Gilberto Román


Gilberto Román was a Mexican professional boxer and a member of the 1980 Mexican Olympic team. Román was a two-time WBC and Lineal Super Flyweight Champion and is considered by many fans to be one of the great champions in this division. Gilberto was trained by Boxing Hall of Famer Ignacio Beristáin.

Amateur career

As an amateur boxer he won some Mexican National Championships and was a member of the 1980 Mexican Olympic team. He fought with Ezequiel Cano Molina, from Cd. Valles, S.L.P. in Naranjos, Veracruz, México, and with many other important amateur boxers.

1980 Olympic record

Below are the results of Gilberto Roman, a Mexican flyweight boxer who competed in the 1980 Moscow Olympics:
Román made his professional debut on August 29, 1981 with a knockout victory over Gilberto Morales. He was known as a knockout puncher in the earlier portion of his career, but after suffering two consecutive losses in 1985, he began refining his boxing technique. After accumulating a record of 40-3-0, including a rematch victory over former champion Antonio Avelar & prospect Freddie Santos, he received his first opportunity for a world title.

WBC Super Flyweight Championship

In 1986, Román dethroned long reigning WBC and Lineal Super Flyweight Champion Jiro Watanabe, ending the Japanese champion's streak of 12 consecutive title victories.
Román was a busy traveling champion. In his first title defense, he defeated Edgar Monserrat in France. He then traveled to Argentina where he defeated Ruben Osvaldo Condori and was held to a draw against Argentinian former WBA Flyweight Champion Santos Laciar on 30 August 1986. He then defeated Kongtoranee Payakaroon in Thailand and returned to France where he defeated Antoine Montero. In his first fight in Mexico since becoming champion, he decisioned former champion Frank Cedeno. Román met Laciar in a rematch on 16 May 1987 in France, with Laciar taking the title by technical knockout in a fight stopped on cuts in the eleventh-round despite Román leading on all three scorecards by one point.

