Kal Yafai from Birmingham took his world title to Texas on Saturday night knowing that a win against the great Roman González could change his career forever and a loss could ruin it.
Yafai was making the sixth defence of his WBA super-flyweight title, he was British boxing’s longest reigning world champion and he was fighting his idol. He was also taking the kind of risk few fighters are prepared to take.
Gonzalez started to win world titles in 2008, had won championships at four different weights and was between about 2014 and 2017 arguably the world’s finest boxer. In 2017 he lost twice, looked broken at the time and before entering the ring in Frisco had fought just twice in two years since the defeats. He was unbeaten in 46 before the first loss, close to perfect, untouchable at his art.
It was not easy to watch. Yafai lost eight rounds, survived a knockdown at the bell to end the eighth and was then taken out clean by a right cross in round nine. It finished officially at 29 seconds of the ninth, the referee waving it off before the full and unnecessary count of ten, and Gonzalez was the first to reach Yafai to check he was not hurt, placing an arm of friendship over his shoulder.
He has done that 40 times before, played ring priest to a ruined opponent at the end of a fight.
Yafai never put a foot wrong, never wasted a punch or made any stupid mistakes. Yafai went to Texas knowing he needed a few unknown factors to fall his way and a bit of luck – he needed Gonzalez to have slipped, he needed Gonzalez to have lost his ferocious edge. Yafai had no luck in Texas and fighting a different way, perhaps trying to run and move, would not have changed the inevitable outcome.