JHONNY GONZALEZ

updated February 20, 2007

An exciting fighter with devastating power in his fists, Mexico's Jhonny Gonzalez has a well-earned reputation as one of boxing's most compelling young warriors. And at just 24-years-old, boxing insiders believe that the best is yet to come for the bantamweight bomber.

Given the name Jhonny (spelled that way on his birth certificate), Gonzalez was practically born to be a fighter, as his father Miguel was a professional boxer who began teaching his son the ways of the prize ring when he was 12 years old.

A stellar amateur, Gonzalez compiled a record of 164-14, and was a three-time national champion in Mexico. He also earned a bronze medal at the 1998 Pan American Games and was a member of the Mexican Olympic team before a dispute with the Mexican Olympic Committee caused him to leave the team.

Leaving the amateur ranks behind, Gonzalez turned pro on August 14, 1999, and lost a four round majority decision to Mario Perez. Gonzalez also came up on the short end of a judges' verdict three months later against Hugo Vargas, and admittedly was not taking boxing too seriously.

But in 2000, Gonzalez turned over a new leaf, and started showing some of the skills that made him one of Mexico's top young fighters, a fact bore out when he was named Mexico's Prospect of the Year for 2000. He also took the advice of his friends and former world champions Pipino Cuevas and Humberto Gonzalez, and in 2000 and 2001 ran off 13 consecutive wins without a defeat.

On October 26, 2001, Gonzalez would face his toughest test to date in Ablorh Sowah, at the Pechanga Entertainment Center in Temecula, California. At stake was the vacant NABF bantamweight title, and Jhonny delivered, stopping Sowah in ten heated rounds.

Four months later, Gonzalez would face veteran Ricardo "Chapo" Vargas at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California. The two warriors would battle evenly over ten rounds, earning Fight of the Year nominations from many in the press, but in the end, it was Vargas who emerged victorious via a close unanimous decision.

Both fighters would battle again two months later, this time with Gonzalez' NABF crown on the line, and again Gonzalez would fall short, this time by a seventh round technical decision.

Gonzalez was undeterred by the consecutive defeats though, and has since run off seven wins in a row. In each bout, he has also brought his own judges to the ring, winning each contest by knockout.

Along the way, Gonzalez added two championships to his resume: the WBC Continental Americas Bantamweight crown which he won by knocking out Francisco Mateos in a single round on December 14, 2002, and the Mexican Bantamweight title, which he won by stopping Ramon Leyte in four rounds.

On February 27, 2004, Gonzalez successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas crown with a fifth round stoppage of Moises Zamudio. He followed up that win with his most impressive outing as a pro, a sixth round TKO of highly regarded and previously unbeaten Roger Gonzalez on March 25, a bout televised nationally on HBO Latino.

Not resting on his laurels, Gonzalez continued to impress boxing fans as he scored four more KO wins in 2004 - over Alejandro Montiel to win the NABO bantamweight crown (TKO 6), Francisco Tejedor (TKO 1), Hugo Vargas (KO 3), and previously unbeaten Gabriel Elizondo (TKO 2).

Gonzalez kicked off his 2005 campaign with an impressive 12 round decision win over seasoned veteran Adonis Rivas in a WBC bantamweight title elimination bout on February 17, and he followed that victory up with a decisive third round stoppage of Trinidad Mendoza on April 1, a near-shutout ten round decision over Adolfo Landeros on June 16, and an entertaining third round KO of gutsy William Gonzalez (no relation).

With these victories in hand, Gonzalez finally received his long-deserved shot at a world championship on October 29, when he battled Thailand's Ratanachai Sor Vorapin for the WBO world bantamweight title. Gonzalez made the most of his shot, stopping the hard-nosed veteran in seven rounds to become one of boxing's most exciting world champions.

In 2006, Gonzalez has already begun leaving a path of destruction as he opened up the year with a decisive eighth round knockout of legendary champion Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson on February 25. On May 27th, Gonzalez will look to add another high-profile name to his list of victims when he tackles two-division champion Fernando Montiel in an all-Mexican war.