Chocolatito Was 'Very Close' To Retiring After Knockout Loss
By Keith Idec
There was a trying time following his brutal knockout loss to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai that Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez wanted to retire.
Eventually, though, the former four-division champion regained the desire to resume his Hall-of-Fame career. The 31-year-old Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs) will fight for the first time in more than a year when he meets Mexico’s Moises Fuentes (25-5-1, 14 KOs) on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin undercard September 15 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Gonzalez discussed why he decided to return to the ring on a conference call Wednesday.
“I was very close,” Gonzalez said regarding retirement. “I really wanted to retire. I wanted to spend time with my children, which I hadn’t been able to do due to so much determination in my career and the training and whatnot. But at the same time, I spoke to my family and my family encouraged me, as well as encouraging myself, to be able to fight in the ring. I feel it wasn’t my time [to retire] and now I’m ready to fight once again September 15th, if God gives me the strength.”
Nicaragua’s Gonzalez hasn’t fought since last September 9. Thailand’s Sor Rungvisai dropped him twice that night and knocked him out in the fourth round of their immediate rematch at StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KOs) pulled off one of boxing’s biggest upsets of 2017 in their previous meeting. The strong southpaw dropped Gonzalez in the first round of that 12-round fight, won a majority decision and took the WBC world super flyweight title from Gonzalez in March 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Gonzalez – once widely recognized as the best boxer, pound-for-pound, in the sport – said Wednesday that not wanting to end his career following such a devastating defeat “had nothing to do with” his decision to box again.
“I wouldn’t have minded,” Gonzalez said. “I believe I’ve received a lot of blessings with world titles, being ranked for a time as No. 1 pound-for-pound. That, I believe, would be enough. I’m just happy to get the opportunity [to fight] again.”
The 10-round, 115-pound bout between Gonzalez and Fuentes will be one of four fights broadcast by HBO Pay-Per-View a week from Saturday night ($84.99 in HD; 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).