What are the boards general thoughts on this great little fighter? I see him get little to no air time around here, despite being one of the most exciting fighters of the 90's and coming out on top in his trilogy against Carbajal, being a participant in Fight of the Year. The first match he had against Carbajal is, quite literally, one of the greatest fights of all time... Something hard to say without bringing exaggeration or favoritism into it. But I really think it is. His upset loss against Rolando Pascua is a treat if you've never seen it. Gonzalez was seen as one of the baddest guys around before this upset loss, he was on quite the tear. He had Pascua in real trouble at times but couldn't deal with the counter punching of his opponent. This content is protected
Did a thread on the Pascua fight a while back: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/gif-pascua-upset-ko-over-humberto-gonzalez.571663/
Superb boxer who was occasionally let down by lapses in concentration, which cost him a couple of high-profile fights he should have won. Also suffered, I guess, from not competing in one of boxing's classic divisions, although I believe the last of his fights with Carbajal saw both men taking home purses in excess of $1 million, unthinkable for the 108 lb class a few years before. The first fight with Carbajal is the stuff of legend. Not watched it for a few years, think I'll have to revisit it soon. How do people see him getting on against Arbachakov and Johnson had he stepped up to Flyweight in the early - mid nineties?
Humberto was certainly one of the most important men involved in the lighter weight class fighters being paid more appropriately for their line of work, and effectively everything that's come as a result of that. I love the lower weight classes in boxing and it's been great watching them develop. It's a shame you hear his name so little in comparison to someone like, say, Vinny Pazienza.
If I remember, Gonzalez, after getting k.o.'ed in the first Carbajal fight, changed his style in the 2nd fight by boxing more, and it caught MC off-guard, and HG won a SD.
He boxed well in the rematch, but still swarmed Carbajal and landed plenty to the body. The much slower of foot Carbajal just couldn't track Gonzalez down the second time they fought.
How did he get that name "chiquita"? Without any context in which it might serve as an adjective, it literally means little woman in Spanish. In fact, even as an adjective the gender conveyed is female. The masculine form is "chiquito". Not that it reflects on him as a boxer but just wondering.
Gonzalez changed trainers during his career. At one point he left Nacho Berestein and it affected his style in that he boxed less, took more chances and, it seemed, trained less diligently. After Carbajal one, he went back to Nacho. He prepared for the rematch with three ten round fights. He also tended to kind of panic a bit when he got cut, Carbajal 2 being the exception. I was there that night and had wagered heavily on Gonzalez- he was a 3:1 underdog-and I almost paniced when he got cut but he fought through it. His sparring sessions with Melchor Cob Castro were epic.
good fighter, strong punches.. left himself open when he got tired. I saw his first loss at the forum I forget what year.
