Notebook: ‘Chocolatito’ title shot in the works against Cafu
Teofimo, Matias talks; Pro Boxing Fans appearance; Tank-Roach trouble?; Vargas seeks full title to replace interim; Quick hits; Show and tell
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
Four-division champion and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, the former pound-for-pound king, is headed toward another title opportunity in the twilight of his legendary career.
Plans are in the works to match Gonzalez with WBO junior bantamweight titlist Phumelele Cafu on a date to be determined in March in Gonzalez’s hometown of Managua, Nicaragua, All Star Boxing promoter Felix “Tutico” Zabala told Fight Freaks Unite.
“That is what we are working on,” Zabala said. “Hope to have an official announcement soon. We are shooting for a stadium setting at the National Baseball Stadium (Soberania National Stadium) in Managua. We don’t have a set date yet but shooting for early, mid-March.” If the fight is made it would likely stream on ESPN+ in the United States.
Gonzalez (52-4, 42 KOs), 37, returned to the ring on July 12 in Managua in a bantamweight bout and ended a 19-month layoff by knocking out Rober Barrera in the 10th round in his first fight in Nicaragua since 2015. The fight was Gonzales’ first since a debatable majority decision loss in his trilogy fight with Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s lineal junior bantamweight title and the vacant WBC belt.
I am in my 25th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and also support independent journalism.
After the fight Gonzalez was connected to a possible fight with fellow four-division champion Nonito Donaire but Gonzalez shot that down because his interest was in fighting for another world title and Donaire did not have one to offer.
At the recent WBC convention, the organization approved a final eliminator between Gonzalez and Andrew Moloney but a fight with Cafu offers Gonzalez a direct shot at a world title.
Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs), 26, a southpaw from South Africa, would be making his first title defense. He traveled to Tokyo for his first bout outside his home country and won a split decision to win the 115-pound belt from Japanese four-division titleholder Kosei Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs) on Oct. 14 on the undercard of WBC bantamweight titlist Junto Nakatani’s sixth-round knockout of Petch Sor Chitpattana at Ariake, Arena.
Teofimo-Matias in works
Lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and former IBF titleholder Subriel Matias are in talks to meet in the first half of next year, Carl Moretti, the vice president of Lopez promoter Top Rank, told Fight Freaks Unite.
However, although ESPN reported that the sides were “finalizing a deal for a March 15 fight,” Moretti said that while the deal was being discussed they are not close and there is no concrete date yet if it is finalized.
“It’s soooooo far from getting done,” Moretti said. “Yes, there’s been conversations — but miles apart.”
Moretti added that there are also dates in April and May that are possible if Top Rank makes the deal with Matias promoter Juan Orengo of Fresh Productions.
Lopez (21-1, 13 KOs), 27, a Brooklyn, New York, native fighting out of Las Vegas, who is a former unified lightweight champion, impressively outpointed Josh Taylor in June 2023 to win the lineal/WBO title and has made two defenses, a lackluster and disputed decision over Jamaine Ortiz in February and a shutout of journeyman Steve Claggett Butler in June.
Matias (21-2, 21 KOs), 32, of Puerto Rico, one of boxing’s fiercest punchers, won the vacant IBF belt by fifth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Jeremias Ponce in February 2023 and made his only successful defense via sixth-round knockout of Shohjahon Ergashev, who was also undefeated, in November 2023.
But in his second defense, a homecoming fight in Manati, Puerto Rico, Matias lost a clear unanimous decision to Liam Paro in June. Matias made his ring return on Nov. 9 and knocked out Roberto Ramirez in the third round in San Juan.
Pro Boxing Fans appearance
I joined my friends at Pro Boxing Fans on YouTube to chat about the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury heavyweight rematch, including the scoring and the fight itself; thoughts on Daniel Dubois crashing Usyk’s post-fight interview; what should Usyk do next; should Fury and Anthony Joshua fight next; where does Usyk rank all time in heavyweight history and pound for pound and more? Check out the video here:
Tank vs. Roach canceled?
Gervonta “Tank” Davis is scheduled to defend the WBA lightweight title against WBA junior lightweight titlist Lamont Roach in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view card on March 1 (Prime Video PPV, PPV.COM) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and earlier this month both fighters and their teams appeared at a news conference to promote the event.
But on Monday, Davis posted an image to his Instagram stories of what appeared to be a floor with the line “The fight is fucking cancel” typed across it.
Roach, apparently inundated with questions about it, made his own post, responding, “The fuck ya keep asking me for? He said that shit not me. I’m locked in ain’t shit changed. March 1st Brooklyn.”
PBC has not made any comment about the status of the event but various people involved in the fight, including PBC officials, told Fight Freaks Unite they were unsure why Davis made the post.
The fight was originally suppose to take place on Dec. 14 at the Toyota Center in Houston but it was never formally announced and ultimately postponed to March 1 with no reason given.
Davis (30-0, 28 KOs), 30, who is due to make his sixth title defense, and Roach (25-1-1, 10 KOs), 29, are regional rivals with Davis from Baltimore and Roach from Washington, D.C., where Davis has an enormous fan base and Roach also has a following.
They both fought just once in 2024. Davis scored a crushing eighth-round knockout of then-undefeated Frank Martin on June 15 in Las Vegas. Roach made his first 130-pound title defense by one-sided eighth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Feargal McCrory on June 28 in Washington.
Vargas wants full title
Antonio Vargas has the WBA interim bantamweight title but he wants the real thing and is seeking a fight as soon as possible against full titleholder Seiya Tsutsumi.
