Humberto González (born March 25, 1966) is a Mexican former professional boxing champion. He held the WBC three times, IBF and Lineal Jr. Flyweight titles. He was nicknamed Chiquita.
Humberto González | |
|---|---|
 Humberto González (left) with Pakistan boxing official Nauman Shah | |
| Born | March 25, 1966 Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico |
| Other names | Chiquita |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Light flyweight |
| Height | 5 ft 1 in (155 cm) |
| Reach | 65 in (165 cm) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 46 |
| Wins | 43 |
| Wins by KO | 30 |
| Losses | 3 |
Professional career
editGonzalez made his professional boxing debut on September 1, 1984 in Mexico City with a four round decision win over Jorge Ortega Perez. Little over three months later, he had his first knockout win, as he beat Narciso Perez in the first round.
By the end of 1987, Gonzalez was 20-0 and held the Mexico light-flyweight title.
In 1988, he won four fights, all by knockout. He retained the national belt against Jose Luis Zepeda in six rounds at Tijuana, and Javier Vazquez, beaten in five at Mexico City.
His next fight, on June 25, 1989, brought two firsts to his career: Celebrated in Chonju, South Korea, it was his first fight abroad. Being for the WBC world Jr. Flyweight championship, it was also his first world title try. Gonzalez outpointed world champion Yul-Woo Lee over 12 rounds to crown himself world champion. On December 9, he again fought in South Korea, retaining his world championship against former champion and future hall of fame member Jung-Koo Chang by a decision in 12. Chang had previously defended the same title a then division record 15 times before vacating it following a brief retirement the year prior.
In 1990, Gonzalez retained the title four times, including a win against future champion Francisco Tejedor, but on December 19, he suffered a shocking defeat to Rolando Pascua, a boxer who was unknown to most boxing experts, in Inglewood. The knockout in round six suffered by Gonzalez that night cost him the world title.
After a win in 1991, Gonzalez recovered the world title, by defeating the man who had taken the world championship away from Pascua: Melchor Cob Castro. Gonzalez and Castro met on June 3 at Las Vegas, and Gonzalez won a 12 round decision.
In 1992, he retained the title four times, beating Castro in a rematch, reigning Olympic flyweight gold medalist Kim Kwang-sun, Domingo Sosa and former world champion Napa Kiatwanchai.
By then, talks about a superfight between him and IBF world champion Michael Carbajal were common among boxing fans. The fight, which came on March 13, 1993, was the first million-dollar fight in Jr. Flyweight boxing history (both fighters were guaranteed one million dollars in earnings) and also the first Jr. Flyweight fight in history to head a Pay Per View boxing card. In front of many Hollywood stars and thousands of fans at the arena, Gonzalez dropped Carbajal in rounds two and five, but Carbajal recovered to knock Gonzalez out in round seven.[1] He finished the year with two ten round decision wins, including one against Pablo Tiznado, a boxer who also fought against Alex Sanchez.
Carbajal and Gonzalez met in a rematch February 19, 1994 at Inglewood, and the second time around, Gonzalez became a three time world Jr. Flyweight champion by beating Carbajal by decision in 12.[2] With that win, he joined an exclusive group of boxers who have been world champions three times or more in the same division, alongside such others as Muhammad Ali, Carlos De León, Evander Holyfield and Sugar Ray Robinson. Gonzalez won two more fights, one a non-title bout, and the other a title defense versus Juan Domingo Córdoba. Then, on November 12 of the same year, he and Carbajal had a rubber match, this time in Mexico City. Gonzalez again prevailed, on points over 12 rounds.
After retaining the title once in 1995, on July 15 of that year, he fought for the last time. Again, he dropped his rival, Saman Sorjaturong, a couple of times before being knocked out in round seven to lose his world title.
