By Ian S Palmer
WBO Light Flyweight Champion Elwin Soto of Mexico defends the title for the fourth time this Saturday, Oct. 16th when he takes on southpaw Jonathan Gonzalez of Puerto Rico. The 12-round bout can be seen live from Fresno, California in most nations on DAZN. Soto won the title in June, 2019 when he stopped Angel Acosta in the 12th round. He last fought in May when he halted Katsunari Takayama in the ninth round. Gonzalez last fought in May as well when he stopped Armando Torres in the fourth round to defend his WBO NABO Light Flyweight Belt.
The 24-year-old Soto has power and a solid chin to accompany his record of 19-1 with 13 Kos. He’s boxed 102 rounds since turning pro in 2016 after a brief amateur career in the World Series of boxing and owns a current knockout ratio of 65 per cent. After being brought along quite slowly he took the title from Acosta in an upset and has defended it against Edward Heno, Carlos Buitrago by unanimous decisions and Takayama.
Soto stands 5-feet-3-inches tall with a 64-inch reach and has steadily improved with each outing. He’s not an exceptional boxer but does just about everything well inside of the ring. He was behind on all three scorecards to Acosta when he won the title but capitalized on his chance and now finds himself in his fifth world title fight. His lone defeat came in his third pro fight when he dropped a four-round unanimous decision to Daniel Andujo.
The 30-year-old Gonzalez has 151 rounds under his belt since making his pro debut in 2011 following a fine amateur career. He stands 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 62-inch reach which gives him an inch disadvantage in height along with a two-inch setback in reach. Gonzalez isn’t known as a power puncher as his current knockout ratio stands at 48.3 per cent.
Gonzalez enters the ring with a mark of is 24-3-1 with 14 Kos. Since turning pro he’s also won the interim WBO Youth Flyweight Title in 2012 and the NABA Light Flyweight Crown in 2015. He also captured the the WBC Latino Flyweight Belt in 2015 and has captured his WBO NABO Title a couple of times. His lone draw came against Michael Ruiz Jr in 2014 over eight rounds.
Gonzalez’s three defeats came at the hands of Kosei Tanaka by seventh-round stoppage in 2019, to Jobert Alvarez by sixth-round KO in 2016 and to Giovani Segura by fourth-round KO in 2013. The loss to Tanaka came in a shot at the WBO World Flyweight Crown. He’s been stopped in all of his losses so has a suspect chin. His biggest wins have been against Juan Alejo, Julian Yedras, Ricardo Rodriguez, Carlos Ruiz, Miguel Del Valle, Omar Soto and Danny Flores.
Prediction…
Gonzalez is a solid pro but his chin isn’t the greatest. Soto is still gaining experience and learning on the job but I think he should have what it takes to retain his title for the fourth time in a tough fight.
