Former four-division world champion Roman Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) outclassed and dismantled current WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (18-2, 14 KOs) in a super flyweight bout on Saturday night at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. Both were happy to exchange. Martinez attacked with naked aggression while Chocolatito was the more accurate puncher and landed the cleaner shots. Gonzalez took over in the middle rounds and began to punish Martinez. Chocolatito demonstrated elite skills, backing up the normally hyper-aggressive Martinez and connecting at a nearly 50% rate. After twelve rounds, scores were 118-110, 117-111, 116-112.
In an all-out war, IBF #3, WBO #4 featherweight Mauricio “Bronco” Lara (24-2-1, 17 KOs) scored a third round KO over Emilio Sanchez (19-2 12 KOs). Lara came out winging power shots from the get-go. He dropped Sanchez in round one and rocked Sanchez again in round two. Both fighters were hurt in round three and Lara spectacularly laid out Sanchez at the bell. Time was 2:59.
WBO #3 lightweight Angel Fierro (19-1-2, 15 KOs) and Juan Carlos Burgos (34-6-3, 21 KOs) fought to a lackluster ten round majority draw. Scores were 96-94 Fierro, 95-95, 95-95.
Unbeaten WBA #12, WBC #15 super welterweight Souleymane Cissokho (15-0, 9 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Roberto Valenzuela Jr (23-3, 19 KOs). In a wild round four, Valenzuela dropped Cissokho and during Valenzuela’s follow up barrage Cissokho dropped him! Both were solid knockdowns. Scores were 100-90, 99-91, 99-91,
Unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco (14-0, 11 KOs) scored a second round KO against Genc Pllana (9-4-1, 5 KOs). Pacheco dropped Pllana in round one and knocked him out in round two. Time was 1:29.
Unbeaten lightweight Marc Castro (6-0, 5 KOs) was knocked down and taken the distance for the first time against Julio Madera (3-2, 2 KOs), Madera dropped Castro in round two, but after six judges had it 58-55 3x for Castro.
Debuting 2020 Olympian female super featherweight Skye Nicolson (1-0, 0 KOs) outpointed Jessica “La Reina” Juarez (3-1, 1 KO) over six rounds. Scores were 60-54, 60-54, 59-55.
Super bantamweight Anthony “Superman” Herrera (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a fourth round KO over Jose Toribio (7-5, 1 KO). A hook to the liver ended Toribo. Time was :24.
I like that kid Souleyeman. Look forward to seeing him again
Lara – Navarrete, Lara – Venado, either one of them! That guy is so much fun to watch!
Watching these fights live here at Pechangas! These Mexican warriors are awesome!
God Bless Them!!!
Yeah “Mexican” “Warriors” who live and/or work or prefer to fight OUT of Mexico.
Fleeing doesn’t sound like being a warrior, it sounds more like being a coward!
El Fuego, what are you talking about?
That means all of us including you are cowards then cause we all come from other countries lol sometimes it’s good to remain silent smh
Arturo- u were there. Man thatbis awesome. I bet it was amazing! Love me some live shows
As a classic boxing fan I have to rate this as one of the best performances in the last decade. Everything chocolatito did was perfect. Hands high, picking off punches, footwork, head movement, etc. A true virtuoso performance by a phenomenal boxer. Martinez was super game but the skills were just a different level.
No upset Arturo ! Chocolatito had way too more left for Martinez lol !
I would have loved to be there. I watch the replay on DAZN at 2am and it was a great fight. Chocolatito is a master of boxing. He should be the #2 P4P. And also, that’s the kind of fighter that deserves over 5 million pays.
Best night boxing so far!
Chocolatito is one of a kind, the combos he throws just never stop and the connection rate is unmatched. Chocolatito vs Monster, yes please
Monster is way too big and young, he would annihilate the ageing Chocolatito..
Glad to see Gonzalez beat this cheater Martinez .. one sided beating deserved for not making weight. Comes up in weight and still can’t make 115.. unprofessional. Congratulations Roman. Now, stay away from 118 and the monster.
Yes needs to stay away, he’s way too small. Wannabe boxing fans don’t understand shit !
And much older..
Agreed! The truth is 115 is probably on the big side for him. He’s just so phenomenal that he can beat the bigger guys. Facing the next Division up’s biggest puncher who can box too would be suicidal.
One of the finest small fighters of all time. Just a damn joy to watch. Chocolatito – Ioka in Japan would be huge and a great fight.
Does Choco have the power to keep Ioka off?
Probably not. I do think he has enough power to sting him, but I don’t know if I can recall seeing Ioka struggle too much with anyone’s power actually – at least not continuously.
Ioka was supposed to be headed towards unification with Ancajas, they both took interim fights when Japan locked back down and Ancajas got beat. So I’m thinking Gonzalez would actually be an even bigger fight. Estrada has to make his mandatory against Franco, so he’s busy and I think Rungvisai is mandatory for Rodriguez now.
