Three fighters, two with the exact same name and the other one letter different at the end — Rodolfo Gonzalez X2 and Rodolfo Gonzales — made their names in the lower weights. One of them made a bigger name in another way. Figured I’d drop a post about ‘em. Lightweight Rodolfo “El Gato” Gonzalez — let’s call him Gato 1 — held the WBA lightweight championship from 1972-74, beating Chango Carmona for the crown and losing it to Guts Ishimatsu. I think his reign overlaps with the early part of Roberto Duran’s, but they never fought. This Gonzalez went 81-8-1 (66). He was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and fought much of his career in and around Los Angeles. Lightweight Rodolfo “El Gato” Gonzalez — let’s dub him Gato 2 — came along on the heels of his predecessor and came close to picking up where he left off. His best years were in the 1980s but he fought into the mid-1990s and had a comeback loss in 2004. He beat Andy Ganigan in an epic slugfest by majority decision, with Ganigan hitting the floor three times and Gato once, and also knocked out Vilomar Fernandez in two … no mean feat. Alas, he lost to Claude Noel over 15 rounds when he challenged for the WBA lightweight championship and fell short in his other title try when Roger Mayweather stopped him in the 12th and final round in a WBC 140-pound title tilt. Gato 2 went 42-11-2 (29) and was from Mexico City. He, likewise, fought in and around LA. Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales was a featherweight out of Denver in the 1940s and ‘50s. He lost a decision to Willie Pep and another to Lulu Perez, never fighting for a world title. He beat Jackie Graves and some other pretty good guys. His wiki page says he was ranked third by The Ring at one point but he doesn’t appear in any of the year-end rankings unless I missed it. He retired in 1955 and became a local, state and later national figure in Chicano rights and in politics, where he was a force for many years in rallying votes and organizing various gatherings. He was also a noted poet. He went 61-11-1. Thanks for attending my Ted “Kid Lewis” Talk.
There is no end to how far Gonzalez (the lightweight champ) could have gone with proper management. He didn't sign with Jackie McCoy until the end of his career and that's when things started happening for him. He was a real talent and a Duran unification - which was on the table - would have been something.
If Corky could beef up to lightweight in a fantasy fight scenario, we’d have a nice González/s round robin. We could add supporting one-offs where the loser has to change his name: Jimmy Ellis the middleweight-rising-to-heavyweight-titleholder of the 1960s vs. Jimmy Ellis the former football player (iirc) who fought George Foreman. Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown vs Charlie “White Lightning” Brown, two 1980s lightweights who coincided but somehow never met.
I remember being so impressed with Gonzalez ( first guy you mentioned) against Carmona. Such a good left hand. Very patient too. Who knew Ishimatsu was so good? Given what I saw against Carmona I wasn't expecting him to lose to Ishimatsu like that.
He explained that the first fight being delayed helps him to gain extra stamina,and thus he actually appeared in that fight much better than his previous fights.
He really wasn’t though. He was very fortunate to catch a severely weight weakened Gonzalez on the night. To put it in perspective, when Gonzalez got the title shot at Carmona, he was the #2 ranked jr. welterweight in the world and 135 was a struggle. He experienced tremendous difficulty making 135 for the Puddu fight and for Suzuki, which should have been a walk in the park, became hell to make the weight. The normally strong as an ox fighter was as weak as a baby in that fight. One only has to compare the stamina levels between the Carmona fight (pushing Carmina all over the ring and raring to go for the 13th) and the Suzuki fight (Jackie McCoy, his trainer, said he was finished after 3 rounds).
