Sor Runvisai upsets Gonzalez in 12 round war
By Anthony "Zute" George
In an early candidate for fight of the year, Sirsaket Sor Runvisai scored a majority decision victory over pound-for-pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez at the legendary Madision Square Garden in New York City Saturday night.
Sor Runvisai got off to a quick start by sending Gonzalez to the canvas was a sneaky body shot.
Gonzalez suffered a cut from an unintentional headbutt in round three. A bad cut that cutman Miguel Diaz was never able to get under control. Gonzalez however, did begin to get under control, doing what he does best, engage in furious toe to toe action, telephone booth style. Gonzalez appeared to win the next few rounds, but Sor Runvisia kept coming, and appeared to enjoy the raw violence just as much as Gonzalez.
As the blood kept flowing down the side of Chocolatito’s face, so did the violence. The ebb and flow of the fight made it a difficult one to score.
When the bell rang to end the fight, the capacity crowd at the Garden appeared to
favor Gonzalez, as did the HBO crew. However, the only opinions that mattered were that of the three judges and they saw it a different way.
Waleska Roldan, who is a female Michael Buffer, scored the fight 113-113. Her score was overruled by judges Glen Feldman and Julie Lederman by identical scores of 114-112 for Sor Runvisiai. The crowd was not happy about the decision and voiced their displeasure.
The plasma leaking from Roman’s face for most of the fight could have influenced the way the judges scored. It has been said that judges often score blood. This fight could be considered a candidate for such a circumstance.
A second headbutt in the middle rounds, which cost Sor Runvisai a point, opened Gonzalez’ cut even worse and nothing was ever done to stop it. By the end of the fight, Gonzalez’ face was a bloody mess.
With that said, his spirit was never broken and Chocolatito continued to press the action. But Sor Runvisai was just as spirited and gave just as good as he got for 12 rounds. It was the kind of fight were everyone wins, but one fighter had to be a loser.
Gonzalez did not take the roll of loser to well. It was the first of his career and he stormed out of the ring when he realized he was on the wrong side of a close decision. With the victory Sor Runvisai captures the WBC 115-pound title.
Sor Runvisia seemed open for a rematch. Gonzalez may have his sights set for the 118 pound division, as reports of his struggles to make 115 is well documented.
Latest
SecondsOut Weekly Newsletter
Permission Statement
If you accept, we will process your data to fulfil this purpose.
