Out of respect for his opponents, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez has typically refused to look beyond the task at hand. But while he has largely put on a blindfold and focused his efforts on defeating his longtime rival, Juan Francisco Estrada, the rise of Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez has been hard to ignore.
On a whim, the 22-year-old star boldly moved up in weight earlier in the year to take on Carlos Cuadras for the vacant WBC super flyweight title. Although those around Rodriguez expressed concern about his decision, the San Antonio native quickly calmed down.
On the night, Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) made it look increasingly easy in the ring, dropping his man in the third round before eking out a unanimous decision victory. For an encore, Rodriguez hit former world champion Sor Rungvisai, stopping him in the eighth round of their June 25 bout.
As buzz around Rodriguez’s name spreads and considering the sublime skills he brings to the table, Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) is fully convinced that a matchup between them would produce delicious results.
However, a fight likely won’t happen unless there’s big money on the table, because the two fighters are good friends with mutual co-promoters at Teiken Promotions and Matchroom.
“If that fight ever happened, it would be a great fight,” Gonzalez said during an interview with FightHype.com. “He is a good champion on his way up. It would be a great fight.”
Ultimately, before Gonzalez fully entertains a matchup against the up-and-coming star, he will first try to close the door on his long-running rivalry with Estrada.
For the second time in their Hall of Fame-bound careers, both Estrada and Gonzalez waged all-out war on March 3, 2021. While it appeared that Gonzalez had reclaimed his super flyweight throne, the 35-year-old was in disbelief. when Estrada was awarded the split decision win. With their series now tied at one apiece, the pair will look to prove their superiority on December 3.
