Notebook: 'Chocolatito' eyes ring return, seeks title opportunity
Joshua-Whyte II talks fail; Navarrete-Valdez update; Crews-Dezurn-Marshall streaming lineup; Boxing Social appearance; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Legendary former four-division world champion, onetime pound-for-pound king and surefire Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is not ready to retire just yet.
“Roman is looking to make a comeback and a pull off a couple fights before thinking of retirement just yet,” Carlos Blandon, Gonzalez’s longtime attorney and adviser, told Fight Freaks Unite. “He sees his (junior bantamweight) division is very interesting and would like a shot at a title once again. We still don’t have a date but everything indicates he will most likely fight this year. His is eager to get back in the ring.”
Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs), 36, of Nicaragua, who has won world titles at junior bantamweight, flyweight, junior flyweight and strawweight, last boxed on Dec. 3 and lost a majority decision to Juan Francisco Estrada for the vacant WBC 115-pound title in their highly anticipated rubber match in Glendale, Arizona. One judge scored the action-packed fight 114-114 but the other two had it for 116-112 and 115-113 for Estrada.
Immediately after the fight, which headlined a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN, Gonzalez said he would consider retirement but also said he would be interested in a fourth fight with Estrada “as long as they pay well, of course.” Estrada, who also has not fought since, said at the time he was also open to a fourth fight if Gonzalez wanted it.
Two fights before the trilogy fight, Gonzalez lost a heavily disputed split decision to Estrada in their long-awaited rematch, which was a WBC/WBA unification fight in March 2021. Many thought Gonzalez won the 2021 fight of the year contender.
They first met in 2012 and Gonzalez won a clear unanimous decision in a tremendous fight to retain the WBA junior flyweight title.
The current titleholders at junior bantamweight are Mexico’s Estrada, the WBC champion and the No. 1 fighter in the division; Japanese power puncher Junto Nakatani (WBO); Argentina’s Fernando Martinez, who retained the IBF title by 11th-round knockout of Jade Bornea on Saturday night on Showtime; and Japan’s Kazuto Ioka, who outpointed Joshua Franco on Saturday to claim the vacant WBA belt after Franco was stripped for missing weight ahead of their rematch.
Joshua-Whyte II talks fizzle
Talks for a heavyweight rematch between British rivals Anthony Joshua, a former two-time unified titlist, and former title challenger Dillian Whyte, eyed for Aug. 12, have fizzled.
Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has told various media outlets that Whyte turned down the fight but Whyte disputes that characterization. He said he declined to sign the agreement because it contained a one-way rematch clause in Joshua’s favor in the event he lost.
Joshua is eyeing a much bigger fight against former titlist Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia in December.
Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs), 33, stopped Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs), 36, in the seventh round of a one-sided fight in 2015 in the bouts before Joshua won his first world title. Whyte owns an amateur win over Joshua.
“Well we had a contract,” Whyte said in an interview with British radio giant talkSPORT. “The contract’s with my lawyer and my lawyers have gone back to him. But there’s a lot of things that have been said publicly that are not happening when we’re negotiating. They said it was gonna be a standard contract, but it’s not. There’s a lot of things in the contract now that they didn’t say was gonna be in it.
"(Hearn) said, ‘We’re gonna send a simple contract,’ and then they sent a very complicated contract with a lot of hoops and a lot of hooks to hook me in. I don’t want that. I just want a simple contract, simple fight; winner moves on and has a big fight in Saudi Arabia. This fight for me is about the opportunity, it’s not about the money. That’s why I'm taking the fight for the money they've offered me. But now they’re trying to put a rematch clause in there that ties me up for a year and messes everything up. I’m not interested in that. I just want a straightforward fight — winner moves on, that’s it.”
Navarrete-Valdez undercard
While the co-feature is not yet, Top Rank announced the rest of the undercard for the expected action-packed fight between WBO junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete and former titlist Valdez on Aug.12 (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
In the opening bout of the three fights on the main network, heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (5-0, 5 KOs), 24, of Tulare, California, the 2020 U.S. Olympic super heavyweight silver medalist, will face Willie Jake Jr. (11-3-2, 3 KOs), 40, of Indianapolis, in a six-rounder. The bout was originally scheduled for March but postponed because Torrez tore his oblique in training and has been sidelined.
Also on the card on the ESPN+ portion of the show:
Junior welterweight Lindolfo Delgado (17-0, 13 KOs), a 2016 Mexican Olympian, will face countryman Jair Valtierra (16-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
Lightweight prospect Emiliano Vargas (5-0, 4 KOs), of Las Vegas, who is the son of former two-division titlist Fernando Vargas, will face an opponent to be named in a four-rounder.
Phoenix rivals Sergio Rodriguez (7-0-1, 6 KOs) and Eduardo Ayala (9-3-1, 3 KOs), will meet in a six-rounder at super middleweight.
Milwaukee middleweight Javier Martinez (8-0-1, 2 KOs) will fight Philadelphia’s Isaiah Wise (11-2-2, 6 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
Ventura, California, junior welterweight Ricardo Ruvalcaba (9-0-1, 8 KOs) will face an opponent to be determined in a six-rounder.
