By: Hans Themistode
Roman Gonzalez believes he is ready to officially end his long rival relationship with Juan Francisco Estrada. With the two split into a highly competitive pairing, tonight is supposed to be the third, and possibly last, match they’ll share the ring with.
However, due to Estrada experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms, he was forced to withdraw from their competition. Despite the rather short notice, Julio Cesar Martinez blatantly increased the weight to challenge the future First Voting Chamber. Although calculated, Martinez’s move ultimately didn’t pay off.
Martinez was both dissected and controlled for much of their 12th round match tonight, which took place at Pechanga Arena, in San Diego, California.
Gonzalez came out bobbing and weaving as he reached the center of the ring in the opening round and hit multiple shots within the first few seconds. The fully conscious Martinez dodged most of those harmful attacks and landed a sharp and sustained attack on his man’s body.
Seemingly unaffected by his much smaller opponent, Gonzalez easily eliminated him while ramping up his efforts upstairs. Since that time, all of Gonzalez’s efforts have been spared. He punished Martinez for most of their first half. In the process, his gas tank was shown to be otherworldly.
With Gonzales dominating most of the exchanges, Martinez bit his lip for the second half of their contest and fought the fire. A rather large crowd in San Diego cheered in approval as both men stood facing each other throughout the sixth season.
Even if Martinez gets a second wind, Gonzalez’s pressure won’t stop. In particular, on season eight, it looks like he’s coming to an end of the show.
Gonzalez has scored numerous unanswered hits during this time, as a depressed Martinez fights to survive. In recognition of his credit, he blasted Gonzalez with a triple punch combo upstairs before focusing his attack on the body. Throughout it all, Gonzalez never worried about what was coming his way and kept moving forward, no matter what was in his way.
Gonzalez’s efforts as a craftsman finally paid off when the last bell rang. Judge Max DeLuca may have given Gonzalez a nod with a score of 116-112, but his transcript shows a far more rivalry than what his two fellow judges witnessed. Judge Mike Ross, as well as Zachary Young, gave Gonzalez a much broader decision, awarding scorecards of 117-110 and 118-110 respectively.
