Boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Roman Gonzalez added yet another milestone to his already-illustrious career and he doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs) had his way with the Mexican the majority of the time and while Cuadras kept things interesting throughout, he simply didn’t have enough firepower to stay in each round long enough to win the fight. Cuadras (35-1-1, 27 KOs) and the challenger engaged in thrilling back-and-forth exchanges in the championship rounds but in the end, it was “Chocolatito” who had his hand raised. All three judges favored Gonzalez, who won via tallies of 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 to wrest the belt away from Cuadras.
With snatching Cuadras’ WBC super flyweight title, Gonzalez adds it to his WBC flyweight, WBA light flyweight and WBA minimumweight championships that he’s already won.
In the HBO co-feature, the rematch of an awesome draw from earlier this year wasn’t as close as most expected. Super middleweight Yoshihiro Kamegai tore apart veteran Jesus Soto Karass from the opening bell until it was mercifully stopped. Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KOs) badly hurt his rival with a perfect shot to the liver in the opening round and the Mexican was never the same.
From there, the Japanese fighter never relinquished control of the action and pounded away at Soto Karass’s head and body. Like the grizzled vet that he is, Soto Karass (28-11-4, 18 KOs) never stopped trying to turn the tides of the fight but the years of wear and the wars he’s been in finally took their toll. Kamegai continued his assault through the eighth, where he scored a knockdown. When the round concluded, Soto Karass’s corner did the right thing and threw in the towel, bringing the brutal beating – and possibly Soto Karass’s fighting career – to an end.