Humberto González (born March 25, 1966) is a Mexican former professional boxing champion. He held the WBC three times, IBF and Lineal Jr. Flyweight titles. He was nicknamed Chiquita.

Humberto González
Humberto González (left) with Pakistan boxing official Nauman Shah
Born (1966-03-25) March 25, 1966 (age 58)
Other namesChiquita
Statistics
Weight(s)Light flyweight
Height5 ft 1 in (155 cm)
Reach65 in (165 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights46
Wins43
Wins by KO30
Losses3

Professional career

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Gonzalez made his professional boxing debut on September 1, 1984 in Mexico City with a four round decision win over Jorge Ortega Perez. Little over three months later, he had his first knockout win, as he beat Narciso Perez in the first round.

By the end of 1987, Gonzalez was 20-0 and held the Mexico light-flyweight title.

In 1988, he won four fights, all by knockout. He retained the national belt against Jose Luis Zepeda in six rounds at Tijuana, and Javier Vazquez, beaten in five at Mexico City.

His next fight, on June 25, 1989, brought two firsts to his career: Celebrated in Chonju, South Korea, it was his first fight abroad. Being for the WBC world Jr. Flyweight championship, it was also his first world title try. Gonzalez outpointed world champion Yul-Woo Lee over 12 rounds to crown himself world champion. On December 9, he again fought in South Korea, retaining his world championship against former champion and future hall of fame member Jung-Koo Chang by a decision in 12. Chang had previously defended the same title a then division record 15 times before vacating it following a brief retirement the year prior.

In 1990, Gonzalez retained the title four times, including a win against future champion Francisco Tejedor, but on December 19, he suffered a shocking defeat to Rolando Pascua, a boxer who was unknown to most boxing experts, in Inglewood. The knockout in round six suffered by Gonzalez that night cost him the world title.

After a win in 1991, Gonzalez recovered the world title, by defeating the man who had taken the world championship away from Pascua: Melchor Cob Castro. Gonzalez and Castro met on June 3 at Las Vegas, and Gonzalez won a 12 round decision.

In 1992, he retained the title four times, beating Castro in a rematch, reigning Olympic flyweight gold medalist Kim Kwang-sun, Domingo Sosa and former world champion Napa Kiatwanchai.

By then, talks about a superfight between him and IBF world champion Michael Carbajal were common among boxing fans. The fight, which came on March 13, 1993, was the first million-dollar fight in Jr. Flyweight boxing history (both fighters were guaranteed one million dollars in earnings) and also the first Jr. Flyweight fight in history to head a Pay Per View boxing card. In front of many Hollywood stars and thousands of fans at the arena, Gonzalez dropped Carbajal in rounds two and five, but Carbajal recovered to knock Gonzalez out in round seven.[1] He finished the year with two ten round decision wins, including one against Pablo Tiznado, a boxer who also fought against Alex Sanchez.

Carbajal and Gonzalez met in a rematch February 19, 1994 at Inglewood, and the second time around, Gonzalez became a three time world Jr. Flyweight champion by beating Carbajal by decision in 12.[2] With that win, he joined an exclusive group of boxers who have been world champions three times or more in the same division, alongside such others as Muhammad Ali, Carlos De León, Evander Holyfield and Sugar Ray Robinson. Gonzalez won two more fights, one a non-title bout, and the other a title defense versus Juan Domingo Córdoba. Then, on November 12 of the same year, he and Carbajal had a rubber match, this time in Mexico City. Gonzalez again prevailed, on points over 12 rounds.

After retaining the title once in 1995, on July 15 of that year, he fought for the last time. Again, he dropped his rival, Saman Sorjaturong, a couple of times before being knocked out in round seven to lose his world title.

