Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez Returns Victorious

Originally posted on Dice City Sports | By Robert LaMar | Last updated Jul 13, 2024 6:49 AM ET

One of the best little man of all time in boxing has been away from boxing for over two years. What better way to come back into the ring than to come back home. Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez secured his first win in more than two years as he stopped Colombia’s Rober Barrera in the 10th round. The former four-division titlist scored two knockdowns as part of a strong second half surge. A final flurry of punches had Barrera trapped, which forced the stoppage less than a minute into the 10th round Friday evening from Polideportivo Alexis Arguello in Managua, Nicaragua.

Gonzalez dominant victory shows that he came back to show the world that he’s not going to slow down. The win was the first for Gonzalez since his Feb. 2022 near-shutout of Julio Cesar Martinez in San Diego, California.

¡Grande el regreso de Román “Chocolatito” González! #GonzalezBarrera (vía @espnknockout) pic.twitter.com/olKwKWdmYs

— Top Rank en Español (@trboxeo) July 13, 2024

Early in the fight Roman Gonzalez was starting to break down Barrera and that would be a theme throughout the fight. The biggest question would be how long would it take for Barrera to give in to the pressure.

The begging of the end

Without a doubt Gonzalez had Barrera in bad trouble at the start of the ninth. Barrera was trapped in a corner, where Gonzalez landed a series of punches upstairs. Two right hands and a left hook sent Barrera to the canvas, enough to seemingly end the fight. The referee once again allowed the action to continue once Barrera made it to his feet. Gonzalez went back on the hunt but once again ran out of time. Going in for the kill, Gonzalez continued his onslaught and finally the referee came in to stop the fight in the 10th round. With this impressive win, a new pursuit of a championship in a 5th different weight class is in full effect.

This article first appeared on Dice City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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