Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto Gonzalez I

The Michael Carbajal vs. Humberto González I boxing fight was an encounter that made history in many ways. While this pair of world junior flyweight champions fought three times, their first fight is the one that writers and fans usually remember with fondness.

Background

In boxing, there are certain types of "rivalries" that fans get excited about most of the time. When a Puerto Rican fighter faces a Mexican, for example, in a major title fight, most of the time the fight itself is considered a big boxing event. The same can be said about Mexicans fighting against a fellow Mexican for a world title.

The Mexican versus Mexican-American rivalries also fall among boxing fans' favorite rivalries. A good example is the sustained rivalry between Bobby Chacon, from California, and Rafael Limón, from Mexico. A more recent example is Oscar De La Hoya against Julio César Chávez.

When Michael Carbajal, from Phoenix, Arizona, became a professional boxer in 1989, Humberto González, from Mexico, was already a seasoned professional. Carbajal's promoter, Bob Arum, told Ring magazine that Carbajal would be the first junior flyweight to earn one million dollars for one fight.

Carbajal won the IBF world junior flyweight title in 1990, joining WBC world champion Gonzalez as co-champions of that division. After Carbajal won the title, fan excitement about a possible match between the two began to grow. But Gonzalez lost his title to Rolando Pascua on October of that year, and he had to regain it from Melchor Cob Castro, who took over as champion after beating Pascua.

Meanwhile, Carbajal had begun a streak of defenses against a number of important challengers. When Gonzalez regained his WBC belt, he also retained it against a long list of challengers. The fact that both boxers were seemingly on what boxing fans call a "clash course" brought another element of excitement whenever fans would talk about a future match between Carbajal and Gonzalez.

Knowing that this was a well talked about match-up, promoter Arum began to work towards making it happen. In what could perhaps be called a rare case of boxing unity, both the WBC and IBF agreed to have their champions fight a unification bout. The date set was March 17, 1993. The fight received much media attention both in the United States and in Latin America, with Carbajal and Gonzalez being featured on the cover of multiple magazines on the months preceding the bout.

Arum proved half prophetic in his guess that Carbajal would be the first junior flyweight to earn one million dollars in a fight: Both Carbajal and Gonzalez got a guarantee of one million dollars, after they paid their due fees, and Carbajal-Gonzalez I became the first time in history that a fight fought at the Flyweight division or a smaller one garnered one boxer that amount of money. It was also the first time that a junior flyweight world title bout was shown as the main event of a Pay Per View fight card.

The fight

The fight took place on the date (March 17, 1993) that it was set for (unlike many major fights that sometimes get postponed). Carbajal and Gonzalez fought that night in front of an estimated number of about 20,000 fans in a Las Vegas hotel parking lot. Among the people watching the fight in person were many Hollywood stars, which is also very rare for a junior flyweight bout.

Gonzalez set the pace in round one with his jab and cross, stunning Carbajal as he (Gonzalez) counter-punched. Gonzalez proved very slick for Carbajal, who had trouble finding his rival, but nonetheless, fought back furiously. In round two, a Gonzalez right to Carbajal's chin sent the Arizona native down for a short count.

Carbajal started landing stronger punches by round three. But Gonzalez's ability to counter-punch Carbajal's attack seemed to be the factor that would dictate the fight. By the end of the round, Carbajal sported a cut over one of his eyes.

Gonzalez and Carbajal kept trading punches in round four, but it was apparent that Gonzalez was faring better than Carbajal. Carbajal's corner team had begun to grow impatient by this point.

Gonzalez almost had Carbajal knocked out in round five. Ironically, that round might have been the round that turned the fight in Carbajal's favor. A straight right landed flush on Carbajal's chin, and Carbajal struggled to stay inside the fight's ring as he fell, grabbing to the rope with his left hand. Gonzalez was now eager to finish the fight by knockout, and Carbajal realized he was behind on points so badly, that he had to try to win by knockout as well.

Fighting with desperation, Carbajal finally got to Gonzalez, who by now was tired, in round six, connecting strong punches to the head and causing swelling around one of Gonzalez's eyes.

Still, Carbajal felt that he had to do more to win the bout. As both fighters were looking for a defining, knockout punch they traded punches in the seventh round, as they say in boxing, "toe to toe". During one of these exchanges, Carbajal unexpectedly landed a right uppercut to Gonzalez's chin, leaving him paralyzed on his feet. As Gonzalez did not move from his stand for the next couple of seconds, Carbajal took advantage and moved to the right, adding a left to Gonzalez's face that would make Gonzalez fall to the canvas on his back. The referee counted Gonzalez out, giving Carbajal the fight by a seventh round knockout.

The aftermath

Michael Carbajal defended the IBF and WBC world junior flyweight titles twice before his second fight with Gonzalez. The pair fought three fights, with Gonzalez winning the next two, one in Los Angeles and another one in Mexico City, but both of Gonzalez's wins came by controversial decision and the two sequels to fight one between Carbajal and Gonzalez were considered to be boring fights by fans and writers alike.

Gonzalez retired after losing the IBF and WBC belts to Saman Sorjaturong in 1995. Carbajal, for his part, kept on winning, and losing, world titles until his last fight, when he knocked out Jorge Arce in eleven rounds at Tijuana in 1999 to regain the WBO version of the world junior flyweight championship.

Michael Carbajal and Humberto González were both elected as members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006.