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Big bill on tonight at Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico as reigning WBC super bantam champ Toshiaki Nishioka heads into the lion’s den to face challenger Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico City.
Tokyo based southpaw Nishioka, 33-4-3 (20), will be making a rare appearance outside Japan but is coming into this first title defense after having won the belt with a dramatic 12th round stoppage of Mexican veteran Genaro Garcia in January.
32 year old Nishioka has been a pro since 1994 and fought WBC bantam titlist Veeraphol Sahaprom four times between 200-2004, losing the first and fourth while forcing draws in the second and third bouts.
Nishikoa moved up to super bantam after the last Sahaprom contest and has since reeled off 10 straight victories.
In the oppositie corner, 27 year old Gonzalez, 40-6 (34), has been a pro since he was 17 and after losing his first two bouts, won the next 14, capturing the NABF bantam crown along the way.
Two losses to Ricardo Vargas followed in 2002 but then Gonzalez went on a tear, reeling off 19 wins in a row including a WBO bantam title victory against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin in October, 2005.
After successfully defending the crown against Fernando Montiel in 2006, Gonzales challenged for the WBC super bantam crown but was stopped in the tenth by Israel Vasquez.
Gonzalez went back to bantam and defeated Irene Pacheco for the WBO title before losing it to Gary Penalosa in August, 2007.
That was the Mexico City man’s most recent title fight and Gonzalez forced this WBC title opportunity by winning six straight, including stoppages of Mauricio Pastrana and Reynaldo Lopez.
Gonzalez is the far more experienced of the two fighters tonight in Monterrey and will have the crowd on his side against the Japanese champion.
The Mexican veteran is taller than Nishioka with the better reach and has a higher KO percentage but the champion is a crafty southpaw and if Gonzalez can’t wear down the Tokyo man and force him to fight, we could be looking at a title retention on points for Nishioka.
The undercard is headlined by ex-IBF bantamweight king Rafael Marquez, 37-5 (33), coming off a year’s layoff following three fight of the year WBC super bantam title bouts against Israel Vasquez.
Hoping to catch Marquez on the downside of his career will be 37 year old Colombian slugger Jose Francisco Mendoza, 21-2-2 (17), as the two meet in a WBC super bantam title eliminator.
