Boxing results, roundup: ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez shines again; Jose Ramirez returns with important win

For roughly a decade, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez has been the kind of fighter celebrated by “true fight fans.” On Saturday night, Gonzalez showed that those same fans may be watching him ply his trade in the ring for years to come, picking apart and breaking down Julio Cesar Martinez for a wide decision win in their super flyweight clash.

This past weekend did not feature the same packed schedule of big fights as the previous month, but there was still plenty of action worth catching up on. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the three biggest things to know coming out of the boxing weekend, including another wonderful performance by the ageless Chocolatito and a thrilling three-round war.

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Chocolate reminds of his greatness

Boxing fans and media can be quick to write a fighter off with one or two losses. That happened to Gonzalez when he lost back-to-back fights to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017. Having won world titles across four weight classes while bringing significant attention to the often-overlooked lightest weight divisions in the sport, Gonzalez’s place as an all- time great was already secure. Rather than fade away after the losses to Sor Rungvisai, Gonzalez simply got back to dominating opposition, up until he lost a highly-controversial split decision to Juan Francisco Estrada in March 2021. When a poor training camp due to lingering effects from a bout with COVID-19 forced Road out of the rematch, Martinez stepped up.

Younger and with a furious offensive attack, Martinez was viewed as a real threat to Gonzalez on Saturday night, even after he failed to make weight on Friday and was forced to weigh in again on Saturday morning to move the fight ahead. Instead of youth being Martinez’s friend, his lack of experience against the true elite of the sport was on display as Gonzalez handed out a brutal boxing lesson. Martinez had nothing to offer while Gonzalez was overwhelmed to score a clear unanimous decision.

Gonzalez is as in demand as ever 54 fights into his incredible career. Next up could be massive fights with either Estrada or Naoya Inoue, either bout an opportunity to write yet another incredible chapter in an already all-time great career.

A three-round war

Mauricio Lara is fast becoming a must-see fighter at featherweight. On the Chocolatito undercard, Lara battled Emilio Sanchez and the two wasted little time in throwing themselves into a wild brawl. Lara largely dominated the fight, but Sanchez did good work to the body while also hurting Lara and starting to see some daylight as Lara’s aggression and the body work started to cause the favored fighter to fade.

The fight came to a dramatic close with Lara catching Sanchez with a brutal flurry at the end of the third round, sending him crashing to the canvas with a bell-beating knockout. There’s no excuse for any boxing fan to miss out on catching a replay of these three rounds of brutal action.

Jose Ramirez gets back in the win column

After suffering the first loss of his professional career in a four-belt unification bout with Josh Taylor in May 2021, Ramirez returned to the ring on Friday night looking to get his career back on the right track. Ramirez was able to do just that, outworking Jose Pedraza to pick up a unanimous decision win and a WBO trinket at junior welterweight. The fight was not a soft touch return to the ring for Ramirez, with Pedraza giving a solid effort throughout and making Ramirez work to edge out the fight on the scorecards.

Interestingly, Taylor is set to vacate his four world titles at 140 pounds and move up to welterweight after a universally rejected split decision win over Jack Catterall on Feb. 26. Ramirez, who’d lost the WBO and WBC belts to Taylor, now has a path to becoming world champion once again that doesn’t involve needing to catch up to Taylor. Now, the path to the top of the division may run through Ramirez.