Jonathan Gonzalez resurrected his career and pocketed an additional five figures on top of his paycheck in the process.
The former WBO 108lbs titlist was initially at a loss for words when informed by DAZN’s Claudia Trejos that he earned the $25,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus on Saturday’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) show. Gonzalez handily outpointed unbeaten Yankiel Rivera in their WBA interim flyweight title clash at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Whoooooaaa,” Gonzalez exclaimed as he was embraced by manager and reigning unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano, who headlined Saturday’s DAZN show. “I’m too happy. I’m glad. I want to come back to MVP and win a legit world championship one more time; I want to become a real two-division world champion.
The all-Puerto Rico battle saw Caguas’ Gonzalez, 29-4-1 (14 KOs), prevail by scores of 114-113, 116-111 and 117-110. The 34-year-old southpaw Gonzalez set the tone early when he floored Bayamon’s Rivera, 7-1-1 (3 KOs) – six years his junior at age 28 – with a left hand in the second round.
From there, Gonzalez remained in control in a fight in which he was a considerable underdog. Rivera – who represented Puerto Rico in the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics – was being groomed as a future flyweight titlist and thus was expected to prevail.
Gonzalez saw the fight as an opportunity to surge back into contention, more than a year removed from a first-round stoppage defeat against Anthony Olascuaga. Their October 2024 WBO 112lbs title fight originally ended in a no-contest, only for Olascuaga and head trainer Rudy Hernandez to successfully appeal the outcome and have it converted to a knockout win.
Gonzalez hadn’t won since a March 2024 decision over fellow islander Rene Santiago, who is now the unified WBA/WBO 108lbs titlist. Saturday’s upset breathed new life into his career.
“I was the underdog and I thrive on being the underdog,” insisted Gonzalez. “You can’t tell me that I can’t win the fight.
“I trained hard and I came out with the victory. You can’t underestimate ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez.”
Gonzalez-Rivera headlined a preliminary undercard on MVP’s YouTube channel preceding the main DAZN broadcast. The event was topped by Serrano’s 10-round unanimous decision win over unbeaten Reina Tellez to defend her WBA and WBO 126lbs titles in her first fight back in Puerto Rico in nearly five years.
