Roman Gonzalez Appreciation Thread

[a guy]

Roman "El Chocolatito" Gonzalez is the best boxer alive. After the masterclass he put on last night, he's 43-0 with 37 stoppages and has finished his past 9 opponents. Gonzalez is a 3 division champ and the current WBC flyweight champion. Check it out.

First knockdown from last night

Spoiler

Second knockdown

Spoiler

Stoppage

Spoiler

And his past few fights.

 

[zapataxiv]

hell yea about time
heres a good fight that got left out of the op

Roman has been becoming my favorite fighter as of late, everything he does is perfect and it is filtered through his own lens of come forward aggression and devastating combos.
not to mention that he has some of the most impressive punching in boxing right now, the straight right to the left uppercut is easily of his most devastating combos and the way he can decimate people with it like he did to lobito or how he can make it a softer combo and use it to get around opponents or set up his amazing left hook.
talking about his left hook though it is bperfect and i love the little hop he puts into it man roman is one of those guys whre i sit to watch him fight and the whole time im just sitting there looking like the weebay.gif


this is one of my favorite vids i love the way he hits the bag you can see everything he does in the ring there but its done so slow and controlled he really is a master of his craft.

his shadowboxing vid is fantastic as well the fluidity of his feet and the way he mixes it all together is just mind boggling to me

my next project is to delve deeper into arguello's career and see where his fingerprints were left on gonzalez style

 

[Sano]

Ah, so he is the guy there is talk about Inoue facing. Gotta have to watch more of his fights, don't think Inoue is ready for him, he looks very sharp.

But who knows. Inoue will have the size advantage and if he can continoue to improve and come back after his injury, he might have a shot. Crazy to think he is the #1 super flyweight in the world at 22 years old with only 8 pro fights.

 

[a guy]

hell yea about time
heres a good fight that got left out of the op

Roman has been becoming my favorite fighter as of late, everything he does is perfect and it is filtered through his own lens of come forward aggression and devastating combos.
not to mention that he has some of the most impressive punching in boxing right now, the straight right to the left uppercut is easily of his most devastating combos and the way he can decimate people with it like he did to lobito or how he can make it a softer combo and use it to get around opponents or set up his amazing left hook.
talking about his left hook though it is bperfect and i love the little hop he puts into it man roman is one of those guys whre i sit to watch him fight and the whole time im just sitting there looking like the weebay.gif


this is one of my favorite vids i love the way he hits the bag you can see everything he does in the ring there but its done so slow and controlled he really is a master of his craft.

his shadowboxing vid is fantastic as well the fluidity of his feet and the way he mixes it all together is just mind boggling to me

my next project is to delve deeper into arguello's career and see where his fingerprints were left on gonzalez style

Great post. I love that knockout of Lobito, but I hit the image limit in my post haha!

He's easily my favorite boxer right now. Nobody transitions between offense and defense so fluidly. He's never out of position, always at the right distance and always ready to punish the other guy. Last night, he made Sosa shadowbox at him. He forces you to make mistakes, and as soon as you make a mistake in front of him you get hurt. Outstanding and intelligent punch selection, great mechanics and a variety of set ups make him an extraordinarily dangerous fighter. He's as dominant as dominant gets.

Edit: that part in bold would be extremely interesting.

 

[Steve08]

Damn, looks like I gotta check out more of this dude.

 

[a guy]

Damn, looks like I gotta check out more of this dude.

Did you see his fight last night? The numbers alone are ridiculous: El Chocolatito landed 72 punches compared to 14 by Sosa. 55% accuracy compared to 14%. You see that shit playing Fight Night, not in real life.

 

[Sinister]

Someone in the boxing section tried to argue with me that Floyd should still be #1 P4P just because he's still winning, and saying that the fact that Gonzalez is beating the living fuck out of most of his opponents is meaningless.

 

[a guy]

Ah, so he is the guy there is talk about Inoue facing. Gotta have to watch more of his fights, don't think Inoue is ready for him, he looks very sharp.

