Following their epic 2016 "Fight of the Year" candidate this past April 15 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, Yoshihiro Kamegai, (26-3-2, 23KO’s) and Jesus "Renuente" Soto-Karass, (28-10-4, 18KO’s), will battle once again on Saturday September 10 from the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. The ten round super welterweight clash will serve as the chief support to the main event. Both fights will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. Tickets for this outstanding evening of professional boxing priced at $300, $200, $100, $50 and $25 are now on sale through Ticketmaster (Ticketmaster.com, 1-800-745-3000) and the Forum Box Office. Gonzalez vs. Cuadras is presented by K2 Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions. Kamegai vs. Soto-Karass 2 is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Teiken Promotions. SOCIAL MEDIA: For more information, visit www.K2Promos.com, www.GoldenBoyPromotions.com www.FabulousForum.com and www.HBO.com/boxing. Follow on Twitter for Roman Gonzalez @ChocolatitoBox, Carlos Cuadras @CuadrasOficial, @ Tom Loeffler/K2 Promotions @TomLoeffler1, Golden Boy Promotions @GoldenBoyBoxing, the Forum @theForum and HBO Boxing @HBOBoxing and become a fan on Facebook www.facebook.com/ChocolatitoOfficial, www.facebook/CarlosCuadras, www. facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/TheForum and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing. Use the hashtags #GonzalezCuadras and #KamegaiSotoKarass2 #KSK2 to join the conversation on social media. --- Photo Credit : Chris Farina - K2 Promotions

Arnulfo Obando, the man behind the best boxer on the planet Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, died Monday, a week after suffering a stroke and undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm.

The former professional boxer, undefeated at 3-0, was 54 years old.

Obando’s training accolades date back to 2003 when he led Eduardo Ray Marquez to a knockout victory for the WBO minimumweight championship.

Obando took over the reins of Gonzalez’s boxing training in 2010 from Gustavo Herrera. Under his new trainer, Chocolatito amassed three world titles and in as many weight classes, no less.

Gonzalez has been deeply affected by the tragedy. Twitter has traced the dark timeline from Gonzalez’s pleas for prayer last week to pictures Monday of the anguish shared by Gonzalez and Obando’s family at the hospital in Nicaragua.

The duo enjoyed another tremendous year in 2016, defending the WBC flyweight strap for the fourth time and jumping up to 115 pounds to unseat Carlos Cuadras for a super flyweight title. Chocolatito’s camp has been in talks for a rematch with Cuadras in 2017.

For now, the four-weight world champion’s future in the ring remains uncertain.

And after the passing of Obando, such an integral part of Gonzalez’s success, that much gloomier.

 

Photo by Chris Farina/K2

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