[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
male announcer: The following is a presentation
of HBO Sports.
- Hello, I'm Jim Lampley.
Welcome to "Boxing's Best,"
the series on which we look back
at the most significant prizefights to have aired
on HBO in this calendar year.
As 2017 began, Nicaragua's Román "Chocolatito" González
was in the midst of perhaps the most high-profile
career surge ever put together
by a fighter under 120 pounds on the scale.
He had a record of 46 wins and no losses,
38 knockouts, and for nearly two full years
had ranked as the consensus number one
pound-for-pound fighter
on the planet.
But if you looked closely,
you could see the possibility
of a brewing storm.
Both his last fight, at 112 pounds,
and then his first fight in a new weight class
at 115 had gone the distance,
suggesting his punching power
had reached the point of no return.
Still, Chocolatito was a heavy favorite
as he entered Madison Square Garden against lesser-known
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
of Thailand.
Hidden in the numbers was an odd fact:
Sor Rungvisai, who had begun his combat career
as a kickboxer,
had suffered three losses and a draw
in his first five fights
and had therefore never been seen as royalty.
But coming into the Garden,
he had won 41 of his last 42,
39 by knockout,
and clearly carried rare power
for a southpaw.
They fought on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin
vs Daniel Jacobs,
with a sellout crowd
primed and excited to see the great Chocolatito
defending his world's best reputation.
It was March 18.
Here's how I called it
with Max Kellerman and Roy Jones.
- Folks, I know these guys aren't big guys,
but this should be brutal
for as long as it lasts.
[bell dings]
- The level of excitement in the arena goes up
as Román "Chocolatito" González goes into action
against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
with New York's most popular fan favorite referee,
the very demonstrative Steve Willis,
in the ring in charge.
That just adds a little extra spice
to the excitement that we expect to see in this fight.
- Sor Rungvisai is a real big puncher,
and sometimes you wonder,
where does the guy's power come from?
Look at those calves.
- I was about to say the same thing, Max.
Reminds me a lot of the Manny, Manny Pacquiao calves.
And he's also a southpaw like Manny Pacquiao,
but does not possess the speed and the finesse
that, uh, does that of the great Manny Pacquiao.
- Max Kellerman has made the point--
Román "Chocolatito" González, 29 years old,
approaching 30--
46 fights already, 38 by knockout,
but each of the last two fights have gone the distance.
And you wonder if just a little bit of the power
may be ebbing away,
particularly now as he's arrived
in the highest weight class yet,
115 pounds.
- Chocolatito told us yesterday
that when he fought Cuadras,
he was the challenger
and felt he had to go get the title.
Now that he's the champion,
he feels that he can relax,
concentrate a little more on defense
and not having to make the fight,
especially against a very big puncher,
to the extent that he did against Cuadras.
- Only thing bad about that, Max,
is the only way that, uh, Chocolatito knows how to fight
is coming forward.
He does not know how to fight backing up.
He's--that's his fight right there, coming forward,
being aggressive,
uh, taking shots to give shots.
He doesn't know how to back up.
He's not a reverse-style fighter, so...
- That's for sure.
- People can say what they want to say,
but he is not that dude.
And, um, to me, you know, even with the pound-for-pound--
I think I like him as a great guy
on the pound-for-pound chart
but unlike Andre Ward, uh, Terence Crawford, even,
and Lomachenko--
- Lomachenko.
- These guys can fight left, right, forward, backwards.
These guys deserve, to me, more to be at the top
of that number one pound-for-pound chart
than does Chocolatito,
unless we strictly going off of records.
- This is the first time that we have seen Chocolatito
with our eyes live in the ring against a southpaw,
and in this case, a strong, come-forward southpaw.
And down goes González on a knockdown
by Sor Rungvisai!
- A body shot that knocked him completely off-balance.
- Eight! Nine! You're okay, right?
- Second time in his career that González
has been on the canvas.
- I thought that was a slip, but apparently not.
- Well, the body-- it made contact with his body,
and he was off-balance, Max, so--
- Well, he took--he took the full count
before he got up.
He--he was hurt with something.
- The body shot may have hurt him.
This guy can really punch. - And now--
- Heard Cuadras tell us that.
- There's new drama as González goes down
for the first time in ten years,
against Sor Rungvisai.
Well, Carlos Cuadras told Max Kellerman
that Sor Rungvisai is a harder puncher than Chocolatito,
and already Sor Rungvisai
seems to have underlined that...
- Time! - In the first round.
- [speaking Spanish] - Relax. Relax.
We're 100%. Relax.
Be sharp. Straight legs.
What happened?
You didn't move the head, brother.
Drink a little water.
Throw it on your body now.
Well, you got to move the head.
He caught you because he wanted to.
My brother, you evaded those punches--
a straight shot, very nice.
That hook, and then over to the top again.
Don't let it go. Keep working.
- Here we see the step up in weight class.
The pure power from this bigger guy--
completely hits him right there under the, uh, chest
and knocks him completely off-balance.
Knocks him to the floor.
That is completely a clean knockdown,
strictly because of his size and the off-balance.
- Look at the feet, though, Roy.
- Yeah, look right there. [stammering]
No tangling feet right here.
No tangle of the feet.
No tangle right there. - Nope, no tangle there.
- Strictly a knockdown.
- So Steve Willis makes the right call
in the eyes of Roy Jones,
calling that a knockdown.
In the first round, González landed
12 out of 46 punches--
Sor Rungvisai, 15 out of 50.
One thing which must be noted:
since we last saw Chocolatito against Carlos Cuadras,
his longtime Nicaraguan trainer,
Arnulfo Obando,
suddenly died.
And Chocolatito had to make a decision in this fight
whether the head trainer in his corner
was going to be his father, his original choice,
or his former Nicaraguan amateur teammate,
Wilmer González.
And at the last minute, he chose to go--or Hernandez.
And he chose to go with with Wilmer Hernandez
as the trainer, so he's fighting
for a new trainer tonight
in different circumstances than before.
And already we've seen something
we've never seen before:
Chocolatito on the canvas.
- Tellingly, when he tried to get his bearings
when he went down, he wasn't sure-footed
and--and took an eight count before he got up.
That indicates that he felt that shot.
- And Sor Rungvisai is not the best skill fighter.
He's right there to be hit
so that Chocolatito has to be calculative
on which punches he throws,
'cause you don't want to trade with a bigger guy
who's been fighting at 115 for quite some time now.
- He's got 11 more rounds to deal with
what is now a two-point deficit
on the official scorecards.
- Chocolatito was doing a good job, uh,
avoiding those shots upstairs,
paying a little more attention to defense
as he said he'd do in yesterday's meeting.
And it was the body shot that caught him
and knocked him down.
- Sor Rungvisai is landing hard, clean shots
here in round number two.
- I think--
- And fighting with a lot of confidence.
- Yeah, I think Chocolatito's trying to let him
wear himself down a little bit,
'cause he's not used to seeing this kind of power at 112.
- Chocolatito looks like
a 30-year-old flyweight tonight.
Super flyweight.
- Good shot. - To the head.
- Yes.
- They're trading punches back and forth.
- Well, said this would be brutal while it lasted.
And here we are, folks.
- Looks like it's gonna evolve into a full-scale slugfest
as they stand toe-to-toe and fire away.
- Sor Rungvisai is so physically strong.
- Good shot by Chocolatito.
I think Chocolatito feels like he hurt him, though.
- He did.
- I think Chocolatito's just getting going.
- He is, Jim. This is how he is.
He warms up, once the fight starts,
then he kicks it in gear.
Takes him a round or two to get started,
but now here he comes.
And Sor Rungvisai better be ready for it.
Oh, good shot by Chocolatito. - Yeah.
- Look at this right-hand body shot by Chocolatito.
- When Chocolatito gets going, it's like an avalanche.
- That's right, there's no better picture in boxing
once he gets going, Max.
[loud tapping]
Busiest guy you ever want to see.
Good left hand by Sor Rungvisai.
[bell dinging] - This is a close round.
Chocolatito did a lot of great work in that round,
but it wouldn't be shocking
if on at least one or two scorecards,
he was now down three points.
- [speaking foreign language] - Good, good.
Keep going on. Keep going on.
Here. That's good.
Breathe, breathe. Breathe deeply.
Breathe, breathe deeply.
Good.
Okay, take it easy, okay?
Is everything okay? Good, good.
Very good. Very good.
Pull out, okay? Pull out.
Good. Focus, focus, okay?
- Here you see a very, very beautiful exchange
by two really good fighters:
right hand by Chocolatito, left by Sor Rungvisai.
Another right hand by Chocolatito.
Right uppercut by Sor Rungvisai.
One-two-by Chocolatito,
answered back with a missing straight left
from Sor Rungvisai.
- Sor Rungvisai picked up where he left off
at the end of the first round and was doing good work,
and then Chocolatito got rolling
and did some excellent work in
the second half of the second round.
[bell dings]
- Go to round 3 of a scheduled 12.
Sor Rungvisai has a 14-punch edge
in terms of power punches
landed through the first couple of rounds.
He's also thrown more than Chocolatito.
Remember, Chocolatito is number one in the sport
of boxing in power punches thrown and landed per round.
And Harold Lederman gave the second round as well
to Sor Rungvisai, so there's my point.
Already on the unofficial Harold Lederman scorecard,
Chocolatito is down three points.
- Not a problem for Chocolatito, Jim,
because his style of fighting is,
he'll warm up, and as the rounds progress,
he'll come alive if he can avoid getting caught
with something big that causes an unusual problem
that we've never seen before.
- And I wouldn't be surprised if Chocolatito
was down a point.
That, that-- that second round
was a tough round.
- Oh, I think it could go either way,
no question about it.
But at least in-- in the instance
of our unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman,
he gave it to Sor Rungvisai...
who is again delivering leather
and fighting with confidence into the third.
There's a straight right hand right on the button
by Chocolatito, and another one.
- He can't continue to let Chocolatito hit him,
with that right hand, but-- a headbutt--bad headbutt.
- Oh, blood.
- Cut over Chocolatito's right eye,
- Yet another problem for Román González.
- Yup, and that was an accidental headbutt, so...
- Accidental headbutt,
but there's no blood on Sor Rungvisai.
And that cut outside of Chocolatito's eye
could become a problem.
- Watch your heads moving forward.
Okay, here we go. Time in.
- So the blood trickling down the right side of his face,
having been knocked down for the first time in ten years
in the first round,
against a strong-willed opponent
who is bringing the leather and firing hard.
Román "Chocolatito" González has something to deal with
in New York City.
- Yes he does, Jim.
- Physical strength doesn't always translate
to punching power,
but Sor Rungvisai has both.
He's physically strong;
he can muscle his opponent around the ring,
and he can really crack.
- We'll find out tonight what he can take, though, Max,
'cause Chocolatito's gonna give him all he got.
- Oh, he's...
already is fighting with a new sense of urgency, Chocolatito.
- Of course he is.
He's never backed down from nothing,
and he ain't about to start now.
- Oh! [chuckling]
- Gonna have to take him out to--
- I mean...
- He will not give up. Trust me.
- Some action in the middle of the ring right now.
- 55 seconds from now, one of the great cutmen
in all of boxing, Argentine Miguel Diaz,
will go to work on Chocolatito's right eye.
- Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.
- Chocolatito wants to land about 40 more punches.
- Another one of them six- to seven-punch combinations
I'm talking about, Jim.
Puts 'em together better than anybody in the game.
But he's in tough water tonight.
- These are two big punchers exchanging clean shots,
both hands, middle of the ring.
- One a normal 115-pounder,
one a 112-pounder--
108-pounder, actually, moving up to 115.
- 105 to begin with.
- Yeah, 105 moving up to 115.
- Well, somebody asked me the other day,
"Do you think Chocolatito could go to 118 pounds?"
And I offered my opinion. I said no.
I believe he has reached the limit at 115.
I think you saw the evidence of that on his face
after the Cuadras fight.
[bell dings] - I agree with you 100%.
- After this episode of "Boxing's Best,"
stick around for a replay of Miguel Cotto's
farewell fight versus Sadam Ali.
Steve Willis leaning over the ropes to say
accidental headbutt.
We got that.
- Nothing there.
There's nothing there.
Don't give away your distance, huh?
Come on, you're going in with the head.
He doesn't know what to do when you're on him close.
You've got to go for a little more.
You're standing still in front of him.
Come on, come on. Let's go, champ.
- Here we see the guys moving on the inside
close to one another.
When an orthodox and a left-handed fighter
fight, usually that clash right there
is what caused a cut over Chocolatito's right eye,
something that we very frequently see
when you have a right-hander versus a left-hander.
- Seldom do you see Román "Chocolatito" González
look concerned or discouraged in the ring,
but he looked a little bit that way after the headbutt.
- Watch the head. Okay.
- Now he's got plenty to work with
as he tries to dig himself out of an early hole
going into round 4.
Harold Lederman, how did you score
the first three unofficially?
- Okay, Jim, I got it two rounds to one.
29-27, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
You know, Jim, I-- you got to get Sor Rungvisai
an extra point for the knockdown in round 1.
That's why he's two points ahead.
Uh, and I thought he won round 2, also.
He was very strong in the second round.
In the third round, I thought Chocolatito hit him with some
terrific right hands.
He took it to him and backed him up.
I'm talking about Chocolatito.
And I thought Chocolatito won that third round,
but still and all, very, very close fight.
2-1, Sor Rungvisai.
- Now Chocolatito's finding the target.
He's drawing a bead on Sor Rungvisai upstairs,
landing hard shots to the head in round 4.
- Yeah, Sor Rungvisai does have--
doesn't have much defense, Jim.
That's what his biggest problem is.
He doesn't have much defense at all,
and, uh, Chocolatito has a little bit more
defense than he has.
And Chocolatito is throwing some really, really good
straight right hands down the pipe against the southpaw.
- Steve Willis need not tell these fighters.
They know, conventional fighter against southpaw
going head to head in there,
there's gonna be some contact.
- And before--in the beginning and at the end of every round,
these two show tremendous respect for each other.
Nothing dirty is happening in there.
This is what happens, as you mentioned,
when a southpaw fights an orthodox fighter.
But... in between those bells,
they are trying to punch holes through each other.
- [laughing] Especially Sor Rungvisai, son.
He's only gonna take a stand close to Román
so Román can't him with that straight right hand.
And he's doing a good job of smothering
the straight right hand this round.
I think he feels like his size advantage
on Román Chocolatito is giving him an edge,
because he stand really close
and sort of pushing Chocolatito around.
- This is unbelievable phone booth warfare right now.
- Very seldom do you see a fighter who can match
Chocolatito's energy level from second to second
throughout the round, but that's exactly what
Sor Rungvisai is attempting to do here
and attempting to sustain
as we get through the fourth round.
- Yeah, Jim, but his punches are not quite as devastating
as Román's are, trust me.
- Oh, good body shot from Sor Rungvisai.
Right hand to the body.
- This is a good doggone fight here, son.
- [laughing]
- This is a really good fight here, Jim.
- And I hear what you're saying about
Chocolatito's, uh, offense, Roy,
but the--the reason for worry if you're a Chocolatito fan
is that Sor Rungvisai has been able to hit him
cleanly upstairs.
- Yeah, but Sor Rungvisai doesn't put his full body
in all of his punches.
Román putting his full body
in every punch that he's throwing.
See that?
[loud tapping]
So it all come down to what type of condition
Sor Rungvisai's in.
- Rungvisai is some puncher.
Oh, big shots from Chocolatito!
- Momentarily Sor Rungvisai's hands stop,
and Chocolatito fired away in combination.
And Sor Rungvisai is a little groggy
as he staggers back to his corner.
December 28, don't miss the thrilling showdown
between Canadian knockout artist David Lemieux
and American Curtis Stevens.
Also on December 28,
stick around for the rematch
between Andre Ward
and Sergey Kovalev.
- [speaking Spanish]
- [speaking Thai]
- Round 5 of Chocolatito González
versus Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
And now González has taken the lead
in total punches landed, 135 to 105.
They've both thrown more than
300 punches in the first four rounds of the fight.
- Okay, punch.
- Chocolatito now landing at a 43% rate.
He's gonna need to keep doing that
through the rest of the fight
to make up for the early scoring hole
into which he apparently fell
after going down in the first round,
the first time Chocolatito's been knocked down
in ten years,
only the second time in his career
that he's ever tasted the canvas.
Sor Rungvisai looked a little bit the worse for wear
as he staggered to the corner
at the end of the last round,
and it's because of straight right hands like that.
Chocolatito lands two more thunder punches.
- Some brutalizing straight right hands.
- Oof. - Good body shot
by Sor Rungvisai. - But he does--
but Sor Rungvisai has no head movement, Jim.
He's not slipping no punches.
He's strictly trying to offend.
No defense whatsoever
when Chocolatito throws that right hand.
- You got to give it to Chocolatito's, too--
his ability to absorb punishment.
For an aggressive, all-offensive fighter,
he has a responsible defense,
but he's there to be hit.
And it's not just that he can dish it out.
He has taken some huge shots from Sor Rungvisai.
- Oh, good right hand by Choc--
- Right hand by Chocolatito right on the jaw
of Sor Rungvisai. - Best one of the night.
- He's gonna test it. - Oh, good left uppercut.
- Oh, good left-- - Another good uppercut.
- Laser-guided missiles... - Great left hook.
- From Chocolatito.
- This is tremendous offensive punching
by Román "Chocolatito" González.
- Now he's backing, uh, Sor Rungvisai up.
- Watch your heads.
Break! Step back, step back.
Watch your heads.
- Blood trickling outside the right eye
of Román "Chocolatito" González.
With all of this contact,
it's gonna be very, very difficult for Miguel Diaz
to keep that cut, occasioned by an accidental headbutt
in the second round, closed.
- Oh, good body shot.
Good defense by Sor Rungvisai that time.
I hadn't seen him block a punch before that.
- He's trying to run Chocolatito into a big shot.
- Oh, good shot by-- by, uh, Chocolatito.
These dudes are trading some really big punches, Max.
- González's punching accuracy has gone to another level.
- Yes. - Yes, he is.
- The last couple of rounds.
Once he got warmed up here, he is finding the target
with astonishing regularity,
driving Sor Rungvisai into the corner.
Now he's gonna chase him across the ring
and try to begin unloading again.
Right hand, left hook, right hand.
- Tasmanian devil is on the attack.
This is what you call a real Tasmanian devil.
- That's exactly right, guys.
It's not that any one shot from Chocolatito
is as devastating as Sor Rungvisai's,
but there are so many of them and they're so accurate.
[bell dinging] - Time!
- An amazing round for Román "Chocolatito" González.
- Breathe, breathe deeply.
How are you doing? How are you feeling?
Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe, bud.
Come on, brother, breathe.
Good. Breathe, okay?
Breathe.
Breathe. Block, block.
- Attack the body. The body, the body.
Fuck them up there.
Don't give him your reach--
don't give him the distance.
Catch him with six punches.
That right to the middle.
Fuck them up twice.
Don't let him-- don't let him build again.
Come on, keep your guard up.
Close up. Move ahead.
- Sor Rungvisai--you see here after he punches.
First he hit him with, uh--
he hits him with a lead right hand.
Then after Sor Rungvisai punches,
you see Chocolatito come back again
with another counter-straight right hand.
That's the one he's open for the most,
because once he punches, he's usually very vulnerable
to be caught, because he has no defense
after his own offense--
Sor Rungvisai, that is.
- And I got to give credit to our Spanish interpreter,
Jerry Olaya, the great Jerry Olaya,
letting it all hang out to let you hear
accurate interpretation of what's going on between rounds
in Chocolatito's corner.
And now on Harold Lederman's unofficial scorecard,
Román González has leveled the score at 47 apiece
after falling behind early by three points.
- Yeah. This is boxing.
You ain't at the ballet tonight.
- That's right.
- Time, time, time.
You got to watch your head.
You got to watch it, okay?
You aren't. You're coming forward.
You got to watch your head.
Over there.
You got time. He got a warning.
- This is why fans love Steve Willis.
- No, no, no. I just warned him.
I just warned him.
You got to watch your head.
Got to watch your head.
Okay?
Okay, ready?
Time in.
- Chocolatito landed a really good left body shot
right before that all happened, too, Jim,
one that I think may have been his best body shot
of the whole fight.
- Well, that may mean that it was actually good
for Sor Rungvisai that Steve Willis
chose to take that time to issue a warning
and give Sor Rungvisai what amounted to a rest.
- It was great time for him to recover.
- Hard right hand by Sor Rungvisai
to the left side of Chocolatito's head.
- I'm sure Sor Rungvisai is not used to seeing
guys that can hit with these punches this hard
and come right back at him
like Chocolatito is doing.
This is the most discouraging thing in the world
to a big power puncher, to have a guy take your best shot
and just walk right towards you
like it means nothing at all to him.
- Sor Rungvisai at 41 wins has 38 knockouts.
So you're right, Roy-- usually when he hits guys,
they don't ma--they don't make it the distance.
- They go to sleep.
- And you heard Wilmar Hernandez asking
in Chocolatito's corner, "Body, body, body.
Please punish him to the body."
And there it is: left hook to the body,
left hook to the body again.
- Watch your heads!
- Hard right hand by Sor Rungvisai.
Combination by Chocolatito
drives him back into the ropes.
Now Sor Rungvisai tries to drive Chocolatito
back toward the center of the ring.
- Well, with those strong legs he can push Chocolatito back
when he wants to.
- Sor Rungvisai--I mean, um,
Chocolatito ain't pushing him back with--with legs.
He pushing him back with punches.
- Punches, yeah.
That's why Sor Rungvisai gives ground at times,
because Chocolatito never stops moving his hands.
- Blood trickling again
outside the right eye of Chocolatito.
- Good body shot. There he is.
- Good left hook to the body. - Great body shot.
That hurt bad. - Hurt him badly!
Hard right hand upstairs! - It was.
- Another left to the body.
Sor Rungvisai wobbling
and giving ground.
Now Chocolatito drawing a bead
as Sor Rungvisai's against the ropes.
Left to the body again.
Left hook upstairs, straight right hand.
Left hook upstairs.
Another to the body.
Tremendous rally
as González tries to knock his man out.
- Here comes the avalanche...
Rolling downhill.
And he won't forget the hook to the body,
and he'll continue to mix it up upstairs.
- Time! Time! Over there.
Over there.
Big headbutt. One point.
One point. One point.
- And here's a point for González.
- Right here. One point, head, right here.
[unintelligible]
- Steve Willis taking command of the fight
and penalizing Sor Rungvisai
for butting González in the corner.
- You gotta watch your head, man.
Bring it up.
- And with blood all over his face,
González sets up to attack again.
[bell dinging] - Time!
- What a round.
We are halfway through this 12-round fight.
And because of that penalty point,
González may now have a two-point lead...
On Harold Lederman's unofficial scorecard.
- Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Let's go. We got it, let's go.
Don't let him breathe. Don't let him breathe.
Move that head, one side to the next.
Let's go, let's go.
That right, and the straight shot,
and then the left hook.
- Seventh round now.
So you just, like, cut and hook, cut and hook, okay?
And try to pull out first, okay?
Don't let them come out first.
You come out first, okay?
Breathe.
- Here you see one of my favorite combinations:
a hook head followed by a beautiful hook body.
That hurt Sor Rungvisai very bad right there.
That started the downhill avalanche.
And now here comes Chocolatito with more and more punches.
Then as he was coming, Sor Rungvisai tried to throw
a overhand left and led with the head first.
And that was the second headbutt
that caused a point deduction.
- CompuBox numbers as we get to the seventh round:
Chocolatito now landing 217 out of 49--495.
Connect percentages up to 44%.
He's landed 65 more punches now in the fight
than Sor Rungvisai, by CompuBox count.
Harold Lederman, what's your unofficial score say now?
- Okay, Jim, 57-55,
four rounds to two,
Román "Chocolatito" González.
I tell you, Jim, I thought he's won four rounds in a row.
I-I mean, he's really coming.
In round 3, he just found his game,
and he's just coming forward, landing great right hands,
and out-punching Sor Rungvisai ever since.
Steve Willis took a point away from Sor Rungvisai
for headbutts in round 6.
And that made it a 10-8 round,
which evened out the 10-8 round that Sor Rungvisai had
in the first round
when he knocked Román "Chocolatito" González down.
So, two 10-8 rounds in the fight,
two-point lead for, uh, Román "Chocolatito" González,
four rounds to two, 57-55.
- Another great left hook by González inside.
Backs Sor Rungvisai up.
- Watch your heads. Don't cut yourself.
- Comes back with a straight right hand.
Early on in the fight,
González was trying to build a defense
by slapping Sor Rungvisai's lead hand down
with his left hand.
He's dispensed with that and gone all offense.
He's decided he's gonna win the fight
by out-punching this guy.
- And that's how he usually wins most of them--
by a barrage of punches.
He doesn't hit you one-- all at one.
He threw a barrage of them, followed up by one good one
to the right place.
Now, Sor Rungvisai having
a pretty good round so far, too.
- After that beating he took toward the end of that--
the last round, Sor Rungvisai showed a lot of heart.
Winging these tough shots.
- Did you notice between rounds
how as Miguel Diaz was working
the cut outside of Chocolatito's right eye,
Chocolatito was craning his head back
to look up at the monitor above the screen.
I can only think that he wanted to see the cut
and get a look at how bad it is.
- Yes.
- Is that a good idea for a fighter, Roy Jones?
- It's a very good idea, because he knows how much more
he can take on that cut or how much less
he should allow himself to be hit on that cut.
So he knows, should he gamble and go for the knockout,
or should he take it easy and be smart with the cut?
- Showed amazing awareness.
I don't know when I've seen another fighter do that--
look at a television monitor above the ring
to see how the cutman was doing.
- Let's go. - Again with the head.
- This is gonna happen repeatedly,
because of them being so close
and by them being opposite hand--handed.
They're gonna consistently clash heads.
But it's not like Sor Rungvisai
is trying to clash heads.
- No, he's just putting his head down and saying,
"Look, if your face winds up there, that's your problem."
- Right.
[bell dinging] - Time!
- Now, that's a round that Sor Rungvisai may have won...
- I think so.
- To bring himself back closer on the scorecards.
December 29,
"Boxing's Best of 2017" wraps up
with the heavyweight fight of the year
featuring Anthony Joshua
and Wladimir Klitschko.
- That right, Choco. That right.
You're getting it in good.
But two punches in the body, also.
Choco, come on. You're standing.
You're not doing anything. More punches, Choco.
Flex the waist.
The straight shots.
Smart and straight.
- Brilliant-- outstanding hooks and jabs.
Brilliant, you're doing well.
Hang in there, brother. Hang in there.
It's eighth round already, okay?
Breathe, breathe. Breathe deeply.
Here, water. Here.
Go. Good.
- Through seven rounds, Román "Chocolatito" González
and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai have landed 385 power shots
by CompuBox count.
An amazingly grueling and difficult fight.
Román "Chocolatito" González fighting for the first time
without his longtime trainer, Arnulfo Obando,
who died shortly after his win over Carlos Cuadras last fall.
Comes into this fight, gets knocked down
in the first round for the first time in ten years,
then gets a bad cut outside his eye from a headbutt
in the second round and has had to rescue himself,
or attempt to, from all of those circumstances.
So there's high drama in Madison Square Garden
as we get to the eighth of a scheduled 12.
- People want an action fight.
They can't ask for more action than this.
- Every time it looks like Chocolatito is too much
for Sor Rungvisai, Sor Rungvisai digs in
and fires back.
- And every time... - All offense.
- It looks like Sor Rungvisai is a little too powerful for--
for Chocolatito, Chocolatito tightens down
and fires back.
- You wonder if other 115-pounders and--
and other fighters in the weight neighborhood,
especially Inoue, sees this--looks at this
and sees vulnerable fighters,
particularly Chocolatito,
or does he see a fighter that just never stops?
- I hope he sees one that just never stops,
because that's what he is.
And anybody who never stops is bound to be vulnerable.
But remember, he does not stop, so...
you got to bring it to get it,
especially against Chocolatito.
- Break! Step back.
I got it. Step back, step back.
- Good shots by Sor Rungvisai.
Good shot by Chocolatito.
- Since he warmed up and got his game going,
Chocolatito has routinely beaten Sor Rungvisai
to the punch here.
But Sor Rungvisai has come back hitting like a mule,
over and over-- and there's a hard body shot
with the right hand right there.
- Chocolatito's one of these fighters that absorbs
a really good shot, partly 'cause he deflects
some of it with his arms
and also partly 'cause he has a limber neck.
You know, he-- he gets--
even when he gets caught clean,
his neck is limber.
He rides the punch back.
- Good thing about Chocolatito is that
his best defense is his offense.
- That's why he's able to stand up
to some of these bombs.
- Mm-hmm.
- And if he ever fights the supposedly more powerful
punch-by-punch Japanese star Naoya Inoue,
it will be noteworthy that Chocolatito
will be close to or maybe even above
50 fights in his career at that point,
and Inoue will be in the low teens.
So their relative exposure to the damage of the ring,
and the difficulty of being in fight after fight after fight,
will be a far different experience
when that fight takes place, if it does.
January 27, our 2018 kicks off
with a "Boxing After Dark" double-header
featuring the Argentine knockout artist
Lucas Matthysse
and Venezuelan boxer-puncher
Jorge Linares
in separate bouts.
[bell dings] - Time!
Time.
- Two-thirds of the way through.
Getting ready for the start of round 9 of a scheduled 12.
Chocolatito González chatting
with a doctor on the far side of the ring.
Two of them, in effect.
Sor Rungvisai chatting with doctors
on his side of the ring.
- Hey, hey.
Tito, ready?
Okay.
Box.
Here we go. Box.
- A quick look at Lederman's unofficial scorecard,
76-74, Román González.
Here comes Sor Rungvisai again.
Got to be one of the most powerful 115-pound
combat athletes in the world
as he starts slugging away at Román González.
- And Román is answering everything
that he throws at Román.
He takes it and answers back
and continues to press forward.
- What do you make of the fact that Miguel Diaz
simply hasn't been able to get the blood to stop pouring
out of González's right eye, outside the eye?
Is that because of the constant contact in the fight?
- Constant contact in the fight--
constant head contact and constant contact
with the gloves, so there's no way
to stop a cut from bleeding
if everybody's constantly hitting it.
His own gloves are hitting it when he blocks punches.
Their heads are still clashing from time to time.
- That cut's bad, guys. - Sor Rungvisai's glove is--
is hitting it every now and then.
I mean, you just never can tell.
- That, that-- Chocolatito's cut
is now, like, spouting blood.
- Good thing for him, though, Max,
is that the part-- that the fighters stop
and they go to scorecards, he's ahead now,
so he can take it now.
- You'd think.
- Yeah, well, early in the fight we didn't think
he was ahead. Now we think he is, yes.
- We thought he showed some damage
after the Cuadras fight.
That was nothing compared to this.
He's going to be a bloody mask by the end.
- The difference in this fight and the Cuadras fight
was we had a boxer against a puncher, or a fighter.
Here we got two fighters.
Nobody can really box.
Nobody chooses to really box.
Both of these guys are full-contact fighters.
- Chocolatito's just amazing.
Pressing forward against such a strong guy,
a big power-puncher, blood streaming down his face
into his right eye, obscuring his vision.
He's climbed off the deck in the first round
from a body shot, and he just keeps coming.
He's a machine.
- That's who he is, Max.
That's his whole fight style.
He has to--you can back him up, you can beat him,
but ain't many people that can sustain the high-octane output
that it takes to back Chocolatito up.
- González gets a huge cheer from the crowd
as he backs Sor Rungvisai up on the ropes
and lands a couple of right hands again.
Sor Rungvisai punches his way out of damage and goes forward
toward Chocolatito.
- You got to give Sor Rungvisai some credit, too,
because I've never seen him before,
but he is showing some effort here himself.
- He's a beast. - Big heart.
- He's a beast. - Big power.
- And in the ring with pound-for-pound
one of the best.
- Water. Drink the water.
Choco, come on.
Don't follow him.
Let him come to you, Choco.
Two steps back, let him come into you, okay?
Let's do it. Pay attention to me.
Don't go on--don't-- don't go on top, all right?
This is a game now.
Flex that waist back, and combinations.
Three, four punches, but a step back.
- Here you see Chocolatito coming forward
after Sor Rungvisai punches,
right hand.
Left jab.
Right hand.
Right hand. Left upper shot.
Constantly just keeping the pressure on.
Left upper shot again. Right hand again.
Constantly, uh, he just keeps that pressure on you.
Like I said, his best defense
is, in fact, his offense.
- Now as round 10 begins,
three rounds left in the fight,
Harold Lederman, how do you have it unofficially
on your scorecard?
- Jim, I got to tell you, I think this fight is about
as close as you'll ever see a fight.
I've got it, uh, five rounds to four, 85-84,
Chocolatito González.
I got--I mean, it's a very, very close fight, Jim.
Rung--Sor Rungvisai is just staying in the fight
and landing good right hands.
Landing stronger shots.
Uh, I thought that Sor Rungvisai
won round 9, but, you know,
very, very close rounds.
Great fight, fought in the middle of the ring.
Uh, Chocolatito González bleeding constantly.
It's amazing that the blood going into that right eye
isn't really taking away from his game, but it isn't.
Five rounds to four, Chocolatito González.
- Max, what's your sense of it?
Any different than what Harold just said to us?
- A little bit.
Look, Harold is sitting here scoring the fight,
and we're talking the fight, so I'll defer to Harold.
It seems to me, though, that Chocolatito is probably
a little farther ahead than Harold has him,
and I-I think maybe, though, the visual,
the optics of it, the way Chocolatito is bleeding,
even if it's not from a legal punch, lends to the sense that
he's in trouble and he's being punished.
Um, and so maybe some of these close rounds
are going to Sor Rungvisai.
- I don't know that he's being punished,
but he's definitely being pushed, I'll tell you that.
- Break! I got you, I got you.
- Roy Jones, we can see the pain
on Chocolatito's face between rounds
when Miguel Diaz is working on that cut.
Can you describe it to us?
- Well, I can't describe it,
but, I mean, it must be very painful,
because you see the grimacing on his face.
And a lot of times, when you're in a fight,
your adrenaline makes it to where you can't really feel
the cut and you can't feel the--the pain
when they're working on it, but he definitely
feels the pain now, because the cut's
been there so long, and blood is gushing out of it
right now, as we speak.
So definitely causing some in--
um, some inconveniences for him
on his face, you know.
I mean, he's not feeling good.
That was a good body shot by Sor Rungvisai.
It's definitely put him in a very bad situation.
- Still have to worry about blood loss.
I mean, it-- this is not just a cut
that opened up and that is closed
and then, you know, is maybe trinkling--trickling down.
This is gushing, as you said, Roy.
- Mm-hmm, and it's not a good sight to see,
I'll tell you that.
- And Miguel Diaz, the cutman,
has now told our Jerry Olaya, the interpreter,
that there are two cuts he's working on
and that a-- a real problem that's causing
the constant blood flow is that there are two cuts
next door to each other,
and both of them are bleeding badly.
- Good right uppercut by Sor Rungvisai--
left uppercut, that is.
- And--and I'm sure exacerbated by punches,
but opened by headbutts.
- What a combination by González.
- Break! I got it, I got it.
- Left hook, straight right hand,
both landed flush.
- Sor Rungvisai's facial expressions--if he is hurt,
boy, he hides it well.
- Best poker face you ever want to see.
- Yeah, he looks slightly amused by it all.
- Best--best poker face you ever seen in boxing.
Never opens his mouth to breathe hard or anything.
- Sor Rungvisai holding his gloves aloft
as he comes back to his corner.
- Oh, my, you did really good.
This round was really good, brother.
Breathe, breathe. Breathe deeply.
Breathe.
- [speaking Spanish]
- Want a water.
Let's go, Choco. Let's go, let's go.
Let's go, let's go, Choco.
We're winning. We're winning.
But we need to throw more.
You got to press a little bit more.
Step back.
- I think Sor Rungvisai has had grin on his face...
[bell dings]
Almost suppressing a grin,
much of the last few rounds.
Obviously he's proud of what
he's done here tonight, win or lose.
You can almost be assu-- assured that
whoever wins this decision, if it goes the distance,
the other guy's gonna complain.
- Well, Sor Rungvisai is obviously confident,
but I-I was mentioning the optics with Chocolatito
because of the blood gushing and him taking big shots.
And then on the other hand, Sor Rungvisai
is kind of smirking and acting as though
the punches aren't affecting him.
I wonder if that whole visual affects the judges.
- But important to remember that the cuts, or cut,
that's causing the bleeding for Román Chocolatito González
came from headbutts and not from punches.
- But emotionally, it's hard to always keep that in mind
when you see blood gushing and splattering
as the opponent lands a big punch.
- And we've discussed in the past
the inevitable tendency of judges to score blood
if one fighter is bloody and the other is not.
That's an indicator almost impossible to resist.
- Watch your heads.
- And another thing from experience for Sor Rungvisai
is that, at this point in the fight,
you have to try to dig some of that power to the body.
He's not throwing any shots to Chocolatito's body,
and we know Chocolatito is definitely
showing signs of fatigue, and he's been worked.
I mean, he's bleeding hard. He's doing a lot of things.
He's--he's been very active with his punch output.
Therefore he had to have some fatigue going on right now.
But Sor Rungvisai is not doing the experienced thing
and going to the body to work on that.
- This kind of blood loss sap your energy, Roy?
- Yes, it does, after this long.
I mean, it's been, like, eight or nine rounds
of constant blood loss, and not just blood loss--
blood gushing out, at that.
So you have to know that he feels weakened some.
But you're not doing anything about it.
- It's hard to say, too, if the blood
is kind of changing the way
you see the contours of Chocolatito's face.
But the opposite side of his face looks swollen to me.
- I think it always looks like that, Max.
- Maybe, maybe.
- Yeah, I think it always looks like that.
- It looks asymmetrical right now
because the blood is masking the other side of his face.
- Exactly.
- Fewer than four minutes remaining in the fight.
Somebody's gonna stage one more rally at least
before this is all over with.
- Sor Rungvisai is doing the smart thing
and boxing and moving now.
- No, no, no! Watch yourself.
- Oh, he got to watch his head right there, though.
- Watch yourself. Let's go.
- He's trying to box and move now
instead of staying right there.
- One more headbutt. - He feels like--
- Sor Rungvisai could lose another point
at a moment when it could never possibly be
more critical.
Total punches landed in this round by CompuBox count,
Sor Rungvisai doubling Chocolatito.
- Feels like he's ahead, so now he's boxing.
- Neither fighter can afford to lose a round.
- You mentioned it when it happened, Jim,
but that point deduction for the headbutt
could loom large in this decision.
- Which is also why he's probably boxing,
trying to avoid that happening,
because he feels like he has a good chance
to win this fight, so if he uses his feet now
and stays away, he won't get another point deducted
for a headbutt.
- Sor Rungvisai landing more punches in this round.
Chocolatito landing the harder shots.
We've got one round to go.
- You did brilliantly. Brilliant.
Great. It was great.
Breath, breath. Breathe deeply.
You were great.
Drink. This is the last round.
You do your best, okay?
Get your champion back.
Get it back. Get it back for us.
- I need you to throw that right up top.
The hook, and three hooks to the body with the right.
Get it in. Get it in.
Come on, more punches. More punches.
Let's go.
Last round, last round.
Last round with everything.
Come out with everything, Choco.
Let's go, Choco, and be intelligent.
You see, he's boxing you.
Let him come in. Let him come in.
He's gonna come in looking for you.
[whistle blows]
- Ladies and gentlemen,
here at Madison Square Garden...
- As we go to round 12, CompuBox numbers find
Román "Chocolatito" González landing 400 total punches
in the fight to this point.
And Srisaket Sor Rungvisai landing 269.
That's a difference of 131 landed punches.
Ought to be enough to mean that Chocolatito
would be ahead in the fight, but does it?
He got knocked down in the first round
on a body shot from Sor Rungvisai.
He got that point back from a point deduction
for a headbutt later on in the fight.
It's been give and take down the stretch.
Chocolatito has won 46 consecutive fights
and has never lost as a professional.
Sor Rungvisai, who went 1-3-1 in his first five fights,
has won 40 out of 41 since.
And surely both men believe deep in their hearts
that they can find some way to win
in these last 3 minutes.
- This has been a very valiant fight, Jim.
Two great athletes going at it toe-to-toe, pretty much,
for most of the fight.
I mean, they have given one hell of an effort.
And both guys deserve a victory tonight.
- It seems to me that the punch stats
reflect more or less what's happened in this fight
in the sense that I think Chocolatito is probably up
on the cards by a little wider margin
than Harold has him, although again...
Harold is sitting here judging round by round.
- Oh, low blow.
- And, uh--and I'll defer to his judgment...
Because we are also talking the story of the fight.
- You got to watch his head.
Like you said, he might get another deduction
for a headbutt if he's not careful.
- Huge shots by Chocolatito... - Yes.
- In the last 30 seconds.
- He looks exhausted, but he's pulling out all the stops,
bringing all the energy he can possibly bring.
Big right hand. Another right hand.
- What a chin on Sor Rungvisai!
- A big left hook!
Another left hook!
The crowd is on its feet,
as Chocolatito is lacing Sor Rungvisai
with hard shots in the closing minute of the fight.
- Chocolatito-- you want to see what--
what separates goodness from greatness,
look at how Chocolatito is finishing this fight.
- Break!
I got it. I got it, I got it.
- He's taking risks and closing the show.
- Yes, he is.
- A tremendous, bloody battle
in Madison Square Garden,
in keeping with all the greatest traditions
of the world's most famous boxing arena,
the number pound-for-pound fighter in the world
desperately trying to hold on to his unbeaten record.
Great body shot by Chocolatito--
backs Sor Rungvisai up into the corner again.
[crowd cheering]
20 seconds to go.
Right hand by Chocolatito.
Left hook by Chocolatito.
Chasing Sor Rungvisai,
trying to score as much as possible...
[loud tapping]
And leave no doubt.
Sor Rungvisai coming back with a flurry of his own.
Down the stretch they go!
[bell dinging] Unbelievable.
- Chocolatito does the legacy
of past great fighters proud
with performances like that
in this arena.
- And now Michael Buffer is at the side of ring
with the decision-- let's hear it.
- Ladies and gentlemen, here at Madison Square Garden,
we go to the scorecards.
Waleska Roldan scores it 113-113.
He has it even.
Julie Lederman and Glenn Feldman
both score the contest 114-112
to the winner by majority decision...
and new WBC super flyweight champion
of the world,
from Thailand,
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai!
- That's a shocker, guys.
That's a shocker.
- And Chocolatito's 46-fight win streak comes to an end.
We bring you back to our set
to sum this up with Max.
Max, the scores went for Sor Rungvisai.
But virtually every ringside expert
and most of the crowd in Madison Square Garden
thought that Chocolatito was the real winner.
Later in the year, they met again
and Sor Rungvisai violently knocked Chocolatito out
in four rounds.
Was there a style advantage
for the Thai fighter
that we may have overlooked going into the first fight?
- No, I don't think so.
I think that he didn't really knock Chocolatito out,
not to take anything away from Sor Rungvisai, I guess.
He just did.
But he--he knocked out
the remains of Chocolatito.
And--and that's because
I think Chocolatito's undefeated record
meant a great deal more to him
than I realized.
You know, not that I'd given it much thought,
but he'd been involved in some fights that were close
that I guess could have gone the other way.
It wouldn't have been the worst decision in the world.
And so, why does the decision going the wrong way
affect the fighter psychologically like that
in a fight he really won?
Because he--that was a big part of his boxing identity.
And I suppose at his age,
given the number of tough fights he'd been through,
the number of weight divisions he, you know,
traversed,
um...
to push through, I--
and it has to be in preparation for the fight, right?
That's where it's really won or lost.
To push through when he didn't feel like pushing through,
I don't think the motivation was there the same way,
and I have to think it's a result
of the loss of the undefeated record--
the technical loss of the undefeated record
in a fight he really won,
because the guy I saw to fight in the rematch--
that wasn't him.
- It's sometimes confounding
to the layman to try to figure out
how it is that a fighter can be an entirely different specimen
at 115 pounds
than he previously was at 112 pounds.
Three pounds difference. Was that a critical factor too?
- No, I don't think it was that.
I--that's the tail end, three pounds.
Kind of like you see a fighter losing weight--
he couldn't take off that last half pound.
You can't lose a half pound?
Yeah, but he took off 15 already.
You know? Uh...
this guy moved from
105 to 108 to 112 to 115.
It's that, you know, as a percentage of his body mass--
that's a lot.
So it's that--that journey, I think, that finally--
he was already at the upper end of where he could compete
at that level.
And so, sure, punches were not as--
were not having the same effect
on 115-pounders as they had
on 108-, 112-pounders.
And, um--and their punches were having a greater effect
on him, sure.
- All right. Thanks, Max.
And thank you for being with us on this edition
of "Boxing's Best."
Let's take a look at the rest
of the HBO Boxing schedule.
For more information
on the schedule and the fighters,
go to HBO.com
and InsideHBOBoxing.com.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
announcer: This has been a presentation of HBO Sports.
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