Guevara Versus Gonzalez A No-Go

By Derek Bonnett

As boxing fans anticipated digesting Vanes Martirosyan as a middleweight world title challenger replacement for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, Pedro Guevara’s clash against, recently dethroned Pound for Pound King, Roman Gonzalez should have provide a suitable appetizer to help lessen the impact of what is expected to be a forgettable main course for Gennady Golovkin. Gonzalez and Golovkin have thrice shared the spotlight in recent years, but, as of now, the Guevara-Gonzalez bout has been scrapped due to alleged promotional differences between Oswaldo Kuchle and Erik Morales.

"I received a call and the question was if I want to fight against Chocolatito and I [agreed] thinking that I have the experience and the strength to fight in super flyweight division," Guevara shared.

However, Guevara, of Maztalan, Sinaloa, Mexico, received notice yesterday that this bout would no longer be taking place, leaving a massive void on the seemingly ill-fated Cinco De Mayo card.

The opportunity was a big one for the Mexican and not just because he was a junior flyweight looking to scale his way to the super flyweight division for the first time. Guevara, a top-rated contender or champion since 2012, has had several unlucky breaks in his career, losing three world title affairs on divided scores. In his first world title try in 2012, he lost a split decision to John Riel Casimero. About two years later, he became a world champion by stopping Akira Yaegashi. After two defenses, he lost his belt on a split decision to Yu Kimura in late 2015 in Japan. He returned to Japan to reclaim his title in 2017, but lost a majority decision to Ken Shiro.

"The fights that I lost was in past," Guevara reasoned. "They helped to me to considerer to go up to another weight class because [it] was so hard to [make] 108. Now, I feel really good. I learned of those mistakes."

Without a bout since the loss to Shiro, Guevara,28, was put in a position to catapult himself beyond his former status if he could secure a victory over the Nicaraguan former world champion.

"I think he is still a good fighter," Guevara said of Gonzalez. "He only had difficult moments when he lost against Sor Rungvisai, but, in my opinion, he can be the same Roman [as] before if he wants."

Although he never fought on U.S. soil, Guevara did travel to the Forum in Inglewood, CA to support his friend and countryman Carlos Cuadras for his own bout against Gonzalez.

"It [was] like a dream come true, to fight at the StubHub Center," Guevara lamented. "Man, I was really, really excited. Roman Gonzalez as a person is a good man; he is so thankful to his people in Nicaragua. He is like a hero in there, another Alexis Arguello."

For now, Guevara is left hoping that this match-up can be revived in the near future. The opportunity, the exposure, and the rewards to be reaped could have been huge for his career. Guevara’s current record stands at 30-3-1 (17).