González simultaneously catching Viloria’s right hook and landing a short counter right-hand.

Chocolatito’s ten-fight stoppage streak ended in 2016 against 2009 amateur boxing world champion, and former world title challenger, McWilliams Arroyo (16-2-0). Arroyo had previously lost a split decision to IBF world flyweight champion, Amnat Ruenroeng. Returning to The Forum in Inglewood, California on a co-feature of the world middleweight title bout between Gennadiy Golovkin and Dominic Wade, González made a final flyweight title defense before moving up to super flyweight. González credited Arroyo with being tough and hard to catch clean, but ultimately outclassed the hard-hitting Puerto Rican over the distance, winning via wide UD (120-108 x 2, 119-109).

Román González proceeded to move up to super flyweight — seeking to become Nicaragua’s first four-weight world champion — and eventually vacated the WBC flyweight title in favour of fighting at 115.

Super Flyweight

Championship Record: 1-2-0 (0 KOs)

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly unimpressive 1-2-0 championship record; past-prime Román González displayed the true heart of a champion at super flyweight. On September 10, 2016, González challenged undefeated WBC super flyweight world champion, Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras (35-0-1), at The Forum in Inglewood. With Golovkin fighting in the UK against Britain’s Kell Brook that weekend, Chocolatito headlined an HBO card for the first time, drawing a crowd of 6,714 and an average viewership of 843,000. Cuadras had won the super flyweight title in 2014 against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai — remember the name — via eighth-round technical decision. Cuadras’ seventh defense would be the champion’s last, battling hard in a losing effort against González, but presented Chocolatito’s toughest fight since Estrada. González — cut up, swollen and fighting at an unnatural weight — narrowly outworked and outfought Cuadras in a close, competitive, brutal slugfest. Cuadras’ poor punching form allowed González to get the better of the infighting with crafty counter and combination punching. Even though Román defeated a credible champion to win a world title in a fourth weight division, and remained boxing’s #1 fighter, the Nicaraguan appeared to have lost a step since ‘prime Chocolatito’.

Chocolatito’s offensive fighting style and habit of fluctuating in weight weren’t a recipe for longevity, and the undersized 29-year-old super flyweight met an indomitable 115lb monster in March, 2017.

Sor Rungvisai I

On March 18, 2017, Gennadiy Golovkin defended the WBC, WBA, IBF unified middleweight championship of the world on HBO PPV against top 3 ranked middleweight, Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs. On the undercard, Madison Square Garden, New York witnessed arguably the greatest super flyweight fight in boxing history.

Román González (46-0-0) squared off with mandatory challenger, and former WBC super flyweight champion, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (42-4-1). It’s worth noting that, in November, 2016, González lost long-time trainer, Arnulfo Obando, when the latter suffered a fatal stroke. Chocolatito’s father, Luis González, trained the champion for the Sor Rungvisai fight. Rungvisai had previously stopped Yota Sato and José Salgado in devastating fashion, and had solely been defeated by Carlos Cuadras since 2010, but González represented a huge step-up in competition for the Thai southpaw.

On fight night, González got off to the worst possible start: dropped by a body shot — assisted by Srisaket’s head — in the first and cut over the right eye by a head clash in the third. Srisaket’s brute strength and punching power forced González through hell and back to survive. González battled on, with sheer volume and heart keeping the champion in the fight. Chocolatito’s superior speed, ring craft, and counter punching ability showed throughout, but the unstoppable force’s incessant aggression couldn’t dissuade the immovable object. In the sixth round, Srisaket eventually lost a point for headbutting, cancelling out the extra point for the knockdown earlier in the fight. Physically overmatched and drenched in blood, González emptied the tank in the final round, displaying astonishing championship mettle. González outworked Srisaket for the majority of the fight — out-landing the challenger 441-284 — but the Thai destroyer seemed to inflict the more effective damage.

After a close, hard-fought battle at the top of the sport, González’s 46-fight undefeated streak came to a controversial end. Waleska Roldan scored the fight 113-113 even, whilst Glenn Feldman and Julie Lederman both scored it 114-112 in favour of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, much to the dismay of the booing crowd. Srisaket didn’t simply win the WBC super flyweight title; he beat the prime out of an all-time great champion. González lost the title, the undefeated record, and the pound-for-pound throne, and immediately demanded a rematch.