This will be the final male fight broadcast in the long history of HBO Boxing.
Former pound for pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (47-2, 39 KOs) has withdrawn from his scheduled fight against former titleholder Pedro Guevara (32-3-1, 19 KOs) according to promoter Tom Loeffler. The fight was scheduled for December 8th as the middle bout of HBO’s otherwise all female tripleheader of a final broadcast. The network announced it will be ending its 45 year run of coverage at the conclusion of 2018 and this is the last show scheduled.
It was a knee injury that did Chocolatito in for the fight. That is his loss, but it may be top contender Juan Francisco Estrada’s (37-3, 25 KOs) gain. Loeffler has said he is in advanced talks with the elite fighter’s team for Estrada to fill on in short notice. The replacement bout isn’t official yet, but all parties involved do seem confident that it is likely. This would be Estrada’s fourth straight fight on the network and third of 2018.
The two female title fights featuring Cecilia Braekhus (34-0, 9 KOs) and Claressa Shields (7-0, 2 KOs) defending their belts against Aleksandra Magdziak-Lopes (18-4-3, 1 KO) and Femke Hermans (9-1, 3 KOs) will go on regardless.
