Roman Gonzalez pounds out victory over Israel Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Estrada next

Who’s old?

33-year-old WBA super flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (50-2, 41 KOs) gave up 10 years but little else to challenger Israel “Jiga” Gonzalez last night – retaining his title with a mostly dominant performance at TV Azteca Studios in Mexico City.

Scores were 118-110, 116-112, and 117-111.

Israel Gonzalez (25-4, 11 KOs) had some success in the early going against the four-division champion, peppering him with hooks and a few uppercuts, but once Chocolatito found his rhythm, he began to breakdown the challenger with punches in bunches.

Chocolatito captured the WBA belt last year with a dramatic ninth round stoppage over favoured Kal Yafai. Some predicted that the Yafai fight would be the swan song for the future Hall of Famer, but Chocolatito, who had been brutally knocked out by Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017, fought extremely well.

The victory over Israel Gonzalez was his fourth in a row – setting up a mouth-watering rematch against WBC titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada, whom he edged in an exciting battle eight years ago.