Des Moines, Iowa, heavyweight Antonio Mireles (7-0, 6 KOs), who is a 6-foot-9, 270-pound southpaw, will face Dajuan Calloway (7-2, 7 KOs), of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, in a six-rounder.
Boxing Social appearance
I joined my friends at Boxing Social to discuss a few topics: Canelo Alvarez’s PBC deal; his decision to make that deal and begin it by fighting Jermall Charlo and the rematch with Dmitry Bivol not getting done; what other fights Canelo may have on the deal; the prospect of David Benavidez vs. David Morrell; the excellent year PBC is having and more. Check out the video here:
Crews-Dezurn vs. Marshall lineup
Five bouts on the Boxxer card will stream on ESPN+ on Saturday (2 p.m. ET) from AO Arena in Manchester, England, Top Rank, which acquired the United States rights announced.
The card is topped by Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs), 35, of Baltimore, defending the undisputed women’s super middleweight title against former middleweight titlist Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs), 32, of England, who is looking to rebound from losing a decision to Claressa Shields in their unification bout for the undisputed middleweight title in October.
Also on the stream (which airs on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom):
Heralded light heavyweight prospect Ben Whittaker (3-0, 2 KOs), a 2020 British Olympic silver medalist, will square off against Slovakia’s Vladimir Belujsky (13-6-1, 9 KOs) in an eight-rounder.
Unified women’s junior middleweight champion Natasha Jonas (13-2-1, 8 KOs), 39, of England, will drop down to welterweight and will face former title challenger Kandi Wyatt (11-4, 3 KOs), 32, of Canada, for the vacant IBF belt.
British super middleweights Zak Chelli (13-1-1, 6 KOs) and Mark Jeffers (15-0, 4 KOs) meet in a 10-rounder.
Super middleweight Callum Simpson (11-0, 9 KOs) of England, will face Scotland’s Boris Crighton (11-3, 7 KOs) in a 10-rounder.
Quick hits
Matchroom Boxing announced that junior welterweight Montana Love (18-1-1, 9 KOs), 28, a southpaw from Cleveland, has suffered an injury and his fight with Richards Hitchins (16-0, 7 KOs), 25, of Brooklyn, New York, scheduled as the co-feature of undisputed women’s junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner’s rematch with Christina Linardatou on July 15 (DAZN) in Detroit, is off. Matchroom plans to reschedule the fight when Love returns. The specific injury was not announced but a source with knowledge of the particulars told Fight Freaks Unite that Love suffered a rib injury.
Junior middleweight prospect Callum Walsh (7-0, 6 KOs), a 22-year-old southpaw from Ireland, who trains under Hall of Famer Freddie Roach in Hollywood, California, will defend his regional belt in a 10-rounder in the main event of card being put on by Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions on Aug. 26 (UFC Fight Pass) at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. Walsh’s foe is to be announced. He scored his most notable win on June 9 by stopping veteran Carson Jones in the third round, also in Commerce. “I’ve had a quick break back home in Ireland since my last fight and look forward to being back in the ring on Aug. 26,” Walsh said. “We’ve got a lot planned for the second half of this year and I’ll be glad to start training again with Freddie.”
Former junior lightweight titlist Tevin Farmer (31-5-1, 6 KOs), 32, fought for the first time in 3½ years on Saturday night, outpointing Avery Sparrow (11-5, 4 KOs), 29, in a lightweight bout at 2300 Arena in their hometown of Philadelphia. Farmer won 97-92, 95-94 and 95-94 in his first fight since losing the IBF 130-pound belt to Joseph Diaz by decision in January 2020. He had a fight scheduled against former lightweight titlist Mickey Bey at various times over the past year but it was continually postponed and then scrapped. Sparrow lost his second fight in a row and fourth of his last five fights.
Show and tell
After Evander Holyfield shockingly stopped Mike Tyson in the 11th round to take his WBA heavyweight title in a gargantuan upset in their long-awaited showdown there was, of course, an immediate rematch. They met again seven months later, once again at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and once again on SET PPV (the old name for Showtime PPV). It was a massively anticipated fight, even more than the first bout — and we all know what happened. Certainly if you read Fight Freaks Unite you should!
Tyson, upset over what he perceived as purposeful head butts, including one that opened a cut over his right eye in the second round, bit Holyfield’s right ear in the third round, taking a chunk out of it. The late, great Hall of Fame Referee Mills Lane penalized Tyson two points for the intentional foul but allowed the fight to go on. Then Tyson bit Holyfield’s left ear and Lane had no choice but to disqualify Tyson in one of the memorable, infamous and shocking events in boxing history. The “Bite Fight,” which set all boxing revenue records at the time, including pay-per-views sold (1.99 million) and live gate ($17.277 million), took place on June 28, 1997 — 26 years ago on Wednesday. Here are three items from the fight in my collection: a mint full ticket, a site poster (which I have had shrink wrapped) and a program.
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Photos: Gonzalez: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Whyte: Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
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nice!! glad the little chocolate is back. Finito Lopez vs Chocolatito at 108 dream fight of mine.
Post WW2, in my humble opinion Roman Gonzales is one of the best small men there's been. He's a such a lovely fighter to watch and a couple of his losses were wins in most people's eyes such as the first Srisaket Sor Rungvisai fight and in his second fight versus Juan Francisco Estrada.