For anyone that is unaware of the unfolding news around the four-division champion (the first in boxing history to hold world titles in the four lightest weights of the sport, from straw through super fly), it has begun appearing likely we are never apt to see him in a ring again. Issues recuperating from a knee injury as well as frustrations and disillusionment stemming from his setbacks have led to rumors that he may just call it a day officially in 2019. He rebounded from his awful, gut-check 2017 (with consecutive losses to the Thai Tank, Wisaksil Wangek) by knocking out Moisés Fuentes Rubio last September. He was supposed to make a quick turnaround, signed to face Pedro Guevera in November, but ended up withdrawing due to his knees (for which he underwent surgery the following month), with his name since having been linked to mooted fights with the current WBA champion, Khalid Yafai - or possibly a pit-stop all-South American showdown with Chilean fringe contender Miguel Angel Nieto "Aguja" González (the current WBA Latin American super flyweight champ, set to face Andrew Moloney in a non-final WBA eliminator in March) for the right to face Yafai. If he is done, what do we make of his career? And in what division would it be fairest to rank him, in terms of comparisons with ATG peers for posterity?
Roman had a great career. And I'm glad that he got to enjoy P4P King status even if it was weirdly appointed—seemingly out of the blue, and was short-lived.
Always looked forward to watching this man do work in the ring. Exciting little fighters and an ATG for sure. His status of being called P4P #1 was unwarranted but was still one of the best fighters regardless. People still try to not compare Chocolatito to Finito but in reality he's surpassed him in terms of achievements because of his willingness to move up and face stiffer competition, and has only lost twice to the same guy who just happens to be a great fighter himself. Hope he calls it quits, he's got nothing else to prove at this point.
One thing that I think will be gradually lost to history is that Gonzalez won his first title, WBA 105 lbs. against an outstanding champion, Yutaka Niida. Before Ivan Calderon separated himself from the pack, and before Gonzalez himself widened that gap even further, Niida was considered by many to be the possible 2nd greatest straw weight ever, behind Finito Lopez. In that regard, Gonzalez beating someone of Niida's caliber to launch his career as a champion was a bit like Morales kicking things off by putting away Daniel Zaragoza. It's not an exact comparison, but its rare that a promising fighter has to cut down a strong champion for their first title in this day and age. Case in point, consider that Canelo beat Matthew Hatton for his first title, and GGG beat Milton Nunez for his. I'll be happy if Gonzalez retires. He put the two losses behind him with a good win, but he's clearly passed it and I don't think I can handle seeing his record further defiled. Consider his biggest wins: Niida, Estrada, Ronald Barrera, Brian Viloria, Edgar Sosa etc. It's too bad we did get to see a second fight with Estrada. And I would have liked to have seen a shoot out with Giovanni Segura, but that fight never lined up.
I always enjoyed watching Chocolotito fight. He was a great fighter. HOF worthy for sure. But, I disagree he was an all time great fighter. His wins over Estrada and Cuadras were razor thin. And, although both of those men are good fighters, neither of them will end up anywhere near the HOF. Brian Vilora was basically finished when Gonzalez beat him. I think Ricardo Lopez is clearly the superior boxer. And, Roman's willingness to brawl would cost him against the superior technician at either 105 or 108. Gonzalez is a little bigger than Finito, so he might prevail at a higher weight. If Gonzalez can truly rebound with some good wins (beating a Moises Fuentes who had been starched in one round in his previous fight does not count), I might be willing to escalate my overall rating for Gonzalez.
I will be extremely sad if that's true. Gonzalez is my favorite fighter and I'm probably the biggest fan of his on the site.