But who knows. Inoue will have the size advantage and if he can continoue to improve and come back after his injury, he might have a shot. Crazy to think he is the #1 super flyweight in the world at 22 years old with only 8 pro fights.

Check him out, you'll be amazed. By skill alone he should be the biggest name in boxing right now if you ask me. He crushes people, and he does it without getting hit clean.

A fight against Inoue would be awesome. He controls distance well, has sharp counters, attacks on subtle angles and has some killer body punches. I think Gonzalez beats him though.

 

[a guy]

Someone in the boxing section tried to argue with me that Floyd should still be #1 P4P just because he's still winning, and saying that the fact that Gonzalez is beating the living fuck out of most of his opponents is meaningless.

That's crazy. HOW he wins is what really makes him stand out. He made Sosa look silly last night. I mean 55% accuracy to 14% accuracy. He's been fighting pro about half as long as mayweather but only has 5 less fights. His KO percentage is like 85% and I think his fights last an average of something like 4 rounds. All of that is without even watching him fight. Just looking at the things he does in the ring puts him comfortably ahead of Floyd in my opinion. All wins are definitely not equal, and mauling people without getting touched is worth a lot more than outpointing them for 12 rounds--no matter how skillfully that outpointing is done.

 

[PivotPunch]

Someone in the boxing section tried to argue with me that Floyd should still be #1 P4P just because he's still winning, and saying that the fact that Gonzalez is beating the living fuck out of most of his opponents is meaningless.

I don't think it's that far fetched. it depends on hwo you rank p4p and what weight you give skills, domination in their respective divisions, recent resume, the way they win p4p is a pretty abstract thing so you can make an argument for Mayweather being #1 p4p

 

[Sano]

Check him out, you'll be amazed. By skill alone he should be the biggest name in boxing right now if you ask me. He crushes people, and he does it without getting hit clean.

A fight against Inoue would be awesome. He controls distance well, has sharp counters, attacks on subtle angles and has some killer body punches. I think Gonzalez beats him though.

Haha I just really like Inoue. He is exciting as hell, has huge power, great body punching(which I very much enjoy), great at mixing up his shots and adjust power, great range and that fiery Japanese spirit. One thing that worries me is he get's hit too much when he doesn't have to, and is often not in a great position when he does, exactly because of that spirit. I will always root for him though!

However, given that you speak so highly of Gonzalez and the small clips I've seen of him, he seems very skilled and look very fluid and sharp, and as you say, has great positioning.

It's sleepy time over here but I will definitely watch the videos after I come home tomorrow.

 

[Sinister]

I don't think it's that far fetched. it depends on hwo you rank p4p and what weight you give skills, domination in their respective divisions, recent resume, the way they win p4p is a pretty abstract thing so you can make an argument for Mayweather being #1 p4p

Skill, domination, recent resume, the way they win...yeah, all Gonzalez. People who rank Floyd, I find with questioning, are more doing so because who he beats are people they know very well and already think higher of. It's tough to make a case for smaller guys when people just do not recognize how good they really are because they don't know a lot about them. And I mean Gonzalez' opposition as much as I mean himself.

 

[Steve08]

Did you see his fight last night? The numbers alone are ridiculous: El Chocolatito landed 72 punches compared to 14 by Sosa. 55% accuracy compared to 14%. You see that shit playing Fight Night, not in real life.

nah I was out partying until like 2am lol.

I've actually never seen any of this man's fights though, unfortunately. That sounds like a mistake on my part.

Those stats are pretty bonkers, but re: p4p I would mention that Floyd forced Marquez into similar punch numbers at times, even if he didn't KO him. At any rate, my point in saying that is standard of competition could also be a factor in ranking Floyd p4p #1 still. I have to admit that I'm not familiar with Gonzalez's weight class or his opponents either though so it is possible that I'm speaking prematurely.

