Saturday night was an action-packed night of boxing on HBO, both from the O2 Arena in London and from The Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. With Gennady Golovkin fighting in London, The “Big Drama Show” and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez fighting in Inglewood, the “Little Drama Show” once again did not disappointment.
Gonzalez defeated Carlos “Principe” Cuadras via unanimous decision, winning a world championship in his fourth weight class and claiming the WBC 115-pound title belt in what will likely be a Fight of the Year candidate.
This fight was an all-out slugfest between Gonzalez and Cuadras, but the Nicaraguan pound-for-pound star persevered against the bigger Cuadras on the biggest stage of his career.
There wasn’t a dull moment in this fight; both fighters shared powerful shots and rapid flurries. With that being said, Gonzalez’s exceptional skills were enough to earn the victory on all three scorecards, 117-111, 116-112, and 115-113.
Moving up in weight, some wondered and spectated that Chocolatito might lose some of his power and speed, but he proved otherwise with a spectacular performance.
Cuadras repeatedly caught Chocolatito with creative shots and was equally relentless with his combinations, but Gonzalez proved to be too much for the champion.
So… After yet another impressive performance, what is next for Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez?
“I’m ready to fight anyone at all, but I need to take some time off,” said Chocolatito after the fight. “But I will face anyone.”
There has been some talk about Chocolatito fighting the 23-year-old Japanese prodigy, Naoya Inouye (11-0, 9 KOs). He is an undefeated WBO Junior bantamweight champion.
Inouye’s nickname is “The Monster” because he is known for his devastating punching power.
This would be a great matchup. Inouye is the younger of the two fighters, with a slight height advantage and a three-and-a-half inch reach advantage over Gonzalez.
But Gonzalez has a lot more professional ring experience than Inouye; Gonzalez has fought in 217 rounds while Inouye has only fought in 73 rounds.
Because of the power and speed each boxer possesses, one would expect a very competitive fight, but Chocolatito’s experience would likely prove too much for Inouye.
But with that being said, currently Inouye is one of few that could possibly give Gonzalez a run for his money.
In all honesty right now, Chocolatito could take on any flyweight or Super flyweight and likely win in superb fashion. He is regarded by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world right now for a reason.
If he chooses to go back down and fight at flyweight, a fight against Juan Francisco Estrada would be a competitive and exciting one–featuring another Nicaraguan-Mexican war.
If Chocolatito chooses to stay at Super flyweight again, a fight against Inouye would be probably the most desired and best matchup.
A rematch could also be negotiated with Cuadras, with a guarantee that no boxing fan would protest to that idea.
As for now, Chocolatito has expressed his desire to take some time off. But regardless of the weight class he chooses to fight in, Roman Gonzalez’s future continues to look more and more bright.
He is widely recognized as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, he is undefeated, he is the first Nicaraguan to win titles in four divisions and not to mention he is quickly approaching Floyd Mayweather’s and Rocky Marciano’s unbeaten record of 49-0.
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