[8.8] GILBERTO ROMAN 61-54(35)-6-1 [Super-Bantamweight & Bantamweight & Super-Flyweight]: Boxing Monthly online -
When Salvador Sanchez died aged 23 in 1982 he left a void in the hearts of the passionate Mexican fans.
Roman had no chance of becoming the next Mexican boxing idol. Although he was comparable to Sanchez as a stylist, a young kid from Culiacan called Julio Cesar Chavez won the love and respect of the nation by winning world titles in multiple weight classes at the same time. Roman, meanwhile, was plying his trade in the less glamorous super-flyweight division. Nevertheless, the defensively minded and technically proficient Mexico City boxer was among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world at his peak, and his run at the top of the division is unsurpassed even to this day.
Roman did not follow the typical route of the prototypical Mexican boxing legend. A quality amateur, he failed to medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, despite beating the excellent Pan-Am gold medalist Alberto Mercado.
Turning pro in the Fall of ’81, Roman then chose the typical trajectory of a young Mexican prospect, amassing 43 bouts in five years, including a win over the hard-hitting former (and future) world champ Antonio Avelar.
Roman was 40-3 before he got a world title shot, and had no less a fighter than the great Jiro Watanabe standing in his way.
The bout itself was low on drama. But to the purist, to watch it now is to watch Roman at his tactical peak. He feints, jabs, and circumnavigates Watanabe throughout. Watanabe has his moments, but Roman plays to his strengths and the great Japanese’s weaknesses, showing a higher ring IQ and a more diverse skill set.
Roman displayed these same skills throughout his career. And he would need them.
The incredible Thai Kontoranee Payakaroon gave Roman issues, but the Mexican made the adjustments down the stretch to keep his belt. Former lineal flyweight champ Frank Cedeno floored Roman early, but got disheartened when he found that the defending champ wasn’t fazed. Two-time world flyweight challenger – and reigning European bantam champ – Antoine Montero was perfectly built for super fly, but Roman took him apart in nine rounds.
Roman’s ring generalship found its most severe test in three bouts that featured possibly the highest combined skill level you’ll find at 115lbs. Roman went 1-1-1 with the hard as nails Argie Santos Laciar, and over the trilogy both men displayed the finer side of the sweet science, both in a gruelling inside battle and a tit-for-tat battle for the outside.
Laciar – a former WBA flyweight champ – was a broad shouldered, bobbing technician, who mixed a granite chin with solid defence in order to get off his looping overhand shots. He came close to dethroning Roman in an excellent 12-round draw, before both men’s tendency to cut inside their opponents shots with quick slips saw multiple head clashes in the rematch. Erroneously – at least to my eyes – ruled a TKO due to the referee’s insistence that punches caused the multiple lacerations on Roman’s head and face, the rematch saw Laciar take the WBC super-flyweight title, his second in two divisions.
Roman would eventually win back his title, but it wouldn’t be form his old foe Laciar.
Had Sugar Baby Rojas been Mexican, he may well have surpassed Roman in terms of popularity. Going into his title fight against Laciar, he was 27 years old, and had lost just one bout, matched perilously hard in just his seventh pro bout against Chilean banger Martin Vargas, then nearing a century of bouts. Never stopped in his long career, Rojas mixed his intimidating size of the weight with a textbook boxer-puncher style – with a dash of the Colombian wildness that so many fighters from that nation have – that saw 17 of his 28 victims fail to see the final bell.
Rojas’ youth and size was too much for Santos Laciar, and although the same age, Roman was much older in ring terms, and had needed a hundred stitches after a serious car accident that saw him thrown through the windscreen. He was up against more than just a dangerous puncher, he was past his physical best.
But as Rojas found out in two bouts, Roman’s great experience was too much to overcome. Losing a tough decision first time round, Rojas was completely befuddled in the rematch (held on the undercard of the incredible and long awaited rematch between ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns) and never replicated the destructive form that saw him win the title.
Roman was long in the tooth though, and the ease with which he reclaimed his title flattered to deceive. Ever the pro, he managed to craft some quality wins out of what he had left, travelling to Japan to beat undefeated challenger – and future WBC super-bantamweight champ – Kiyoshi Hatanaka, and proving his superiority over Santos Laciar once and for all via dominant decision.
Once Roman’s reflexes slipped, he was essentially done as a fighter.
Unlike Salvador Sanchez, there is no ‘what ifs’ surrounding his career. It was all done with by 1990, as he fell victim to Nana Konadu and Sung-Kil Moon, two huge fighters who hit as hard as they looked.
So when a truck plowed into Roman’s car, killing him at the age of 28 in eerily similar circumstances to compatriot Sanchez, he was already wisely retired, and had told his close friends as such. He is not put atop this list because of nostalgia, or by giving him the benefit of the doubt concerning his future potential and accomplishments. He was not cut down in his prime. He had already accomplished enough to be here in the number one spot.
Successful in twelve bouts for the true lineal super flyweight title, he displayed excellence at all ranges, demonstrating an advanced ring IQ that has not been seen since in the division. And, as if to prove his superiority over all those that have preceded him in this countdown, he mastered the second greatest super flyweight of all time, thus proving his dominance over the very best that super flyweight has to offer.
Both Juan Francisco Estrada and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai will have their chance to better Roman’s achievements. It all starts with their certified super fight on Saturday night. Boxing Monthly online article Kyle McLachlan 23rd February 2018, ‘The Top Ten Super Flyweights of All Time’