Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez cruises past Julio Cesar Martinez
A world class performance saw Nicaragua’s Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (51-3, 41KOs) dominate Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2, 14KOs) to a 12-round, unanimous decision victory on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
Scorecards were 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 to 34-year-old Nicaraguan Gonzalez, who won the WBC Diamond belt with the victory.
The 34-year-old was initially due to face longtime rival and WBA “Super” junior bantamweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada (42-3, 28KOs), who was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid in January, so Martinez stepped in on six weeks’ notice, agreeing to move up in weight as his WBC flyweight title was not at stake.
Despite moving up, Martinez was well over the agreed weigt limit, weighing 117 pounds on his first attempt. Martinez returned less than two hours later but still registered at 116.4lbs, 1.4 over the contracted limit and leading to heated discussions between both camps in figuring out how to proceed.
Martinez did his part during Saturday’s mandatory same-day weigh-in, hitting the scale at 122.8 pounds, nearly four pounds lighter than the 10% over the contract allotment per California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) rules. Friday’s weigh-in resulted in a 20% forfeiture of his reported $250,000 purse, with $25,000 going to Gonzalez in addition to his reported $725,000 payday and the remaining $25,000 to the commission.
Martinez was at full strength by the opening bell. The 27-year-old Mexico City native brought the fight to the legendary Gonzalez, seven years his senior, but who remains one of the busiest punchers from start to finish.
Nicaraguan Román “Chocolatito” González convincingly won this Saturday, by unanimous decision over intrepid, courageous Mexican Julio César “Rey” Martínez, lifting aloft the super flyweight Diamond belt of the World Boxing Council.
From the outset Román González, 34, who’s seven years the senior, used guile, accuracy and mobility during the first third of the fight, connecting with more power shots, especially straight right hands.
The best moment of “Rey” was in the third when he landed a left right left combination that gave the legend pause for thought.
Towards the sixth round González punished Julio César with his right hand and made him stagger, but the bell saved Rey, who fought back magnificently with valor. He withstood!
In the seventh the Nicaraguan patiently maintained the onslaught level on Martínez, with right leads, left hooks , sinking body work and combinations which hurt Julio César, who was in magnificent shape, absorbed and never stopped throwing back leather
In the eighth and ninth rounds, Rey Martínez contained the attacks of “Chocolatito” trying to prudently measure his distance. He had been switching his stance to southpaw.
But Roman was sweetly deflecting punches off his toffee colored gloves and constantly snapping Rey’s head back, eye watering power punches.
In the eleventh round, Martínez, knowing that he was well down on the cards, came out more aggressively, and threw right hand shots and wide angled hooks.
Unfazed, Roman kept coming, forcing Rey on to the ropes, maintaining the unrelenting tempo, which inflamed the face of his rival, who in spite of the firestorm, showed resolute heart.
Roman took advantage of Rey’s gnawing fatigue and punished his body. “Rey” responded with clipping right hands until the bell.
It was a masterclass performance from the olfer fighter, who is clearly not done yet.
“Everyone knows that I won that fight against Gallo Estrada,” insisted Gonzalez after the fight. “In all honesty, the only fighter to truly beat me was (Srisaket) Sor Rungvisai. I consider myself to have won every other fight.
“My bosses will decide what is next for me. Whatever they decide, as long as it pays well.”
The WBC Diamond belt that was at stake is supposed to provide Gonzalez with a clear path to Estrada, who holds the WBC “Franchise” title in addition to the physical WBA “Super” belt. Estrada was ordered by the WBA to next face WBA ‘World’ junior bantamweight titlist Joshua Franco in a title consolidation clash, which is being eyed for June but not yet finalized.
The WBC Diamond belt is an iconic trophy that has been awarded to commemorate special fights. Some of the previous Diamond Belt winners include: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, Micky Garcia, Bernard Hopkins and “Canelo” Alvarez.
HÖRFA are proud sponsors of British Boxing News