By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated pound-for-pound star and four-division world champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez of Nicaragua will be defending his WBC Super Flyweight Championship this Saturday, March 18th when he takes on former champ Srisaket sor Rungvisai of Thailand, who’s also known as Wisasksil Wangek. The 12-round bout takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York and can be seen live in North America on HBO pay-per-view. Fans in the UK can catch the action on BoxNation. Gonzalez won the title last September with a unanimous decision over Carlos Cuadras while Rungvisai’s last outing was a fourth-round TKO over Super Bank Sitlekpet.
Gonzalez has now won titles at the minimumweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight divisions with his hard-fought win over Cuadras the last time out. The 29-year-old climbs through the ropes with a perfect record of 46-0 along with 39 Kos to his name. Gonzalez is well known for his speed, power and boxing skills and his fight against Cuadras was just the third time he’s gone the distance since November of 2012. Gonzalez is basically known as a knockout artist and had 10 straight Kos to his name until meeting McWilliams in April of 2016.
He’s now been the distance in his last two outings. Gonzalez still has plenty of power though with a current knockout ratio of 83 per cent. But he’s also a good technical boxer. His mobility allows him to control the ring and he likes to use his aggression to unleash quick, painful combinations on his opponents whenever he sees an opening. He may not be the best defensive boxer in the world, but has a solid chin to absorb shots when he does get tagged.
Gonzalez turned pro in 2005 and has 217 rounds of experience since then. He won the WBC flyweight title when he stopped Akira Yaegashi in the ninth round in September of 2014. He defended it two months later by stopping Rocky Fuentes in six and then beat Valentin Leon by third round TKO in February of 2015. After that he stopped Edgar Sosa in two rounds in May of 2015 and then Brian Viloria in October of2015. Gonzalez stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and has a reach of 64 inches.
The 30-year-old Rungvisai enters the contest with a mark of 44-4-1 with 38 Kos. His four losses have come against Cuadras by eighth-round technical decision in May of 2014, a 10-round unanimous decision to Kenji Oba in February of 2010, a third-round Ko to Yushin Yafuso in June of 2009 and a third-round TKO to Akira Yaegashi in March of 2009. Those two stoppages came in his first two pro fights and he drew his third outing when he went six rounds with Sean Patavikorngym in August of 2009.
Rungvisai has lost just once since 2009 and is currently enjoying a 14-fight winning streak with the last 13 of those outings coming by way of knockout. However, Rungvisai has been taking on questionable opposition lately as his last two opponents were making their pro debuts and his previous two foes had limited and losing records. In fact, most of his last 16 opponents have had losing records and 13 of his 46 fights have been against boxers making their pro debuts.
Rungvisai turned pro in 2009 and he has 166 rounds under his belt since then. His biggest wins have been against Yota Sato, and Jose Salgado. He’s a southpaw who also stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and his reach is slightly shorter than Gonzalez’s at 63.5 inches. Rungvisai also has pretty good power, albeit against Grade B opposition, as his current knockout ratio is identical to Gonzalez at 83 per cent.
Prediction…
The lack of quality opponents definitely won’t help Rungvisai in this contest and it’s hard to see him beating Gonzalez. Look for the champion to retain his belt by unanimous decision or stoppage.
