By: Sean Crose
The Garden was packed into the rafters that night. Jerry Seinfeld is said to have attended, as well as numerous celebrities from the sports and showbiz worlds. There’s no mistake that Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs is a fight worth noting. Can Golovkin prove he is everything they say he is against an opponent of Jacob’s caliber? That’s the question on everyone’s mind.
Attendance was so close that many of us in the media had to cover the fight not from the ring, but from an elevated press area of the action, near the sky boxes. . Some complained, though admittedly that it was more comfortable up there than on the floor. Plus, it wasn’t likely that anyone would get splashed with blood or sweat from the warriors.
In the end, Golovkin went away with a decisive victory. Some people, myself included, thought Brooklynite Jacobs did enough to lump it in, but the fight was too close to be considered a robbery. Either way, Golovkin has proven he belongs in the upper echelons of the sport. However, there was another match that night, one against Golovkin-Jacobs, which really caught the attention of fans and journalists alike.
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is often paired with Golovkin on the cards as a characteristic attraction of the co-main event. In fact, the reigning WBC super flyweight champion was once considered by many to be the best boxer in the world. Needless to say, a shock wave swept through Manhattan that evening as Gonzalez was brought to the carpet by Srisaket Sor Rungvisai during the first round of their scheduled 12th round love affair. Few expected that to happen when entering Madison Square Garden that night.
Few even expected that Sor Rungvisai would walk away with Gonzalez’s belt after the match ended. However, that is what happened. After the battle with the Nicaraguan emperor, Sor Rungvisai of Thailand was awarded the victory by the referee’s card. Honestly, I feel that Gonzalez should have gotten the nod. However, Sor Rungvisai left no doubt in my mind or anyone else’s about six months after he knocked out Gonzalez in their rematch. If people didn’t know who Rungvisai was before he faced Gonzalez (too few only knew the biggest names in the lower weight classes) they certainly did.
The standout boxer has now gone on to successfully defend his WBC title three more times before Juan Francisco Estrada finally dethroned him via decision in 2019 after coming up against Sor Rungvisai the previous year. . Since that time, Sor Rungvisai has won three in a row, thus preparing for this Saturday night’s fight with undefeated Jesse Rodriguez. Threatened? Sor Rungvisai’s old WBC flyweight title.
Like Sor Rungvisai, Rodriguez has the ability to surprise people. He won the WBC title after breaking through a few weight classes to challenge title runner Carlos Cuadras then. And now he is facing a Sor Rungvisai who is in his late 30s and has been engaged in some serious competition. Furthermore, Sor Rungvisai has not fought since last March because of health problems. However, the 50-5-1 ring vet is healthy and seems quite fit and ready to try to win back his old title. The question now is, can the older boxer teach 22-year-old Rodriguez new tricks when the opening bell rings at San Antonio’s Tech Port Stadium on Saturday?
