Tom Loeffler Explains Why “Chocolatito” Isn’t On GGG May 5 Card
Many had believed former world champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez’s next fight would take place on May 5, but Gonzalez will now have to wait a bit longer for his next fight.
Promoter Tom Loeffler spoke to Boxing Scene and said the current political unrest in Gonzalez’s home country of Nicaragua prevented him from being able to compete on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin‘s next fight on May 5 as originally intended. Golovkin is currently scheduled to defend his WBA and WBC middleweight titles against Vanes Martirosyan on HBO.
“[Gonzalez’s] manager, Carlos Blandon, sent us an email on Tuesday to myself and Mr. [Akihiro] Honda that because of the political unrest they weren’t able to complete the Visa and his passport. The U.S. consulate is having issues down there. That was a last minute occurrence down there,” Loeffler said.
Blandon has stated in the past that he and Gonzalez were aiming for a May return to the ring and to have Gonzalez fight on the undercard of Golovkin’s May 5 fight against Canelo Alvarez before the fight got scrapped due to Alvarez’s suspension.
There has been a number of names being thrown around for Gonzalez’s return opponent. It’s unknown if the fight will be for the vacant WBO super flyweight title, but Blandon also stated that Gonzalez’s focus is not an immediate world title opportunity. Gonzalez is currently ranked in the WBO’s top 3 in its super flyweight rankings.
Gonzalez is coming off two straight losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, both times for the WBC super flyweight title. Gonzalez lost to Sor Rungvisai on the undercard Golovkin’s pay-per-view fight against Daniel Jacobs in March 2017. In the rematch last year, Gonzalez was knocked out by Sor Rungvisai in the main event of HBO’s first “Superfly” special event.
