Roman Gonzalez is headed for a unification bout with Juan Francisco Estrada in the summer. (Al Bello, Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS — The best fighter in the world is going to stay active.
Roman Gonzalez will return in February or March, the fighter’s manager Carlos Blandon told USA TODAY Sports. The fight could take place in Japan where Gonzalez has competed many times (he’s promoted by Teiken, which is based there). Or, it could fall in America, and if it does, the bout would be televised by HBO, the network that has shown Chocolatito’s last two fights.
“(Donnie) Nietes isn’t going to give much of a challenge, but if he wants to and the money’s right, we’ll go for him,”said Blandon, responding to rumors that fight could be next. “A defense will be next, just to build up the hype, and then probably El Gallo (Juan Francisco Estrada) mid-year. But we want to build it up a little. HBO, for sure.”
The rematch with Estrada, whom Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs) decisioned in 2012 in a 108-pound fight, is one of the best matchups that can be made in the sport. Estrada has scored seven consecutive victories since the defeat and is on many pound-for-pound lists. The bout appears to be on track for the summer in what figures to be Gonzalez’s toughest test yet.
“I think that El Gallo Estrada is a good fighter and a good champion,” Gonzalez, a native of Nicaragua, said through Blandon. “(Naoya) Inoue, I would love to fight, but apparently he’s going to go up in weight so I may not be able to fight him.”
Gonzalez, BoxingJunkie’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, made his HBO debut in May with a second-round KO of Edgar Sosa. The WBC flyweight champion followed up with a stellar performance vs. Brian Viloria, a ninth-round TKO last month. Both bouts have been co-features under Gennady Golovkin and that’s be design.
K2’s Tom Loeffler, who promotes GGG, is now Gonzalez’s American promoter and has been building him up alongside his budding star from Kazakhstan.
“I think Roman has proven after two co-features, I think he’s proven with all the fans he brought in specifically for him, he can carry his own show in the future,” Loeffler said. “So I’ll have those discussions with HBO. He can carry his own HBO show.”
Estrada (33-2, 24 KOs) holds two belts at 112 pounds, and a unification bout with Gonzalez could be Chocolatito’s first headliner.
“That would have to, at this point, have to be considered a main event fight,” Loeffler said. “That’s a great fight. The first fight was a tremendous fight and the rematch would be on a bigger level.”