The Last Chance Saloon in boxing’s wild west has seen many boxers stay too long to be welcomed by them. One more becomes one too much and then they leave or are taken.
Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez knocked him down in 2017 after Srisaket Sor Rungvisai dropped him twice in the fourth round of their second duel together. Tired, beaten, tired, and 30-year-old Gonzalez lay on the canvas with the end of his boxing career hovering over him.
Four years later, Nicaragua’s place in the Saloon was taken by someone else. Since that devastating night in Carson against Rungvisai, four opponents from five have been unable to take on Gonzalez. Juan Francisco Estrada outplayed him in an action shootout last year but last night in San Diego Julio Cesar Martinez became the fifth man to carry a less powerful weapon in a gunfight with ‘Chocolatito’. ‘ (51-3, 41 KOs).
The Mexican tennis player (18-2, 14 KOs) tried to increase the weight to join his opponent in a super flyweight match where danger lurks no matter where you look. Martinez believes he can take advantage of his older statesman and prove that youth, aggression, and power can overcome all beauty of noble art. Instead, Gonzalez used canvas to paint his latest masterpiece.
The 27-year-old Mexican hit the ball early in the opening half and found the top lane past the keeper. Overpowering the senior character early and forcing him to wither looked like a plan but Gonzalez saw their alphabet and weathered a very short storm.
After Martinez failed to hit the weight limit on Friday, Gonzalez laid out his intentions by pursuing that body with punches that would cost them late in the fight. A veteran move against a younger man who is still learning his trade even as he is in the position of world champion.
Over the course of 12 rounds, Martinez had no problem confronting the Nicaraguan phenom and fired at will. His shots are loaded and land heavily but if the gloves don’t do their job, Gonzalez’s chin has no problem absorbing them.
Gonzalez has a lot to draw. His defensive skills were so instinctive and easy-going that then came painful shots that could send Martinez facing left and right on many occasions. 34 years old is always fresher while 27 years old looks older by the minute.
In the sixth round, Martinez started slamming his gloves together. What is happening to him is not what he envisaged or was laid out in the plans and tactics outlined during construction. Halfway through, a King is showing a Prince what it takes to claim the throne.
As time counts down, the art of manly defense has become a tactic for hardcore Mexicans. A country with an affinity for the sport like no other always produces people with cleft chin who can execute the kind of punishment that humans cannot. Gonzalez’s gunfire came faster and faster. Martinez believes he is bulletproof, but the shots penetrate, and the body armor is damaged.
Gonzalez turned his ones and twos into three and four. His confidence never turned to arrogance. It’s professionalism that doesn’t allow a single flaw to creep through that will bring him back to Saloon. Martinez managed to regain his composure in the final innings. His toes bounced briefly, his movements slowing down more and more. He was being split but acts of defiance gave the pro-Mexico crowd something to cheer for.
Victory for Gonzalez is inevitable. When the smell of it reached him, he knew to put his feet down without a gung-cough. Martinez won’t come down though. He stood up to a barrage of shots that cut his heart from head to body and back again. His fatigue in the final minutes signaled the end of the fight but that’s not how the Mexican boxer ended the matter in a boxing ring. In fact, the flyweight champion went head-to-head in the remaining seconds. One last action before the end is confirmed. The results never seemed in doubt from the start and the scores 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 give his ‘Chocolatito’ 51st victory from a 54-match career spanning nearly 17 years.
The WBC Diamond belt belongs only to Gonzalez after a weight loss against Martinez. A belt may look shiny and beautiful, but it does nothing to enhance the reputation or status of an all-time famous boxer in the sport.
However, Roman ‘Chocolatito’ is a jewel of the sport, and last night’s proof it proved that some diamonds are forever.
