During the first half of Roman Gonzalez’ trilogy fight with Juan Francisco Estrada, on Saturday night, something sad happened. ‘Chocolatito’—famous for his whirlwind, insanely high-volume attacking style—seemed reluctant to throw punches.
He’d press, get into the positions he needed to be in for much of the time, but the punches weren’t coming. On the occasions that he did throw something and was countered, he looked more bothered by taking the shots than he has usual. Estrada, on most observers’ cards, took a wide lead, and it looked worryingly like we might see the great Chocolatito fading into the end of his career in a timid, worried way.