Professional boxing record

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46 fights 43 wins 3 losses
By knockout 30 3
By decision 13 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
46 Loss 43–3 Saman Sorjaturong TKO 7 (12), 0:58 Jul 15, 1995 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Lost WBC and IBF light flyweight titles
45 Win 43–2 Jesus Zuniga KO 5 (12), 1:26 Mar 31, 1995 Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California, U.S. Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles
44 Win 42–2 Michael Carbajal MD 12 Nov 12, 1994 Plaza de Toros México, Mexico City, Mexico Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles
43 Win 41–2 Juan Domingo Córdoba RTD 7 (12), 3:00 Sep 10, 1994 Caesars Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada, U.S. Retained WBC and IBF light flyweight titles
42 Win 40–2 Armando Diaz TKO 3 (10) Jul 8, 1994 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
41 Win 39–2 Michael Carbajal SD 12 Feb 19, 1994 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Won WBC and IBF light flyweight titles
40 Win 38–2 Armando Diaz UD 10 Nov 17, 1993 Caesars Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
39 Win 37–2 Pablo Tiznado UD 10 Aug 28, 1993 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
38 Loss 36–2 Michael Carbajal KO 7 (12), 2:59 Mar 13, 1993 Hilton Hotel, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Lost WBC light flyweight title;
For IBF light flyweight title
37 Win 36–1 Melchor Cob Castro UD 12 Dec 7, 1992 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Retained WBC light flyweight title
36 Win 35–1 Napa Kiatwanchai KO 2 (12), 2:48 Sep 14, 1992 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Retained WBC light flyweight title
35 Win 34–1 Kwang-sun Kim TKO 12 (12), 0:55 Jun 7, 1992 Olympic Fencing Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea Retained WBC light flyweight title
34 Win 33–1 Domingo Sosa UD 12 Jan 27, 1992 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Retained WBC light flyweight title
33 Win 32–1 Melchor Cob Castro UD 12 Jun 3, 1991 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Won WBC light flyweight title
32 Win 31–1 Rey Hernandez KO 9 (10) Mar 15, 1991 Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
31 Loss 30–1 Rolando Pascua KO 6 (12), 2:24 Dec 19, 1990 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Lost WBC light flyweight title
30 Win 30–0 Jorge Rivera TKO 9 (12), 1:37 Aug 25, 1990 Plaza de Toros, Cancún, Mexico Retained WBC light flyweight title
29 Win 29–0 Jung Keun Lim TKO 5 (12), 0:34 Jul 23, 1990 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Retained WBC light flyweight title
28 Win 28–0 Luis Monzote TKO 3 (12), 0:54 Jun 4, 1990 Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. Retained WBC light flyweight title
27 Win 27–0 Francisco Tejedor KO 3 (12), 0:31 Mar 24, 1990 Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico Retained WBC light flyweight title
26 Win 26–0 Jung-koo Chang UD 12 Dec 9, 1989 Indoor Gymnasium, Daegu, South Korea Retained WBC light flyweight title
25 Win 25–0 Yul-woo Lee UD 12 Jun 25, 1989 Cheongju Gymnasium, Cheongju, South Korea Won WBC light flyweight title
24 Win 24–0 Jorge Rivera KO 4 (?) Oct 22, 1988 Cozumel, Mexico
23 Win 23–0 Atanasio Villareal TD 4 (?) Oct 1, 1988 Mexico City, Mexico
22 Win 22–0 Javier Varguez TKO 5 (12) Jun 4, 1988 Mexico City, Mexico Retained Mexican light flyweight title
21 Win 21–0 Jose Luis Zepeda TKO 6 (12) Mar 5, 1988 Tijuana, Mexico Retained Mexican light flyweight title
20 Win 20–0 Jorge Cano PTS 12 Sep 26, 1987 Cancún, Mexico Won Mexican light flyweight title
19 Win 19–0 Jose Manuel Diaz KO 2 (10) Jul 25, 1987 Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City, Mexico
18 Win 18–0 Santiago Mendez Gamboa KO 8 (?) Jun 13, 1987 Mexico City, Mexico
17 Win 17–0 Ruben Padilla TKO 7 (?) May 9, 1987 Mexico City, Mexico
16 Win 16–0 Javier Alonso KO 1 (?) Feb 27, 1987 Acapulco, Mexico
15 Win 15–0 Jorge Gutierrez TKO 6 (?) Dec 6, 1986 Mexico City, Mexico
14 Win 14–0 Agustin Macias TKO 4 (?) Oct 8, 1986 Mexico City, Mexico
13 Win 13–0 Martin Ortega KO 1 (?) Jul 14, 1986 Mexico City, Mexico
12 Win 12–0 Alcibiades Hernandez TKO 2 (?) Jun 18, 1986 Mexico City, Mexico
11 Win 11–0 Sergio Medina KO 3 (?) May 22, 1986 Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico
10 Win 10–0 Martin Perez TKO 2 (?) Mar 15, 1986 Arena Coliseo, Mexico City, Mexico
9 Win 9–0 Carlos Rezago KO 5 (?) Dec 14, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
8 Win 8–0 Javier Alvarez TKO 1 (?) Nov 9, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
7 Win 7–0 Eduardo Ramirez PTS 6 Sep 7, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
6 Win 6–0 Otilio Gallegos TKO 2 (?) Jul 27, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
5 Win 5–0 Martin Alvarez TKO 2 (?) Jun 8, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
4 Win 4–0 Francisco Villagomez TKO 1 (?) Apr 20, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
3 Win 3–0 Carmelo Perez KO 1 (?) Feb 20, 1985 Mexico City, Mexico
2 Win 2–0 Narciso Perez TKO 1 (?) Dec 19, 1984 Mexico City, Mexico
1 Win 1–0 Jorge Ortega PTS 4 Sep 4, 1984 Mexico City, Mexico

