Roman Gonzalez puts career on hold as he tends to ailing trainer

Pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez had been in talks to stage a rematch with Carlos Cuadras, but all of that is on hold now in light of the news that Gonzalez’s trainer Arnulfo Obando was pronounced brain dead on Monday.

In conversation with RingTV, promoter Tom Loeffler gives his thoughts on the terrible news:

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Loeffler said in a phone interview. “It shows everyone that life is so precious. Chocolatito was on top of the boxing world and we got to know his team very well. He trained at Big Bear for his last fight here at The Forum and his team was up there every day at training camp with Gennady (Golovkin). Arnulfo was young at 54 and just seemed so vibrant, so full of life and then always so happy and smiling and welcoming whenever I’d go up to the camp.”

Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs), recently won a world title in his fourth weight class (the first fighter from Nicaragua to ever accomplish the feat) under the guidance of trainer Arnulfo Obando. In fact the title fight against Carlos Cuadras was such a good one that there was immediate talk to hold a rematch, but obviously that’s on the back-burner for now.

“It’s such a great fight,” Loeffler said. “It’s really a testament to Chocolatito but also his team and clearly Arnulfo for him to win a title in a fourth division. A rematch was something that was being discussed but clearly it’s on hold right now.”

This is clearly a difficult time for Gonzalez as well as those close to Obando. We just wish them all the best.