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Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez could have been offered just about any late replacement and still would have proceeded with his March 5 fight date.
The legendary former four-division champion was disappointed about the thought of no longer facing Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada (42-3, 28KOs), who was forced to withdraw from their planned rubber match after testing positive for Covid. There was never any concern about cancelling the DAZN event, both due to Julio Cesar ‘El Rey’ Martinez immediately agreeing to replacing Estrada as well as Gonzalez being fine with the late alternative offered by event promoter Matchroom Boxing.
“They offered me a fight with ‘El Rey’ Martinez. I told them it was no problem, I am ready to fight,” Gonzalez told BoxingScene.com. “We have been in training for this (rubber match) with Gallo and I didn’t want that to go to waste by waiting for the fight to be rescheduled.”
Martinez (18-1, 14KOs; 2ND) will move up to junior bantamweight, temporarily putting his WBC flyweight title on hold to face Gonzalez atop the March 5 DAZN show from Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The decision by both to move forward with the short notice matchup was simple, as Gonzalez was already going on nearly one year since his last fight.
Both Gonzalez (50-3, 41KOs) and Estrada have been out of the ring since their sensational rematch last March 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Estrada prevailed by split decision to retain his WBC junior bantamweight title and win Gonzalez’s WBA belt. The bout came more than eight years after their first fight, when Nicaragua’s Gonzalez made the final defense of his WBA junior flyweight title with a November 2012 unanimous decision in Los Angeles.
Efforts to get the pair of future Hall of Famers in the ring for a third time have been problematic, ironically for a fight to which both immediately accepted. Gonzalez tested positive for Covid last summer, thus having to delay their planned October 16 clash at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California. News of the rescheduled March 5 date left boxing fans excited about the seemingly can’t miss third fight in their series, only for Mexico’s Estrada to catch the infectious disease earlier this year which forced him to shut down training camp.
“We had been training for a long time for this very important fight with Gallo Estrada,” noted Gonzalez. “Then, Gallo (tested positive for) Covid. I wish him well and hope he fully recovers so he can return to the ring in full health.
“We will see what the future brings. For now, I am prepared to face ‘El Rey’ Martinez. God willing everything goes as planned on March 5, we will see if a third fight with Gallo is next.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox