Character Matters

Also, the boxer is saying the right things in terms of his commitment to craft, his regimen to ready himself for the 28 year old southpaw Barriga, as well as his prediction for what will transpire in Kissimmee.

It’s not a stretch to say Puerto Rico fight fans scouring the ranks to dial in on a fighter to follow and revere give bonus points for humbleness. Trinidad, who is Gonzalez’ fave, followed by Cotto, wasn’t one to toot his own horn, chest thump and s—t talk to feed his ego. That Gonzalez sees a 2019 loss to Japanese standout Kosei Tanaka as a positive turning point in his evolution as a prize-fighter bodes well, possibly, in his quest to rise his profile.

“I was doing well in the Tanaka fight, but that weight class, 112 pounds…I saw Tanaka at the weigh in, and I thought, ‘I got this, he’s too skinny! Then, in the ring, he’s so big!’’ A body shot from a man who looked two weight classes larger than him took a lot of out him, in round two, Gonzalez recalls. He battled valiantly in Japan, hitting the deck three times in round seven, when the ref waved his hands to signal that Tanaka had retained his WBO world flyweight strap. That wasn’t just a triumph of character, either, because Gonzalez had seen the light while Tanaka marched him down. “I tried to do my best, but it was against a guy, we’re talking pound for pound,” he says. “So I decided to go down, to 108. Now, when I make 108, a few hours later, I’m 123, 124.” In other words, there’s a much better chance that he will enjoy status as the bigger, stronger man in the June 24 face-off.

This Barriga, though, stylistically, he’s quite unlike anyone Gonzalez has dealt with. The Filipino, who gets compared sometimes to Floyd Mayweather, for his superlative defense, looks like he’s very much at home in the ring. Makes sense, he comes from a fighting family, his grandfather on his mom’s side boxed professionally. Lil Mark put on the gloves and liked it at five years old. Barriga turned pro in 2016 after participating in the 2012 Olympics at mini flyweight and won his opening round bout. In 2013-2014, he got seasoning fighting for the Italian squad in the World Series of Boxing, with an eye on the 2016 Games. That didn’t play out, so he decided to go pro. Barriga fills us in on how it’s been going the last few years.

“In 2018 I earned an opportunity to fight for the vacant IBF mini flyweight world title on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder I (at Staples Center in California Dec. 1, 2018). I lost that fight via split decision. Then after that Covid happened and my mom passed away, so I stopped boxing for almost three years. I decided to do business because I didn't feel like boxing since I lost mama because she's my number one fan.” The itch returnedm to ply the trade and re-start the quest to make a considerable impression in the paid combat ranks.

He’s had two fights since the title shot chance, against middling opposition. In March 2021, Barriga defeated Junuel Lacar (8-6-3 entering) via stoppage after four rounds. In his last scrap, on Oct. 29, 2021, Barriga won a UD8 over Ramel Antaran (4-14-2 coming in). Some folks assessing this ProBox TV feature bout wonder if being off and then facing competition so inferior to the Puerto Rican won’t spell doom for the Filipino’s second attempt at a world title.

In his last fight, Gonzalez came in as the underdog against 19-1 flyweight titlist Elwin Soto, a Mexican who many assumed would exert a strength/power edge on the Caguas resident with Bronx in his blood. We asked Gonzalez, part of the All-Star Boxing stable, to clue us in why it looked like he was an improved version of the guy who’d lost a step-up to Giovani Segura in ’13 and got stopped by 14-1 Filipino Jobert Alvarez in ’16. “The Soto camp was my best training camp, I had a good eating diet, proper rest, everything. This prep, I did it perfect, other ones had little ups and downs.”

Watch the split decision back, and you’ll probably agree with the two cards giving Gonzalez a 116-112 edge, rather than the one that chose Soto and his ineffective aggression as the better man, 112-116.

“I was being more intelligent,” Gonzalez informed us. “All the fans want to see toe to toe, but sometimes can’t fight for the fans. That really was a great training camp. We need to move 12 rounds, we are not dancing, we are fighting, we keep composure, we keep jabbing.” Dealing with Soto, his feet were as useful, often more so, than his fists. He’d slide right, two two/three steps, then slide left to keep Soto guessing. “And I could have fought 20 rounds.”

You believe Gonzalez when he’s citing the reasons he looks like a different boxer against Soto than the one who faced Tanaka. For one reason, that’s because he comes off as believable, as he seems to be able to scrutinize himself, find places where he can improve. Like, against Segura…Gonzalez admits that back then, he was a different animal. Top Rank had signed him, he enjoyed the money. “I was just a little kid, I liked to drink, hang out,” he admits. “Now I’m more mature.” That comes out even when I ask about his nickname, “Bomba.” It came from a sparring partner in a camp, in Cuba, in maybe 2007. “He said I hit hard, ‘You throw a lot of bombs.’’ But maybe he took that tag to heart, he says, and instead of using more tools from the box, he focused on trying to go the flashier route. That was fighting harder, however, not smarter.

Of course, yes, Gozalez does want to be held in high regard by his homeland rooters. He sounds sensible and spot on when he reasons: “ProBox is a new thing, a lot of people find it very interesting. After this fight, the people asked about the top Puerto Rican fighters, they’ll mention me.”

Of course, yes, Gozalez does want to be held in high regard by his homeland rooters. He sounds sensible and spot on when he reasons: “ProBox is a new thing, a lot of people find it very interesting. After this fight, the people asked about the top Puerto Rican fighters, they’ll mention me.”

NOTE: ProBox TV has cards set for June 24, July 9 and August 6. Check back at ProBoxTV.com for news on those cards