Professional boxing record
edit| 46 fights | 43 wins | 3 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 30 | 3 |
| By decision | 13 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Loss | 43–3 | Saman Sorjaturong | TKO | 7 (12), 0:58 | Jul 15, 1995 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Lost WBC and IBF light flyweight titles |
| 45 | Win | 43–2 | Jesus Zuniga | KO | 5 (12), 1:26 | Mar 31, 1995 | Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California, U.S. | Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles |
| 44 | Win | 42–2 | Michael Carbajal | MD | 12 | Nov 12, 1994 | Plaza de Toros México, Mexico City, Mexico | Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles |
| 43 | Win | 41–2 | Juan Domingo Córdoba | RTD | 7 (12), 3:00 | Sep 10, 1994 | Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles |
| 42 | Win | 40–2 | Armando Diaz | TKO | 3 (10) | Jul 8, 1994 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | |
| 41 | Win | 39–2 | Michael Carbajal | SD | 12 | Feb 19, 1994 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Won WBC and IBF light flyweight titles |
| 40 | Win | 38–2 | Armando Diaz | UD | 10 | Nov 17, 1993 | Caesars Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 39 | Win | 37–2 | Pablo Tiznado | UD | 10 | Aug 28, 1993 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | |
| 38 | Loss | 36–2 | Michael Carbajal | KO | 7 (12), 2:59 | Mar 13, 1993 | Hilton Hotel, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. | Lost WBC light flyweight title; For IBF light flyweight title |
| 37 | Win | 36–1 | Melchor Cob Castro | UD | 12 | Dec 7, 1992 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 36 | Win | 35–1 | Napa Kiatwanchai | KO | 2 (12), 2:48 | Sep 14, 1992 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 35 | Win | 34–1 | Kwang-sun Kim | TKO | 12 (12), 0:55 | Jun 7, 1992 | Olympic Fencing Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 34 | Win | 33–1 | Domingo Sosa | UD | 12 | Jan 27, 1992 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 33 | Win | 32–1 | Melchor Cob Castro | UD | 12 | Jun 3, 1991 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Won WBC light flyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 31–1 | Rey Hernandez | KO | 9 (10) | Mar 15, 1991 | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | |
| 31 | Loss | 30–1 | Rolando Pascua | KO | 6 (12), 2:24 | Dec 19, 1990 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Lost WBC light flyweight title |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Jorge Rivera | TKO | 9 (12), 1:37 | Aug 25, 1990 | Plaza de Toros, Cancún, Mexico | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Jung Keun Lim | TKO | 5 (12), 0:34 | Jul 23, 1990 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Luis Monzote | TKO | 3 (12), 0:54 | Jun 4, 1990 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Francisco Tejedor | KO | 3 (12), 0:31 | Mar 24, 1990 | Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Jung-koo Chang | UD | 12 | Dec 9, 1989 | Indoor Gymnasium, Daegu, South Korea | Retained WBC light flyweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Yul-woo Lee | UD | 12 | Jun 25, 1989 | Cheongju Gymnasium, Cheongju, South Korea | Won WBC light flyweight title |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Jorge Rivera | KO | 4 (?) | Oct 22, 1988 | Cozumel, Mexico | |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Atanasio Villareal | TD | 4 (?) | Oct 1, 1988 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Javier Varguez | TKO | 5 (12) | Jun 4, 1988 | Mexico City, Mexico | Retained Mexican light flyweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Jose Luis Zepeda | TKO | 6 (12) | Mar 5, 1988 | Tijuana, Mexico | Retained Mexican light flyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Jorge Cano | PTS | 12 | Sep 26, 1987 | Cancún, Mexico | Won Mexican light flyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Jose Manuel Diaz | KO | 2 (10) | Jul 25, 1987 | Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Santiago Mendez Gamboa | KO | 8 (?) | Jun 13, 1987 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Ruben Padilla | TKO | 7 (?) | May 9, 1987 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Javier Alonso | KO | 1 (?) | Feb 27, 1987 | Acapulco, Mexico | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Jorge Gutierrez | TKO | 6 (?) | Dec 6, 1986 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Agustin Macias | TKO | 4 (?) | Oct 8, 1986 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Martin Ortega | KO | 1 (?) | Jul 14, 1986 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Alcibiades Hernandez | TKO | 2 (?) | Jun 18, 1986 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Sergio Medina | KO | 3 (?) | May 22, 1986 | Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Martin Perez | TKO | 2 (?) | Mar 15, 1986 | Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Carlos Rezago | KO | 5 (?) | Dec 14, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Javier Alvarez | TKO | 1 (?) | Nov 9, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Eduardo Ramirez | PTS | 6 | Sep 7, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Otilio Gallegos | TKO | 2 (?) | Jul 27, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Martin Alvarez | TKO | 2 (?) | Jun 8, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Francisco Villagomez | TKO | 1 (?) | Apr 20, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Carmelo Perez | KO | 1 (?) | Feb 20, 1985 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Narciso Perez | TKO | 1 (?) | Dec 19, 1984 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Jorge Ortega | PTS | 4 | Sep 4, 1984 | Mexico City, Mexico |
Retirement
editImmediately after the fight with Sorjaturong, he announced he was retiring, to pursue another dream of his: to become a successful businessman in Mexico City. Gonzalez had a record of 43 wins and 3 losses as a professional boxer, with 30 wins by knockout.
Life after boxing
editGonzalez has stayed retired ever since, and he has been able to open three meat markets in Mexico. He is a part-time butcher in his shops, and has been able to reach the business success he dreamed about.
Trivia
editHis first fight with Carbajal and his fight with Sorjaturong were both chosen as 1993 and 1995's Fight of the Year by The Ring. The Ring also placed Carbajal and Gonzalez on their list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.
Both Humberto González and former rival Michael Carbajal were elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.
He earned many admirers during his professional boxing career. Female boxer Delia Gonzalez was one of them, and is nicknamed Chikita after Humberto.
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Friend, Tom (14 March 1993). "Carbajal, Down Twice, Unifies Title With Knockout". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- ^ "A Calmer Gonzalez Beats Carbajal". Los Angeles Times. 20 February 1994. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
External links
edit- Boxing record for Humberto González from BoxRec (registration required)
- Humberto González profile at Cyber Boxing Zone
- Humberto González profile at International Boxing Hall of Fame