By Ian S Palmer
Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez of Nicaragua will be facing WBC Flyweight Champion Julio Cesar Martinez of Mexico in a 12-round junior bantamweight tilt this Saturday, March 5th. The fight takes place in San Diego, California and can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Gonzalez last fought in in March, 2021 when he lost his WBA Super Flyweight Title to WBC champ Juan Francisco Estrada by a controversial split decision. Martinez managed to get up from the canvas in the first round against McWilliams Arroyo in November and also drop him in the first two rounds. However, the fight was called a no-contest after Arroyo suffered a cut from a head butt in the third round. Gonzalez was supposed to face Estrada again this weekend for a third time but he pulled out due to Covid-19. Martinez then offered to move up from 112 lbs to 115 lbs for the fight.
The 34-year-old Roman Gonzalez is a four-division champion who won his recent belt with a ninth-round stoppage over Khalid Yafai in February, 2020. He defended it by unanimous decision against Israel Gonzalez before losing it to Estrada and enters the fight with an impressive mark of 50-3 with 41 Kos. He suffered of back-to-back losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand by majority decision and fourth-round stoppage in 2017 for his only other two pro losses and then took a year off before stopping Moises Fuentes in the fifth round in 2018.
Gonzalez then took another 15-month layoff before stopping Diomel Diocos in the second round in December, 2019 before stopping Yafai. Gonzalez was deservedly known as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet before running into Rungvisai and he’s once again trying to reclaim his standing. The first fight with Rungvisai was controversial as Gonzalez was dropped in the opening round and Rungvisai was deducted a point for head butting in the sixth, but he managed to fend off a late surge by Gonzalez to take his crown.
Gonzalez is a four-division world champion as he won the WBC Junior Bantamweight title in September, 2016 before meeting Rungvisai. He has also been a titleholder at minimumweight, light-flyweight and flyweight. He still has plenty of power with a current knockout ratio of 77.4 per cent but Gonzalez’s 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’s not the best defensive boxer in the world and there’s a question mark about his chin.
He turned pro in 2005 and has 271 rounds of experience since then. Gonzalez stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and has a wingspan of 64 inches. He’s faced plenty of top-ranked opposition over the years with wins over McWilliams Arroyo, Akira Yaegashi, Rocky Fuentes, Valentin Leon, Edgar Sosa, Brian Viloria, Omar Salado, Omar Soto, Francisco Rosas, Katsunari Takayama, Yutaka Niida and Manuel Vargas.
The 27-year-old Martinez stopped former champion Cristofer Rosales in the ninth round in December, 2019 to win his flyweight belt and beat Jay Harris by unanimous decision in his first defence three months later before stopping Moises Calleros in the second round in October, 2020 and Joel Cordova in six rounds last June. Martinez originally believed he won the title in August, 2019 when he stopped WBC Champ Charlie Edwards in three rounds. However, the fight was eventually ruled a no-contest as Martinez landed on Edwards while he had a knee on the canvas.
Martinez, who’s also known as Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar, hails from Mexico City and carries a record of 18-1 with 14 Kos and also has two no-contests to his name. He stands 5-feet-2-inches tall with a 64-inch reach so gives up an inch in height to Gonzalez. Martinez also has quite a bit of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent and posted nine straight stoppages until Jay Harris took him the distance in 2020.
Martinez made his pro debut in 2015 and has boxed just 89 rounds since. His his lone defeat was a four-round split decision to Joaquin Cruz in his pro debut. Martinez then avenged the defeat with an eight-round majority decision the next year. He’s also beaten the likes of former world champion Edgar Sosa as well as Martin Tecuapetla, Andrew Selby, Victor Ruiz and Juan Lopez Martinez.
Prediction…
Gonzalez has plenty of speed and power still and likes to stay close to his opponents while throwing punches in bunches and cutting off the ring and going to the body. However, he’s not a young man anymore for the weight division at 34 and has been through several wars in his career. Martinez is moving up in weight and doesn’t have the greatest chin so this is going to be a very intriguing contest. It’s hard to tell when a boxer like Chocolatito has had one too many fights and if he has he’s not going to win this one. However, I think he was shafted on the scorecards against Estrada in his last outing and believe he’s still got enough in the tank to win a close contest over Martinez.
