WBO sends Elwin Soto vs Jonathan Gonzalez to purse bid

If Eddie Hearn wants to stage a light flyweight unification match between Hiroto Kyoguchi and Elwin Soto, he’ll have to work fast. Alongside yesterday’s quickly mooted order for Jamel Herring and Shakur Stevenson, Paco Valcarcel gave Soto a seven-day deadline to negotiate with mandatory challenger Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez before going to an $80,000-minimum purse bid.

All Star Boxing’s Tuto Zabala Jr. quickly jumped on the opportunity, claiming he’d secured venues in both San Juan, Puerto Rico and Kissimmee, FL.

Gonzalez (24-3-1, 14 KO) is 6-1 since a 2016 knockout loss to Jobert Alvarez, the sole loss coming to Kosei Tanaka in a fight Gonzalez was winning on two scorecards. He’s in no way a bad opponent for Soto (19-1, 13 KO), who’s had some close shaves during his consistently entertaining reign, but he’s definitely a step down from WBA champ Kyoguchi.

Kyoguchi also has a mandatory of his own to deal with in Esteban Bermudez, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Perhaps Matchroom can stick both fights on a double bill to drum up interest in the unification? It’s either that or pay Gonzalez and Bermudez to go away.