Remarkable Second Act Puts Chocolatito in Good Career Company

The more I looked at Roman Gonzalez on Saturday, the more I thought of someone else.

Nonito Donaire.

To be clear, no. The two don’t remind me of one another stylistically. 

Gonzalez is among the best I’ve ever seen when it comes to shifting between offense and defense, while I’ve never been too high on Donaire other than respecting his obvious power and undeniable will.

I didn’t vote for him as “Fighter of the Year” when he won it a decade ago. I was correct when I suggested he’d be subsequently schooled by Guillermo Rigondeaux. And I was part of a 6-4 majority against him on the site in a staff prediction piece prior to a 2014 fight with Nicholas Walters.

He’s a good, strong and certainly world-class fighter. 

But he’s not close to Gonzalez’s class when it comes to all-time status.

Still, as I watched “Chocolatito” feast on a competitively overmatched Julio Cesar Martinez for yet another useless jewel-encrusted trinket in San Diego, he was the first person came to mind.

Loathe as I am to recall it, I’ll still be first to raise my hand to when it comes to people admitting that just more than four years ago – when a 30-year-old version of Gonzalez was pummeled by a then-unappreciated Srisaket Sor Rungvisai a little ways up the road in Carson – I thought he was done.

Not just done with the world-class set. But done. Period.

And I wasn’t alone. 

Here’s a piece of the early a.m. post-fight recap written for ESPN.

“Having lost two fights in a row — and having engaged in several grueling slugfests — Gonzalez’s best days appear behind him. He won world titles in four weight divisions, from strawweight to junior bantamweight, and became the pound-for-pound No. 1. But Gonzalez, a disciple of the late, great Hall of Famer and Nicaraguan legend Alexis Arguello, appeared undersized in the 115-pound division. That, along with age, appeared to have caught up with him.”

Undaunted, he took a year and six days off, returned with a couple victories over something less than the cream of the 115-pound crop, and seemed set to serve as high-profile fodder for the coming-out party of Khalid Yafai when the ex-British Olympian signed to meet him in early 2020.

We all know what’s happened since.

Not only did Gonzalez dominate on the way to a ninth-round stoppage win – driving Yafai into what’s become a two-year absence – but he reestablished himself as a legit player at super flyweight, defending his belt once, losing it in a threadbare decision to Juan Francisco Estrada last March and returning to deconstruct late sub Martinez when the would-be trilogy bout fell victim to COVID.

It’s as amazing a career recovery as I can recall for a 30-plus fighter with a brutal KO loss.

And it’s why I was pondering Donaire as well.

Regardless of what you think about where (or whether) he belonged among the true elites in the first place, it seemed a moot point going forward after Walters dropped him twice and finished him a second before the midway point of a scheduled 12-rounder for the WBA’s top belt at 126 pounds.

To say I dismissed him at that point would be an understatement. 

And, again, I wasn’t alone.

“He’s still a fighter, but he’s not the same fighter,” Max Kellerman said on an HBO broadcast. “Donaire was a guy who rarely lost rounds against the best lower-division fighters in the world before he knocked them out. I don’t know if fighters are going to be scared of him anymore.”

Twelve fights later, I concede Gonzalez is in good career-prolonging company.

I’m still not convinced Donaire was ever what some suggested he was, but the idea that he’s since engaged valiantly in losses with some of the world’s best – Carl Frampton, Naoya Inoue – and picked up noteworthy wins over the likes of Nordine Oubaali and Reymart Gaballo (a combined 41-0 entering their fights with him) in the aftermath of a violent beatdown is nothing at all if not respect worthy.

Not only wasn’t the Filipino pounded into submission against Inoue, he got to the fight’s midpoint having cut and bloodied his much-heralded foe – then pushed the Japanese monster to the brink of extinction with punishing counter shots and lead right hands, forcing him to dig into a reservoir of grit left untapped by the likes of Jamie McDonnell, Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez.

If I hadn’t seen it with my own sleep-deprived eyes, I’d have not believed it.

And considering where Gonzalez was 54 months ago, I’m not sure I believe Saturday either.

So, even if neither competes again, my perceptions of them in the final acts of their respective careers are far better than they’d have been had they pulled the plug when it looked necessary.

That’s championship mettle of the highest grade.

* * * * * * * * * * 

This week’s title-fight schedule: 

No title fights scheduled.

This week’s trash title-fight schedule:

SATURDAY

WBA “world” featherweight title – Nottingham, England

Leigh Wood (champion/No. 6 IWBR) vs. Michael Conlan (No. 1 WBA/No. 8 IWBR)

Why it’s trash: I’m not suggesting it’s not a good fight. I’m not even suggesting that I won’t watch it. But what I won’t do – and what you shouldn’t do – is call it a title fight. The WBA has somehow let Leo Santa Cruz hold its top belt at 126 without a defense since 2019, but he is still the champ until it changes.

Last week’s picks: None 

2022 picks record: 4-2 (66.7 percent percent) 

Overall picks record: 1,213-394 (75.5 percent) 

NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class. 

Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.