Abraham Perez Edges Jonathan Gonzalez For WBA Belt

Abraham Perez took the biggest step of his professional life in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by edging Jonathan Gonzalez on a split decision to win the interim WBA flyweight title after 12 rounds that were as tight as the scorecards suggested.

Two judges, Efrain Lebron and Gerard White, scored it 115-113 for Perez, while Pat Schmidt had Gonzalez ahead by the same margin. It was that sort of fight: close enough for both corners to argue, not quite clear enough for either to claim robbery without blushing.

Perez, unbeaten going in, had to deal with the craft of a far more seasoned southpaw in Gonzalez, who has seen plenty at the world level and still knows how to make a man look clumsy when he overreaches. Gonzalez picked his moments well, landed the cleaner single shots in patches, and used his experience to slow the tempo whenever Perez began to build momentum.

But Perez won this with activity, movement and a little more ambition in the decisive spells. He did not always punch with perfect sharpness, and there were rounds when his work was busier than beautiful, but he kept changing angles and refused to let Gonzalez dictate the fight at his preferred rhythm.

The championship rounds proved crucial. Perez had enough left in the tank to stay mobile, keep his hands working and persuade two of the three judges that he had done the better business. Gonzalez was competitive to the end, but too often he allowed Perez to finish exchanges or make the last impression.

For Perez, now 15-0 with seven knockouts, this was a career-best victory and a route into the bigger names at 112lb. Gonzalez, now 29-5-1, leaves disappointed but far from disgraced. He was narrowly beaten, not exposed.

I thought Abraham Perez just about earned it, but I can see why Jonathan Gonzalez walked away fuming. This was one of those fights where the cleaner, more experienced work was coming from Gonzalez in patches, but the younger man was busier, fresher, and made the judges look at him more often.

“Bomba” Gonzalez knows his way around a ring, and being a southpaw, he made Perez think before stepping in. He had moments where he picked the better single shots, especially when Perez got a bit eager and squared himself up. But at 35, Gonzalez fought in bursts, and that was the difference for me. He would land something tidy, then let Perez take the next thirty seconds with movement, angles and activity.

Perez was not polished all night. Let’s be straight about that. Some of his work was busy rather than sharp, and against a proper elite flyweight, he will need cleaner punch selection. But what I liked was his engine and his willingness to keep changing the picture. He did not stand in front of Gonzalez waiting to be schooled. He moved, nicked rounds, finished exchanges and kept asking questions.