Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez is set for his ring return on July 12 against Rober Barrera. The pair battles it out live on ESPN+ live from Polideportivo Alexis Argüello in Managua, Nicaragua.
Going through the ropes in front of his hometown crowd, “Chocolatito” Gonzalez moves up a weight class. The former four-division world champion faces the former title challenger of Colombia in a 10-round bout at bantamweight.
37-year-old Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs) last fought in December 2022, when he dropped a majority decsion against old rival Juan Francisco Estrada. Over the course of his career, the Managua, Nicaragua native held world titles at minimumweight, light flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight.
31-year-old Rober Barrera (27-5, 17 KOs) won his previous bout last December via second-round TKO against Victor Berrio and secured his third straight victory. The 31-year-old native of San Jose de Canalete, Colombia fought Luis Concepcion for the interim WBA flyweight title in February 2020 and Ryoichi Taguchi for the WBA light flyweight title in July 2017. He lost both fights by TKO in the 11th and ninth round, respectively.
Among the bouts featured on the Chocolatito vs Barrera undercard, Eveling Junieth Ortega (7-5, 2 KOs) and Karol Mazariegos Gonzalez (7-1-1, 3 KOs) square off in an eight-rounder at light flyweight. Also in an eight-rounder at light flyweight, Kevin Vivas (7-2, 2 KOs) meets Azael Villar (20-3-4, 15 KOs).
As well, Michael Carmona (5-0, 3 KOs) and Edwin Cano Hernandez (12-2-1, 3 KOs) go head to head in an eight-rounder at minimumweight. In addition, Jeffrey Gonzalez (2-0) and Andres Quesada (2-0) clash in a four-rounder at heavyweight.