Retirement

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Immediately after the fight with Sorjaturong, he announced he was retiring, to pursue another dream of his: to become a successful businessman in Mexico City. Gonzalez had a record of 43 wins and 3 losses as a professional boxer, with 30 wins by knockout.

Life after boxing

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Gonzalez has stayed retired ever since, and he has been able to open three meat markets in Mexico. He is a part-time butcher in his shops, and has been able to reach the business success he dreamed about.

Trivia

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His first fight with Carbajal and his fight with Sorjaturong were both chosen as 1993 and 1995's Fight of the Year by The Ring. The Ring also placed Carbajal and Gonzalez on their list of the 100 greatest punchers of all time.

Both Humberto González and former rival Michael Carbajal were elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.

He earned many admirers during his professional boxing career. Female boxer Delia Gonzalez was one of them, and is nicknamed Chikita after Humberto.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Friend, Tom (14 March 1993). "Carbajal, Down Twice, Unifies Title With Knockout". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  2. ^ "A Calmer Gonzalez Beats Carbajal". Los Angeles Times. 20 February 1994. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
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Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by
Jorge Cano
Mexican
light-flyweight champion

September 26, 1987 – 1988
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Javier Varguez
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBC light-flyweight champion
June 25, 1989 – December 19, 1990
Succeeded by
Preceded by WBC light-flyweight champion
June 3, 1991 – March 13, 1993
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Michael Carbajal
WBC light-flyweight champion
February 19, 1994 – July 15, 1995
Succeeded by
IBF light-flyweight champion
February 19, 1994 – July 15, 1995
Awards
Previous:
Riddick Bowe vs.
Evander Holyfield
I
The Ring Fight of the Year
vs. Michael Carbajal I

1993
Next:
Jorge Castro vs.
John David Jackson I
Previous:
Jorge Castro vs.
John David Jackson I
The Ring Fight of the Year
vs. Saman Sorjaturong

1995
Next:
Evander Holyfield vs.
Mike Tyson
I
Previous:
Jorge Castro vs.
John David Jackson I
Round 9
The Ring Round of the Year
vs. Saman Sorjaturong
Round 7

1995
Next:
Frankie Liles vs.
Tim Littles
Round 3