Mexico City, Mexico– Jhonny Gonzalez knows a thing or two about bouncing back from losses. The lanky fighter from Mexico City started his career with two losses and had another two defeats in a row to Ricardo Vargas before finally winning the WBO bantamweight (118 lbs) world title against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin back in 2005. He would go on to defend it twice before moving up four pounds to challenge then WBC kingpin Israel Vazquez in a thrilling 2006 fight. Gonzalez had command throughout until Vazquez came back strong and eventually the Gonzalez corner stopped the war in the 10th round. After the fight with Vazquez, Gonzalez moved back down to 118 and defended his WBO title one time before again losing a fight he was in control of Gerry Peñalosa via a seventh round body shot. Back to the drawing board went the man with the misspelled first name and he managed to pull off a string of six victories against modest opposition at 122 that earned him a shot at the WBC green belt against the Japanese native Toshiaki Nishioka. The fight was going Gonzalez’s way as usual until a Nishioka rocket left hand put Gonzalez down for the count in the third round. That loss marked the second time in which Gonzalez moved up in weight following a loss, this time from super bantamweight to featherweight. His move up in weight was a triumphant one as he defeated Jose Mendoza this past September 5th and a few days after his win he took some time to chat with myself.
RT– Jhonny thanks for the time. This is the second time you move up in weight following a defeat. Is it safe to say that those losses came as a result of troubles making weight?
JG– No, no, I don’t feel it was because of the weight. I feel the losses were more because of a lack of preparation and a lack of focus on my part. In my last fight (Against Nishioka), I feel I overlooked my opponent because I was fighting him on home turf. I felt that by fighting at home I had the fight won and you know that’s not the case in boxing.
RT– You went from training in a make-shift, outdoor gym in the middle of a busy Mexico City boulevard with your father to the Romanza gym in a different Mexico City neighborhood with Nacho Beristain. What are the differences?
JG– At the moment it’s a big difference. I made the change for my own good. Back at the old place my dad trained me and he’s a good trainer which I’ve always said. Simply put, I have more attention here with Nacho. Nacho is a trainer with a lot of experience. It’s not by luck that he’s trained 16 world champs. He’s had me training very hard and is very demanding which is what I was looking for in order to be at the top of this boxing game which is not easy.
RT– Do you plan to stay at featherweight?
JG– Yes, at the moment I’ve been feeling good and I’ve been sparring with junior lightweights and feeling strong. Nacho’s been watching my work and seeing little by little my progress. He’s been correcting my defense, which is what we have focused most on. I feel that in two or three fights we’ll see the difference at one hundred percent.
RT– Would you consider a rematch with Peñalosa or Nishioka if they came up in weight?
JG– Yes, in all actuality I would take the rematch with them but it would have to be at featherweight. I’ve spoken with Nacho and we plan to stay in this division. If they were both to come up to this division (126), why not? There’s always that possibility of avenging those defeats but there are other possibilities too. There are a couple of fighters that we are scouting.
RT– Would one of those opponents be Israel Vazquez who you also lost a close fight to?
JG– Yes, that’s right. We are also looking at the new Dominican champion, Elio Rojas. There is also that other Mexican, Cruz. The options are many at featherweight.
RT– Changing gears for a minute, what were your thoughts upon learning of the death of your former trainer Oscar Suarez last year?
JG– Well, it was a huge loss of a great trainer. I learned a lot from him. The two months that I worked with him, he was always very respectful. He gave you a lot of praise and encouragement. He was a real good trainer and showed me a lot of things that I didn’t know about the sport. And in regards to my personal life, he also gave me advice that I appreciated. But I was surprised to hear that he passed and what can you say? He is in a better place now and watching from above.
RT– How do you see the Cotto-Pacquiao fight going?
JG– That’s going to be a great fight between two great fighters. We know that Cotto is a great technician and knows how to box well. On the flip side we know that Pacquiao has tremendous power, he’s a lefty, and he can box. It’s going to be a heck of a clash and a huge fight that could go either way.
Rene Trujillo