Vargas (19-1, 11 KOs), 28, stopped Winston Guerrero in the 10th round to win the vacant interim belt Dec. 13 in Orlando, Florida, a hometown fight for Vargas, who is from neighboring Kissimmee, Florida. Vargas dropped Guerrero (22-1, 13 KOs), 24, of Nicaragua, in the first round, survived a second-round knockdown, and then took control before stopping him in the 10th.
Now Vargas wants his mandatory shot at Japan’s Tsutsumi (12-0, 8 KOs), 29, who scored an entertaining decision win over Takuma Inoue to claim the 118-pound title on Oct. 13.
“Getting knocked down was a reminder of how tough this sport is, but I showed the heart of a champion,” Vargas said about the fight with Guerrero. “I refused to let this moment slip away. Winning the WBA interim title is the result of all the sacrifices I’ve made, and it’s just the beginning.
“I want to prove I’m the best bantamweight in the world, and that means facing Seiya Tsutsumi. I’m ready to fight him in Japan or anywhere else. This is what being a champion is all about — facing the toughest challenges head-on and coming out on top.”
Amaury Piedra of Boxlab Promotions, which promotes Vargas, said he will try to make a deal for the title bout.
“We are working diligently to finalize a fight in Japan against Seiya Tsutsumi for the WBA title,” Piedra said. “Antonio’s desire and skills make us confident he can unify the division and cement his place as one of boxing’s top stars.”
Quick hits
Willibaldo Garcia Perez (22-5-2, 13 KOs), 35, and Mexican countryman Rene Calixto Bibiano (23-0-1, 9 KOs), 29, fought to a split draw for the vacant IBF junior bantamweight title on Saturday on a Kameda Promotions card in Shizuoka, Japan. One judge had it 118-110 for the more aggressive Garcia, one had it 116-112 for Bibiano, and one had it 114-114. They were vying for the 115-pound belt vacated by Fernando Martinez, who unified the IBF and WBA titles via unanimous decision over Kazuto Ioka in a fight of the year contender on July 7 but vacated the IBF belt to have a lucrative rematch with Ioka on Dec. 31 instead of facing mandatory challenger Perez.
Former WBC junior featherweight titlist Thierry Jacob died on Dec. 20 from cancer. The Frenchman was 59. Jacob won the 122-pound title by unanimous decision from Hall of Famer Daniel Zaragoza in France on March 20, 1992. Jacob (39-6, 20 KOs), who boxed from 1984 to 1994, lost the belt three months later via sixth-round knockout to Tracy Harris Patterson and then suffered stoppage losses in his next two bouts challenging Wilfredo Vazquez for the WBA title. Jacob, who previously lost shots at the IBF bantamweight and junior featherweight belts, outpointed Duke McKenzie for the European bantamweight title in 1990.
Claressa Shields (15-0, 3 KOs), 29, a four-division champion and the consensus No.1 female boxer pound-for-pound, is already scheduled to defend the WBC heavyweight title and vie for the vacant WBO and WBA belts against Brooklyn, New York-born Danielle Perkins (5-0, 2 KOs), 42, a southpaw, on Feb. 2 (DAZN) in the main event of a card dubbed “Super Brawl” — one week before the Super Bowl — at Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan, Shields’ hometown. But now it will be for the vacant IBF bell too, making it the first women’s undisputed heavyweight title bout, albeit in a division with fewer than 20 rated women worldwide in all four organizations combined. A Shields win would make her the first four-belt undisputed champion in three divisions, male or female.
Show and tell
As a boxing fan, of course, I love the “Rocky” films (well, except for “Rocky V”). “Rocky IV” is one of the best in the series. Great storyline for the times, great soundtrack, great villain in Ivan Drago, and some of the best training montages of any of the movies. Sadly, “Rocky IV” featured the death of Rocky Balboa’s rival turned friend and trainer, former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, at the hands of uber bad guy Drago, the Russian monster played by Dolph Lundgren, in an exhibition. Rocky, of course, had to avenge Apollo’s death and famously went to Moscow and on Christmas Day knocked out the machine in a massive upset to conclude an absolutely epic heavyweight battle for the ages, which also helped end the Cold War. The legendary fight took place on Dec. 25, 1985 — 39 years ago on Wednesday. Here are the Rocky and Drago stickers in my collection from the Topps “Rocky IV” 66-card and 11-sticker set released in conjunction with the film.
A note to subscribers
I sincerely appreciate your readership. If you’re reading, it means you love boxing just like I do. If you’ve been reading you also know the quality and quantity of what I produce. It’s one-stop shopping. Read the newsletters and there is no need to search multiple websites or click a multitude of links to get the latest news, opinion and detailed fight schedule. Everything you need is in one spot and delivered directly to your inbox (or via phone alert if you download for free the superb Substack app). You don’t have to hunt for the news; it comes to you.
I believe that is worth something, so while I will continue providing stories, notes and the schedule for free, I encourage you to upgrade to a paid subscription for the most content. A paid subscription is your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism. I am beholden to no network, promoter, manager, sanctioning body or fighter. If you have read my work at all during the past 24 years I’ve covered professional boxing you know that I keep it real and that will not change.
To upgrade your subscription please go here:
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Photos: Gonzalez/Matchroom Boxing; Lopez/Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Vargas: Damon Gonzalez/Boxlab Promotions
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
Merry Christmas King And All The FREAKS!!
Hey Dan! Just to let you know when you were reporting on the Lopez talks for his next fight, you mentioned he beat Steve Butler in his last fight. It should be Claggett, not Butler. Probably the reason I know this is I am from Canada too.
Great work Dan and Merry Christmas to you and your family!