 

[Discipulus]

I don't know that I can put Gonzalez ahead of Floyd either. I fucking love Chocolatito, and I think he's probably #2 or #3 p4p right now, but Floyd just beat Pacquiao, and that's definitely an achievement worthy of the #1 slot. Then there's also Wladimir Klitschko in the mix, who has been knocking off the best heavyweights in the world recently. Pulev, Jennings, and Povetkin are all top notch heavies, and if Wlad beats Fury (which is actually a big "if") then he'll be an ironclad top 3 as well.

The way I see it, Floyd is #1, Gonzalez is #2, and Wlad is #3.

 

[Sinister]

Floyd beat Pacquiao...after Marquez pancaked him.

 

[PivotPunch]

Floyd beat Pacquiao...after Marquez pancaked him.

yeah but styles make fights and Marquez fought every version of Pacquiao and gave him hell/beat him. And the 4th Marquez fight was close Marquez took a lot of damage as well and Pacquiao was winning on points and Floyd doesn't have Marquez power.
Even SRR had Jake Lamotta and vernon Forrest lost to fucking Mayorga twice.

 

[Sinister]

The point is that I don't think Pacquiao has enough clout to put Floyd over like that after getting slept dramatically. He's just more famous.

 

[Discipulus]

The point is that I don't think Pacquiao has enough clout to put Floyd over like that after getting slept dramatically. He's just more famous.

Pacquiao also beat Tim Bradley twice around the same time and had beaten Marquez before (though he really should've lost the third fight as well). And it's not just Pacquiao--though beating a hall-of-fame shoe-in and all-time great shouldn't ever be taken lightly. Floyd also has recent wins over Canelo, Cotto, and other very good or great fighters. Gonzalez's recent wins, on the other hand, have been against badly outmatched competition. Sosa is past his best, Valentin Leon is a middle-of-the-pack journeyman, and Rockey Fuentes was coming off a loss to Amnat Ruenroeng.

Legacy and resume come into it some, but at a certain point we have to rank a guy based on his most recent accomplishments, and I think beating Pacquiao easily outstrips Gonzalez's trifecta of tune-up fights, even if he's been more active.

 

[Sano]

So I watched a few of his fights.

At first I was a bit hesitant. I mean, he stands very square, he doesn't take big angles and he is always within an opponents reach. However, as time went on, I saw how it tied perfectly into his style.

He is great at blocking, parrying, catching and deflecting blows. Which he has to be considering he is so close and provides a big target. This is however the reason why he is in such good position at all times. He doesn't compromise it at all. He keeps coming forward and he is like a fine tuned machine. He does a lot of subtle things in his defensive and he reads his opponents incredible well. He has power, but he is patient. He breaks them down and almost never takes a step back.

You have to take a second look at him, but he is a very dangerous guy. Not flashy at all, but he is so smooth and consistent.

Very interesting and quite unique style. Pretty rare you see guys like him that never sacrifice position and also constantly stays within range. Again, very interesting.

 

[Sinister]

Pacquiao also beat Tim Bradley twice around the same time and had beaten Marquez before (though he really should've lost the third fight as well). And it's not just Pacquiao--though beating a hall-of-fame shoe-in and all-time great shouldn't ever be taken lightly. Floyd also has recent wins over Canelo, Cotto, and other very good or great fighters. Gonzalez's recent wins, on the other hand, have been against badly outmatched competition. Sosa is past his best, Valentin Leon is a middle-of-the-pack journeyman, and Rockey Fuentes was coming off a loss to Amnat Ruenroeng.

Legacy and resume come into it some, but at a certain point we have to rank a guy based on his most recent accomplishments, and I think beating Pacquiao easily outstrips Gonzalez's trifecta of tune-up fights, even if he's been more active.

Gonzalez recent wins are filling out into a weight division and posturing to challenge Inoue, also Leon's loss to Ruenroeng is nothing to be ashamed of, that kid is still undefeated currently and beat Zou Shiming, and Ruenrong didn't waste him the way roman did. These fights also all happened damn near within 6 months of each other. You're comparing that to over 3 years worth of fights from Floyd. I don't think that's very fair. And I still think you're putting too much stock into Pacquiao. He's not looked the same since the KO loss, which is why I emphasize it so much.