Regaining title

Sugar Baby Rojas took the title from Laciar and Román earned another title shot against the new champion. On 8 April 1988, Román regained the title with a twelve-round decision.
He then traveled to Japan where he defeated Yoshiyuki Uchida and future champion Kiyoshi Hatanaka. Next he faced Rojas in a rematch and decisioned him once again. Roman began 1989 with a victory over Puerto Rican challenger Juan Carazo in a fight in which each boxer was dropped to the floor in the fourth round. In his next fight he avenged his loss to Laciar via unanimous decision. Following his victory over Laciar, Román lost the title to Ghana's Nana Konadu on 7 November 1989. Konadu lost the title to Sung-Kil Moon, whom Román challenged on 9 June 1990, losing by a TKO in the ninth round in what turned out be his final fight.
Román had a record of 54 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, with 35 wins by knockout. His total of 11 successful title defenses ranks second highest in the history of the super flyweight division.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
61Loss54–6–1Moon Sung-kilRTD8 1990-06-0988 Gymnasium, Seoul, South KoreaFor WBC super-flyweight title
60Win54–5–1Mike PhelpsTD9 1990-04-23Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.
59Loss53–5–1Nana KonaduUD12 1989-11-07Arena México, Mexico City, MexicoLost WBC super-flyweight title
58Win53–4–1Santos LaciarUD12 1989-09-12Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.Retained WBC super-flyweight title
57Win52–4–1Juan CarazoUD12 1989-06-05Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S.Retained WBC super-flyweight title
56Win51–4–1Sugar Baby RojasUD12 1988-11-07Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.Retained WBC super-flyweight title
55Win50–4–1Kiyoshi HatanakaUD12 1988-09-04Rainbow Hall, Nagoya, JapanRetained WBC super-flyweight title
54Win49–4–1Yoshiyuki UchidaTKO5 1988-07-09City Gymnasium, Kawagoe, JapanRetained WBC super-flyweight title
53Win48–4–1Sugar Baby RojasUD12 1988-04-08Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.Won WBC super-flyweight title
52Win47–4–1Jorge RamirezTKO6 1987-10-30Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Mexico
51Loss46–4–1Santos LaciarTKO11 1987-05-16Complexe Sportif René Tys, Reims, FranceLost WBC super-flyweight title
50Win46–3–1Frank CedenoUD12 1987-03-20Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, MexicoRetained WBC super-flyweight title
49Win45–3–1Antoine MonteroTKO9 1987-01-31Le Zénith Sud, Montpellier, FranceRetained WBC super-flyweight title
48Win44–3–1Kongtoranee PayakaroonUD12 1986-12-19Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok, ThailandRetained WBC super-flyweight title
47Draw43–3–1Santos LaciarSD12 1986-08-30Pabellon Verde, Córdoba, ArgentinaRetained WBC super-flyweight title
46Win43–3Ruben Osvaldo CondoriUD12 1986-07-18Polideportivo Delmi, Salta, ArgentinaRetained WBC super-flyweight title
45Win42–3Edgar MonserratSD12 1986-05-15Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, FranceRetained WBC super-flyweight title
44Win41–3Jiro WatanabeUD12 1986-03-30Sports Centre, Itami, JapanWon WBC super-flyweight title
43Win40–3Arturo CastilloPTS10 1985-11-29Aguascalientes, Mexico
42Win39–3Fidel MartinezTKO2 1985-11-20Acapulco, Mexico
41Win38–3Arnulfo LunaKO4 1985-09-27Campeche, Mexico
40Win37–3Armando Morales TerronTKO5 1985-08-23Ciudad Del Carmen, Mexico
39Win36–3Freddie SantosTKO5 1985-07-06Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Mexico
38Win35–3Mario GomezUD10 1985-06-07Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
37Win34–3Oscar BolivarTKO6 1985-05-04Concorde Boxing Arena, Oranjestad, Aruba
36Win33–3Antonio AvelarTKO7 1985-03-30Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico
35Loss32–3Jorge RamirezUD10 1985-01-28Tijuana, Mexico
34Loss32–2Antonio AvelarDQ5 1985-01-01Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico
33Win32–1Diego AvilaTKO8 1984-12-02Mexicali, Mexico
32Win31–1Wayne LynumnTKO2 1984-10-30Veterans Memorial Building, Culver City, California, U.S.
31Win30–1Bernardo IbarraPTS10 1984-10-01Tijuana, Mexico
30Win29–1Berlin OlivettiTKO2 1984-06-17J.J. Crosetti Hall, Watsonville, California, U.S.
29Win28–1Manuel AguilarKO6 1984-03-31Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico
28Win27–1Paul FerreriUD10 1984-03-15Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
27Win26–1Rodolfo MartinezTKO9 1984-01-13Mexicali, Mexico
26Win25–1Freddie SantosKO4 1983-12-01Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
25Win24–1George GarciaTKO9 1983-11-03Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
24Win23–1Ron CisnerosTKO7 1983-09-15Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
23Win22–1Pedro RojasKO2 1983-07-08Poza Rica, Mexico
22Win21–1Armando LoredoUD10 1983-06-20Astro Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S.
21Win20–1Jose TorresPTS10 1983-05-19Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
20Win19–1Jose SosaTKO3 1983-04-15Mexicali, Mexico
19Win18–1Elid FernandezTKO7 1983-03-06Mexicali, Mexico
18Win17–1Ubaldo GonzalezTKO2 1983-02-14Tijuana, Mexico
17Win16–1Antonio EscobarTKO10 1983-01-31Tijuana, Mexico
16Win15–1Lupe AcostaKO6 1982-12-15Tijuana, Mexico
15Win14–1Ramon NogueraKO4 1982-11-29Tijuana, Mexico
14Win13–1Carlos De La PazTKO5 1982-10-16Mexico City, Mexico
13Win12–1Fidel MartinezKO4 1982-09-21Mexico City, Mexico
12Win11–1Bobby RuizTKO6 1982-08-21Mexico City, Mexico
11Loss10–1Diego AvilaDQ7 1982-07-03Mexico City, Mexico
10Win10–0Heriberto SaavedraPTS10 1982-06-12Mexico City, Mexico
9Win9–0Ciro CayetanoKO8 1982-05-28Acapulco, Mexico
8Win8–0Alejo GarciaPTS10 1982-04-02Ciudad Valles, Mexico
7Win7–0Miguel Angel JuarezKO7 1982-03-19Acapulco, Mexico
6Win6–0Gilberto VillacanaTKO7 1982-02-19Mexicali, Mexico
5Win5–0Juan ZarateKO3 1982-01-16Mexico City, Mexico
4Win4–0Juan Carlos MontalvoKO1 1981-12-19Mexico City, Mexico
3Win3–0Leo CastellanosKO1 1981-10-30Acapulco, Mexico
2Win2–0Leonardo ValdezTKO8 1981-09-13Mexicali, Mexico
1Win1–0Gilberto MoralesKO7 1981-08-29Villahermosa, Mexico