BYB has continued to bulk up its roster as it announced the signing of former light heavyweight boxing contender.
According to Yunieski Gonzalez’s Instagram page, “The Monster” has signed a three-fight deal with the promotion, reportedly specifying that the three bouts will happen within a sixteen-month time period.
Gonzalez didn’t editorialize much on the signing, simply offering “not much blah blah,” he said, “looking for the best and the toughest in the division.”
That approach is the one he’s followed in his professional boxing career, which would seem to be in its autumn. Gonzalez was long ranked inside RING Magazine’s Top 10 at light heavyweight, sharing the ring with names such as Jean Pascal, Gilberto Ramirez, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Andre Dirrell. Gonzalez came up short in his bouts against the big names, but his loss to Pascal in particular is one fans wring their hands about to this day, with most believing that Gonzalez was the deserving winner that night.
Inside the gloved boxing ring, Gonzalez has lost three straight, to Ramirez, Dirrell, and most recently Paolo Aokuso. However, he’s enjoyed success in the Team Combat League (TCL) as a member of the Miami Stealth. Last month, it was announced that Gonzalez was nominated for the company’s Most Resilient Fighter Award, which will be given to the most outstanding fighter in the league aged 38 or older.
The 39-year old Gonzalez, who had an outstanding amateur record of 345-27, has been a story of resilience in and out of the ring, dating back to his escape from Cuba and arrival in the United States in 2010. Despite participating in several high profile fights in his career, Gonzalez found himself in hard times in recent years. Gonzalez fell on hard times financially and mentally following his 2017 loss to Gvozdyk. He worked in a sawmill and as a security guard, but ultimately lost his jobs, and says he was “doing everything—good and bad.”
"I have lived through difficult moments," Gonzalez told Triller in 2019. "I thought that I was never going to step on a ring again. Fortunately, several people believed in me and I am living a second chance that I will not miss. I hope better things come along the way.”
Gonzalez expanded upon the darkness he battled through in a 2021 interview with noted journalist George Ebro.
"Mentally, I'm much better. Now I see everything in a different way, I felt more mature, focused. I was on the street, out of work. I worked in a carpentry and that's where they threw me out. I've been doing bad things, making it up to survive and give my daughter a plate of food. If God and life give me a chance and I have some money - I'm going to think about it three times before I take it out of my wallet,” said Gonzalez. “During the time outside I knew who my friends were and who were by my side for convenience and only because I was someone. I've learned to see everything in a different way, to value people on another level."
As it’s been for any number of fighters over the last several years, bare knuckle may very well provide the career restart that Gonzalez is looking for. At 39 years of age, Gonzalez is far from ancient in a sport where fighters over the age of 40 are frequently enjoying success, including the company’s most recent heavyweight champion Ike Villanueva. In addition, Gonzalez enters a bare knuckle outfit in BYB which favors more traditional boxing technique. Historically, BKFC has favored fighters with MMA backgrounds, however, BYB with its tiny fighting surface inside The Mighty Trigon, has tended to be more favorable to established boxers.
Overall, the bare knuckle space has been seeing an influx of Cuban talent. The man who topped the aforementioned Villanueva is Gustavo Trujillo, the new BYB heavyweight champion. In the rival company, names like Alberto Blas have emerged as immediate stars and pound-for-pound caliber talents, tapping into Cuban schooling in both boxing and wrestling.
With BYB’s roots in Florida and its large Cuban population, fighters like Gonzalez could play a part in increasing the sport’s fanbase within its community, in addition to piquing the curiosity of boxing fans who want to see what a world-class light heavyweight looks like when he takes the gloves off.
We certainly can’t wait to see The Monster inside the Trigon, perhaps even hunting down light heavyweight champion Cub Hawkins.
Photo courtesies: BYB Extreme
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