Former pound-for-pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez has been itching to fight and get his first win since 2016, but he’ll have to take additional steps before being allowed to fight in the United States.
According to Nicaraguan newspaper La Prenza, the California State Athletic Commission has indefinitely suspended Gonzalez after being brutally knocked out by Srisaket Sor Rungvisai last September in their WBC super flyweight world title rematch.
The suspension is more of a medical one, but in order for Gonzalez to apply for a license and fight in California, he’ll have to undergo neurological exams to prove that he is healthy. The reason why Gonzalez has not done the exams yet is because he has to do them in the United States and Gonzalez has not been able to obtain a work visa as his native country of Nicaragua is going through a period of political unrest.
Gonzalez was originally supposed to fight on May 5 as part of the pay-per-view card for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin rematch in Las Vegas. After Alvarez withdrew from the fight, Golovkin moved his fight to Carson, California and Gonzalez was scheduled to fight in the HBO television co-main event, but promoter Tom Loeffler previously told Fightful that Gonzalez was unable to get the work visa in time.
Gonzalez has lost his last two fights, both to Sor Rungvisai in WBC world title bouts back in 2017, last fighting on the first HBO “Superfly” main event where he was knocked out by Rungvisai in the fourth round of their bout, handing Gonzalez his second career loss.
