Unbeaten Cuban featherweight Dayan Gonzalez smashed his way to the IBO 126 pound title on Friday night in Liverpool, this when the 25 year old took out fellow unbeaten Wira Mirkham of Thailand. Gonzalez, who is based in Dubai, dropped Mirkham with a right uppercut to the head, and though the hurt fighter got up, the referee decided to halt proceedings.
Gonzalez is now 16-0(14), and he has made it clear he wants all the smoke at featherweight. Okay, Mirkham was an unknown quantity, his 16-0(11) record built up in Thailand, and Friday’s fight – all :44 seconds of it – didn’t tell us too much about Gonzalez. But the muscled, heavy-handed Cuban is certainly a fighter to keep an eye on.
Speaking with IFL TV after his quick and easy win that saw him pick up the vacant IBO strap, Gonzalez said he wants all the champions at 126, with him saying he would fight reigning WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball “no problem.” Ball, of Liverpool, may have seen Gonzalez’s win on Friday, the fight having taken place in Ball’s home town.
Again, Gonzalez has a lot more to prove, yet he is for sure on his way. Maybe the 25 year old, an orthodox fighter, not a southpaw like most Cuban boxers, can go on and become a real force in the division. We can only watch and see how he develops, and if he gets the big fights he is now calling for.
The featherweight division is pretty hot right now. Ball is the WBA champ, Ray Vargas is the current WBC champion, Angelo Leo is the current IBF ruler, while Rafael Espinoza is the current WBO champ.
Gonzalez says he now has one belt, and he wants “three more.”
It will certainly be interesting to see who Gonzalez fights next, and when and where. Gonzalez and his team say 2025 will be a big, big year for “Dynamite,” as Gonzalez is known. Maybe.
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