Roman Gonzalez arrived back in Nicaragua this week, re-energized after his first fight in more than a year and confident he’ll be back in the hunt for a world title in 2020.
Gonzalez, sidelined for 15 months with a knee injury, returned to the ring Monday in Japan, scoring a second-round stoppage of Diomel Diocos in a junior bantamweight fight in Yokohama.
The 32-year-old Gonzalez (47-2, 39 KOs), the lightest fighter to ever be ranked No. 1 in the pound-for-pound rankings, was welcomed back to Managua, his hometown, by fans and media. He said he hopes to fight again in February or March.
“Possible fighters I could face are Kazuto Ioka, Khalid Yafai and Juan Francisco Estrada,’’ he said. “But I want to be champion again and then unify titles with Estrada because good purses would come for such fights.”
At his training camp for Diocos, in Coachella, California, Gonzalez manager Carlos Blandon said the former junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight champ looked sharp.
“Roman is highly-motivated,’’ Blandon said. “His knee is back to normal or even better. Roman is eager is showcase that his knee is in great condition after surgery and that with God’s help he will be king once again. We understand it takes one step at a time, but he is more than ready.’’