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Gonzales came back
from an early deficit to rip Richardson with big
shots in the middle and later rounds to win the most
difficult fight of his pro career.
Richardson, who
brought a record of 10-1 with 4 KO's, landed the jab
repeatedly
in the opening rounds, drawing blood from the nose
of Gonzales.
"That guy was really slick. He was hard
to hit and it took me a long time to figure him out," Gonzales said
after the match, the first time he had gone 12 rounds.
"I started out cold," said Gonzales, who had dropped down from
middleweight to super welterweight for the bout. "I lost a lot of weight
for this fight. I haven't fought at 154 since I was an amateur so it
feels good to be back down and he was probably the toughest opponent I
ever fought.
Richardson, of Youngstown, Ohio, was
coming off a 10-round unanimous decision to Deandre Latimore on December
6th.
Gonzales slammed a left to the body of
Richardson in round three and was chasing him by the end of the round.
A huge collision between the fighters
opened round four as both landed shots, and Gonzales continued to land
right hands to the head of "Too Slick" Richardson. By the end of the
round it was evident that Richardson was trying to avoid Gonzales'
power.
The referee deducted one point from
Richardson for holding in the fifth round. He came out aggressive in the
sixth, landing a big left-right combination to the face of Gonzales
early. Gonzales, who had predicted a fifth or sixth round knockout, came back later with a looping left to the head.
"This guy was real tricky," said
Gonzales. "He's been around for a long time. I knew him in the amateurs
so I knew what he was capable of doing. He was a good boxer. I was
predicting a knockout but I always predict a knockout."
Gonzales continued hammering with body
shots in round seven, and closed the round with a big left hand to the
head.
Richardson opened round eight with a
right to the head, the followed with a combination that mostly missed.
Gonzales came back with a solid left, followed by a 1-2 combination to
the head.
Richardson remained competitive throughout the later rounds,
but Gonzales seemed to have the clear edge in rounds 11 and 12, as he
landed bombs in combination and pursued Richardson around the ring.
T he
The judges' scores were 118-109,
117-110 and 116-111, all for Gonzales, who says he takes some lessons
from the effort.
"I learned how to keep control, not to
rush anything because sometimes I catch myself rushing. He would catch
me coming in. But it was a good experience for me."
Gonzales' trainer Kenny Weldon says the
crowd-pleasing main event will not be the last for Houston fans.
"The guy was a good fighter," said
Weldon. "Everybody in Houston wants good fighters in here. They want to
see local guys fight good fighters. Well we've done that. We gave them
what they wanted and we gave it to them here at the Arena Theater so as
to let them know that we mean business for Houston. We're not here to do
anything but win a world championship. I want to scream at the top
of my lungs right now, come on Floyd (Mayweather). You say nobody wants
to fight you. We do. We want to fight him. We want him bad."
Gonzales improves to
24-1 with 13 KO's!!
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