Undefeated Nicaraguan fighter Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (39-0) goes for a world title in a 3rd weight class as he takes on WBC Flyweight Champion Akira Yaegashi (20-3) in Tokyo, Japan on September 5th. Yaegashi is a two weight class world champion as well, and he will be making the fourth defense of his WBC belt. Expect a pretty close line, with Gonzalez the likely favorite by a good margin.
Gonzalez has been campaigning at flyweight for several fights now, and he has retained his power as he has ended four fights before the final bell since moving up. What may be more important is that two of Gonzalez’ last three fights have been in Japan. In his last outing, against Juan Purisima, he scored a 3rd round TKO, and the match was on the undercard of Yaegashi’s title defense against Odilon Zaleta. Despite his impressive record and wealth of international experience, Gonzalez is still just 27 years old and he has his eyes on what Yaegashi has for a long time.
Yaegashi will not go easily however. He lost the WBC and WBA minimum weight titles to Kazuto Ioka in a match that saw him finish with both of his eyes shut, but he has been a perfect 5-0 since making the jump to flyweight. Yaegashi is known for his aggression and he is eager to keep his name among the best in the world at Flyweight. the promoters have been building the fight up.
In a distinctly oriental twist, there is very little animosity between the two fighters, as both men have made comments about how much they respect each other. They even made an in ring appearance together, and what you can see is again, respect between the two men.
Gonzalez especially is considered to have potential as one of the next pound for pound greats, and what that requires is for him to continue winning against good opponents. Yaegashi is driven by a desire to keep his belt and to prove that he should not be overlooked. The motivation here for both men appears to be the competition itself, which is a refreshing change from what boxing can sometimes become. Look for a hell of a fight come September, with yaegashi warranting a look if he opens up as too big of an underdog.
