By: Sean Crose
It was widely agreed that, at 37 years of age, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was past his prime when he stepped into the ring in his native Nicaragua on Friday night. The four division champion was in search of further glory, this time in the bantamweight division, as he hoped earn himself a shot at a stunning fifth world title. First, however, the 51-4 Gonzalez would have to get past the 27-5 Rober Barrera in a scheduled 10 rounder at Managua’s Polideportivo Alexis Arguello.
Gonzalez pressed the action right away in the first, but it was made immediately clear that Barrera had come to fight, as he fired and landed with both hands. Barrera didn’t appear to be as strong as Gonzalez was, however. By the second, it looked like the fight wouldn’t go the distance, as Gonzalez, moving forward in his classic style, landed and landed hard. Indeed, he began piling the punches on Barrera as the round went on.
Gonzalez landed hard in the first minute of the third. His relentless assault was turning out to be too much for the gutsy Barrera, who continued to give it his all by firing away at his legendary foe. As the round wore on, the question looked to be whether or not Gonzalez’ stoppage power would carry up to bantamweight, as he was making his divisional debut, up from super flyweight.
Things slowed down a bit in the fourth, though Gonzalez continued to stalk his man. The action had to stop early in the fifth for Gonzalez to get more tape on his gloves. Barrera became aggressive afterward, and Gonzalez answered in kind. Barrera went down from a slip, but the fact that it was a slip didn’t take away from the truth – Gonzalez was beating him up.
Indeed, Gonzalez turned up the heat in the 6th. Barrera was throwing, but not effectively. To his credit, however, Barrera kept fighting – though he was continuously receiving head shots. Sure enough, it looked like Gonzalez might have been on the verge of stopping Barrera in the seventh. Once again, however, Barrera was able to survive the round. He might have been losing in one sided fashion, but no one could argue against the man’s grind and courage.
In the eighth, Barrera finally went down. He beat the count, and survived the round, but it was worth wondering why the fight was being allowed to continue. A series of punches put Barrera down for the second time in the first minute of the ninth. He got to his feet once more, but it was time for the fight to be stopped. And indeed the fight was put to an end by the referee before the final bell in the tenth.
Although it was too early to tell how Gonzalez would fare at bantamweight, it was clear the iconic fighter still had enough in him to impress.