Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez is open to fighting Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez for the right money. if the fight happens, it would be another older great that the 24-year-old ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) could add to his resume.
If ‘Bam’ Rodriguez loses this fight to Roman Gonzalez, it would be a crushing blow to his career, proving that he was never as good as people thought. Bam looked poor against Israel Gonzalez, the last talented younger fighter he fought before moving on to Sunny Edwards and Juan Francisco Estrada.
It doesn’t prove that Bam would have beaten any of them in their primes, but it’s good for his career and pocketbook to beat the older lions like Chocolatito before he retires.
“Anything can happen; we are in the same promoter; it depends on a negotiation; if they pay me well, I will face Bam and go all out, “I still have good cartridges left,” said Chocolatito Gonzalez to Levin Luna, on his tentative interest in fighting Jesse Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is coming off a seventh-round knockout win over boxing great Juan Francisco Estrada on June 29th in Phoenix, Arizona.
The 34-year-old Estrada hadn’t fought in two years and appeared to have visibly aged since his last outing against Chocolatito on December 3rd, 2022. He looked poor and past it in that fight, and the judges gave him a controversial twelve-round decision that he in no way appeared to deserve.
The 37-year-old former four-division world champion ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs) is taking a tune-up this Friday, July 12th, against Colombian journeyman Rober Barrera (27-5, 17 KOs) in a ten-round contest at the Polideportivo Alexis Argüello in Managua, Nicaragua.
This is a fight to get the cobwebs off Chocolatito’s game, as he hasn’t fought since his loss to Juan Estrada in 2022 and is likely ring rusty. It’s unclear what Roman Gonzalez’s end game is for returning to the ring after two years. When a fighter as old as Chocolatito sits out for that long, one questions their motivation for the sport.
Bam Rodriguez’s History with Older Fighters
Carlos Cuadras
Juan Francisco Estrada
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
