Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn would love to make a tantalizing tilt between legendary three-division champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and upstart WBC super flyweight champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. 

“I want to see Jesse Rodriguez against Chocolatito. I think it’s an all-time great fight, and we might make that for December,” said Hearn told IFL TV. 

The contest would be one of the most competitive and desired fights on paper in what has already been a stacked year. 

However, the two fighters are close friends. Because of that relationship, Rodriguez has openly stated in interviews that he wasn't interested in facing Gonzalez. Additionally, Rodriguez's next fight is potentially going to happen one division down at flyweight.

Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) got back into the win column in March by dominating Julio Cesar Martinez in a one-sided drubbing. Previous to that, the 35-year-old Gonzalez dropped a highly disputed decision in a rematch against Juan Francisco Estrada in March 2021. 

A trilogy fight between the WBA and WBC franchise champion Estrada and Gonzalez has been in play for quite some time, but a rubber match has been much maligned for a multitude of reasons. 

More recently, the announced March 5 bout between Estrada and Gonzalez had to be scrapped after Estrada contracted COVID-19 in January. Martinez ended up serving as Gonzalez’s replacement opponent. 

Estrada and Gonzalez’s camps have been negotiating for a fall fight throughout the summer. 

The San Antonio-based savant Rodriguez (16-0, 11 KOs) is in the midst of a remarkable five-month run that has seen him unanimously decision Carlos Cuadras in February to win the vacant 115-pound crown, and he’s defended the belt in an eighth-round knockout against two-time Gonzalez conqueror Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in June. 

The 22-year-old Rodriguez is currently the youngest active world champion in boxing.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.