By Norm Frauenheim–
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Roman Gonzalez is rapidly moving up the scale in weight, skipping seamlessly from belt to belt like a flat stone on a championship pond.
His ascendancy is what makes him the lightest fighter to ever gain pound-for-pound recognition on an unbeaten path that figures continue Saturday night at The Forum in his bid for a title in a fourth weight class against WBC 115-pound champion Carl Cuadras on HBO (10 p.m. ET/PT).
Gonzalez is considered the biggest little man ever in terms of skill and stature. But not in dollars. Nothing has changed at the top of the pay scale for the lightest weights in nearly a quarter of a century. Michael Carbajal and Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez are still there.
In a significant test of his marketability, Roman Gonzalez is the headliner on a card in the same arena where Carbajal became the first fighter lighter than 128 pounds to collect the $1 million milestone in a February, 1994 rematch that Chiquita Gonzalez won in a split decision more than 22 years ago.
It was supposed to be the fight that opened the door, or at least the vault, for fighters who had traditionally paid a bloody price for a chance at boxing’s version of the minimum wage.
A sign that a new, enhanced payday had finally arrived was in The Forum crowd. It was announced at 15,102. Magic Johnson was there. It was good day to be a Lord of the Flies. Nine months later, in November 1994, Chiquita got his seven figures, collecting $1 million for another close decision in front of an estimated crowd of 30,000 at a Mexico City bullring.
But in the years since the Lakers packed up Showtime and moved from The Forum to Staples, those paychecks have never be equalled. Not even close.
Make no mistake, Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KOs), who is favored to become the first Nicaraguan to win a fourth title against Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KOs), has begun to make a very good living.
Over his last two fights, his cumulative income is a reported $550,000, $250,000 for a stoppage of Brian Viloria last October and a career-high $300,000 for an April stoppage of McWilliams Arroyo.
It’s comfortable, but still nearly half of what Carbajal and Humberto Gonzalez collected in single fights against each other a lot of inflation ago. It’s also a wage not associated with the acknowledged leader in the pound-for-pound debate.
There’s been some serious deflation in money and expectations since casual fans headed for the exits in the wake of the disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao bout in May 2015. But not even the Mayweather-Pacquiao dud explains it. Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, second or third to Roman Gonzalez in pound-for-pound ratings, is reportedly getting $5 million against Kell Brook Saturday in London in an HBO-televised bout that will precede Roman Gonzalez-Cuadras.
Roman Gonzalez purse has yet to be disclosed, but it’s safe to say it’ll be a fraction of Golovkin’s purse and probably won’t equal the bar set by Carbajal and Humberto Gonzalez in history’s richest 108-pound trilogy.
Both history and money lead to the same place. Roman Gonzalez still needs a rival, a business partner. Without one, he is Ricardo Lopez, perhaps history’s greatest little fighter, yet without ever getting a check that approached the kind of money collected by Carbajal and Gonzalez.
Maybe, Japanese prodigy Naoya Inoue is the other half of a partnership that can unlock all of financial potential evident in the pound-for-pound skill, poise and power that Roman Gonzalez has consistently exhibited in his ongoing introduction to the American market.
There were reports that Inoue planed to be at ringside at The Forum Saturday, a week after his 10th-round stoppage of Petchbarnghborn Kotietgym in Japan for a 115-pound title. However, there were also reports of injuries to Inoue, who appeared to hurt his right hand in his latest victory. Roman Gonzalez can only hope Inoue is healthy. For now, a healthy Inoue might be the only way he can also move up that pay scale.
