The last time we saw four-weight world champion and one-time pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez, he was on the losing side of a spirited display against Juan Francisco Estrada at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona on December 3, 2022.

Since then, the popular 36-year-old Nicaraguan has spent time away from the boxing, building his real estate portfolio that he started back in 2017. 

Gonzalez, The Ring’s No. 2-ranked junior bantamweight, felt he needed time to recharge his batteries but isn’t done with boxing just yet.

“The loss definitely was not what I expected, but I believe from every match I learn so much,” Gonzalez (51-4, 41 knockouts) told The Ring through long-time manager Carlos Blandon. “The greatest lesson from this match is that at this stage in my career I have to balance my camps and listen to the recovery of my body a lot more to be in the best condition come fight night.

“I thank God for giving the opportunity to fight once again. I still have a fire and hunger for a couple more matches. My family and my legacy are my biggest motivator, but for this match my biggest motivation is winning in order to have another title shot before I retire and with God’s will retire as a world champion.”

Gonzalez hopes to return in November and says it will be a world title eliminator and take place in either the U.S., Japan or Mexico.

“There are many opportunities in my division,” he said. “The only champion I would not fight is [WBO titlist Junto] Nakatani because we belong to the same team and family, Teiken. The rest of the belts are up for grabs in my opinion.”

However, the future Hall of Famer has a higher calling than boxing.

“I would like to be remembered that I used God’s given talent wisely, to use my platform to praise God and show the upcoming youth, that no matter where you are from and what economical situation you find yourself in, if your heart desires to be great, you can achieve it and in order to get there you have to place God as your guide,” said the deeply religious fighter.

ALSO ON RINGTV:

The Ring Ratings Reviewed 2023: Junior bantamweight – The Ring (ringtv.com)

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on 

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