Bros Rodriguez and Franco are about to get jacked!! I believe!!
What a nice way to be wrong. I had a feeling it might go Martinez’s way ..boy was I wrong. Which I am a lot..lol! Whether one thinks he is or was ever pound for pound the best is debatable but he is a pleasure to watch almost like none other. His combination and precise punching is a work of art. My vote is that he moves up and fights Donaire. I may be making the same mistake by picking Donaire but if Chocolito proves me wrong again I am sure it will be great to watch to Hall of Famers who have such exciting yet technically sound styles create a classic!
Nothing wrong with that Pete. That card last weekend had three fights on it, I picked all three wrong and just last night I had Pedraza over Ramirez lol.
On paper, Donaire – Gonzalez is just delicious! And Donaire came out not too long ago and said he’d have no problem making 115 again for the right fight if he couldn’t get the Inoue rematch. I’d pick Donaire in that one too, he seems SO MUCH bigger than Chocolatito in my head for some reason.
Lucie, I like the Lara-Navarette fight you referenced as well. I do not think it will last long though. Lara seemed to be breaking down. Him asking the ref for help to get up reminded me of Tyson vs McBryde years back. But he managed to turn things back in his favor with that brutal ending. I just think if he was breaking down here what will happen to him when that beast Navarette is being relentless on him. That said there will be some great fireworks and Lara will be throwing some hard punches while it lasts. An all Mexican showdown…they should make this while they can!
I’d agree with that. Lara’s body language, in general, just did not look good in that fight. He asked the ref to help him up and I think he was complaining about kidney punches when he was holding Sanchez at one point. But when he threw punches, it was the same fun combinations and big punches that he had against Warrington. I’d pick Nava to beat him as well, but Navarrete can be wide open as well, so he might have to get off the floor to do it.
I agree. Politics will unfortunately get in the way but I have wanted this match with Nava since Lara beat Warrington the first time.
Chocolatito is an all time great and just because he’s getting on in years doesn’t mean his lost any of his skills a lot of talk from Martinez which he wasn’t able to back up a classy win for a great champ.
Either Filipino Donnie Nietes or Japanesse Kazuto
Ioka will surely give Chocolatito the best fight at Super Flyweight. This division must unify all the belts because Nonito Donaire will be coming down in this weight class to fight Chocolatito or the best in the superfly.
Chocolatita seem to have been around for ever, and he is still at this level, what a warrior!
An O not an A at the end Julian unless you wanted to insult him. Yes, a great Guerrero! He gave Martinez a boxing lesson. The worst thing that Ali for boxing was to make others think that they could fight with their hands down like him. There was only one Ali.Then again maybe a good thing for us bloodthirsty fans because it produced KOs!
Most Mexican fighters are one dimensional putos who lose when they face elite fighters, Nicaraguans and Cubans like myself are always much more elite & well rounded.
Law, putos? WTF? What’s that all about?
First of all, that word is very offensive, second, that’s calling all the Mexican fighters gays, third, you should be banned from commenting on this site.
Wow! 2 great champs from Nicaragua and one pink-haired pendejo is their eliteness? The fans in Mexico are there to see real brutality for their money! Some Cubans are hella boring to watch with their amateur style! Kid Gavilan, Napoles and a few others were great! I’m picking Ugas in an big upset against the guy that decided to check his windshield wipers the hard way! Oh screw you for the putos remark! I know you were just pulling chain! LOL
I love Chocolatito but in June he’s going to be 35 and we all know that in these small weight classes it’s like being a grandpa in the real world lol !
Just kidding I would love to be such a grandpa !
I just don’t wanna see him hurt or with a slurred speech, hopefully he hangs up the gloves after 1 or 2 fights..
The master shows the upstart how it’s done. Lara is going to be fun while he lasts.
What a great fight! Chocolatito just keeps adding to his legendary status! Going into this one I was afraid that Martinez was going to do what Bam Rodriguez did to Cuadras?? Boy am I ashamed for thinking this!! Bet both bros in attendance (Rodriguez & Franco) were like IDK about this man and Estrada as well!!!
chocolatito put on a clinic….brought back memories of arguello…calm,measured,technically beautiful to behold….martinez never quit and was winging shots to the end but there are levels to this stuff and gonzalez was just too skilled…you wonder how much that knee injury bothered him in previous fights..
watching chocolatito…and seeing canelo vs bivol on the horizon brings back memories of boxing`s glory days…
Don’t like the way Lara vs Sanchez played out. I think the referee helped Lara by giving him so much time to recover after Sanchez had him hurt. Every second counts in that situation.
Gonzalez nowhere near the fighter the great Ricardo Lopez or Michael Carbajal were dont even think he could have beaten Jorge Arce really just beat a very overrated undisciplined fighter