Jhonny Gonzalez Pleased With Present, Speaks On Future

By Jake Donovan

It’s been quite a year for featherweight titlist Jhonny Gonzalez. The Mexican knockout artist concluded his 2011 campaign – which also included the celebration of his 30th birthday - with an emphatic 2nd round knockout of Roinet Caballero over the weekend in his hometown of Mexico City.

The win was his fourth of the year, all ending in knockout. Both streaks run even further back, dating back to September ’09. Gonzalez has racked up 11 straight knockouts since suffering a title fight loss to Toshiaki Nishioka in May ’09, a moment that was supposed to mark the end of a successful yet unstable career that included a spell as bantamweight champion.

Rather than fading into obscurity, Gonzalez has punched his way back into relevance, largely in part to a minor upset earlier this year when he knocked out Hozumi Hasegawa to win a featherweight belt. He has since defended three times, knocking out the likes of Caballero, Rogers Mtagwa and Tomas Villa in just 16 total minutes of ring time.

There have been mixed reviews to his newfound success. Some cite a marked change in his approach from the moment he leaves his stool, a refined style attributed to the addition of Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain in his corner.

Skeptics who remain unconvinced insist that it’s merely the right fighters being lined up to make Gonzalez look better than is really the case post-prime.

This fact is not lost on Gonzalez or his handlers, who merely allow his recent run to speak for itself.

“Jhonny has made his recent wins very easy, but the question still remains if he is a powerful puncher or if his opponents very easy,” acknowledges Oswaldo Kuchle, Gonzalez’ manager . “Jhonny’s liver punch is a perfect punch. I would doubt any featherweight could stand to that punch he delivered to Caballero last Saturday. In his recent bout against Tomas Villa, he broke his jaw and that is a fact.”

On whose jaw or liver he gets to land his next punch could be decided as early as next week.

Gonzalez and his handlers plan to attend the WBC Convention in Las Vegas, as is the case with most of the sanctioning body’s current titleholders. For the moment, next in line appears to be ‘champion in recess’ Elio Rojas. The Dominican used to hold the title now in Gonzalez’ possession, but was forced to vacate after separate bouts with injuries and most recently contractual issues with promoter Don King.

The plan for Team Gonzalez is to convince the WBC that – short of Rojas settling his differences in a timely fashion – they be given the opportunity to seek bigger game. Kuchle has already sent out feelers for a number of fights he believes will help elevate his fighter’s name even further.

“We have a proposal to fight Javier Fortuna, and there have also been mentions about fighting Nonito Donaire , Daniel Ponce, de Leon, Yuriorkis Gamboa or to unify with Celestino Caballero.”

However, there is a catch to pursuing fights with any of the aforementioned.

“The problem with dealing with other promoters is that they make offers for Jhonny; they forget that he holds the WBC title. If they want it they have to pay for it.”

In the meantime, Gonzalez tries to figure out how long he can continue to get his 5’8 frame to shrink down to the featherweight limit.

“I would like to make two more bouts and move up to 130 or even 135,” said Gonzalez. “I don’t want to have problems with the scale like I did when I fought at bantamweight.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter @JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .