Gonzalez just scored a TKO win against Filipino-American Brian Viloria in the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux fight Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
For Nietes to entice Gonzalez for a possible title fight, he needs to move up from 108 to the flyweight limit of 112 pounds because that is where “Chocolatito” roams around. Gonzalez is the recognized leader in the Ring’s Top 10 pound-for-pound list in the 112 limit (Flyweight) while Nietes holds the same post in the 108 (Junior Flyweight) limit.
Gonzalez is bent on granting Juan Franciso Estrada’s call for a rematch. The two fought in 2012 to a unanimous decision in favor of Gonzalez.
It appears that the chances of Estrada getting a rematch is better than Nietes’ chance for a shot at Chocolatito. Besides, Estrada is more salable than Nietes at this time because of his international exposure.
If Nietes finally decides to move up and catch Gonzalez at 112, he needs to look at the possibility of facing anyone in the Ring’s Top 10 flyweight contenders including Amat Ruengroeng of Thailand, Kazuto Ioka of Japan, Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina and Moruti Mthalane of South Africa.
If Nietes can secure a fight and win impressively against any of the names in the Top 10 flyweight list early next year, he could be in for a lucrative fight with Chocolatito.
Gonzalez is unbeaten in 44 fights with 38 coming via knockout while Nietes has won 36 of his 37 fights since he turned pro in 2003.
