# Gilberto Román

Gilberto Román (29 November 1961 – 27 June 1990) 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:
* Round of 32: bye
* Round of 16: defeated Alberto Mercado (Puerto Rico) referee stopped contest in first round
* Quarterfinal: lost to Petar Lesov (Bulgaria) by decision, 1-4

## Professional career

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 decision 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

| 61 fights | 54 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 35 | 2 |
| By decision | 19 | 2 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 61 | Loss | 54–6–1 | Moon Sung-kil | RTD | 8 (12) | 1990-06-09 | 88 Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea | For WBC super-flyweight title |
| 60 | Win | 54–5–1 | Mike Phelps | TD | 9 (10) | 1990-04-23 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | |
| 59 | Loss | 53–5–1 | Nana Konadu | UD | 12 (12) | 1989-11-07 | Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico | Lost WBC super-flyweight title |
| 58 | Win | 53–4–1 | Santos Laciar | UD | 12 (12) | 1989-09-12 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 57 | Win | 52–4–1 | Juan Carazo | UD | 12 (12) | 1989-06-05 | Great Western Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 56 | Win | 51–4–1 | Sugar Baby Rojas | UD | 12 (12) | 1988-11-07 | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 55 | Win | 50–4–1 | Kiyoshi Hatanaka | UD | 12 (12) | 1988-09-04 | Rainbow Hall, Nagoya, Japan | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 54 | Win | 49–4–1 | Yoshiyuki Uchida | TKO | 5 (12) | 1988-07-09 | City Gymnasium, Kawagoe, Japan | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 53 | Win | 48–4–1 | Sugar Baby Rojas | UD | 12 (12) | 1988-04-08 | Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. | Won WBC super-flyweight title |
| 52 | Win | 47–4–1 | Jorge Ramirez | TKO | 6 (10) | 1987-10-30 | Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 51 | Loss | 46–4–1 | Santos Laciar | TKO | 11 (12) | 1987-05-16 | Complexe Sportif René Tys, Reims, France | Lost WBC super-flyweight title |
| 50 | Win | 46–3–1 | Frank Cedeno | UD | 12 (12) | 1987-03-20 | Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Mexico | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 49 | Win | 45–3–1 | Antoine Montero | TKO | 9 (12) | 1987-01-31 | Le Zénith Sud, Montpellier, France | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 48 | Win | 44–3–1 | Kongtoranee Payakaroon | UD | 12 (12) | 1986-12-19 | Indoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok, Thailand | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 47 | Draw | 43–3–1 | Santos Laciar | SD | 12 (12) | 1986-08-30 | Pabellon Verde, Córdoba, Argentina | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 46 | Win | 43–3 | Ruben Osvaldo Condori | UD | 12 (12) | 1986-07-18 | Polideportivo Delmi, Salta, Argentina | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 45 | Win | 42–3 | Edgar Monserrat | SD | 12 (12) | 1986-05-15 | Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, France | Retained WBC super-flyweight title |
| 44 | Win | 41–3 | Jiro Watanabe | UD | 12 (12) | 1986-03-30 | Sports Centre, Itami, Japan | Won WBC super-flyweight title |
| 43 | Win | 40–3 | Arturo Castillo | PTS | 10 (10) | 1985-11-29 | Aguascalientes, Mexico | |
| 42 | Win | 39–3 | Fidel Martinez | TKO | 2 (?) | 1985-11-20 | Acapulco, Mexico | |
| 41 | Win | 38–3 | Arnulfo Luna | KO | 4 (?) | 1985-09-27 | Campeche, Mexico | |
| 40 | Win | 37–3 | Armando Morales Terron | TKO | 5 (?) | 1985-08-23 | Ciudad Del Carmen, Mexico | |
| 39 | Win | 36–3 | Freddie Santos | TKO | 5 (10) | 1985-07-06 | Plaza de Toros Calafia, Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 38 | Win | 35–3 | Mario Gomez | UD | 10 (10) | 1985-06-07 | Nuevo Laredo, Mexico | |
| 37 | Win | 34–3 | Oscar Bolivar | TKO | 6 (10) | 1985-05-04 | Concorde Boxing Arena, Oranjestad, Aruba | |
| 36 | Win | 33–3 | Antonio Avelar | TKO | 7 (10) | 1985-03-30 | Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 35 | Loss | 32–3 | Jorge Ramirez | UD | 10 (10) | 1985-01-28 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 34 | Loss | 32–2 | Antonio Avelar | DQ | 5 (10) | 1985-01-01 | Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 33 | Win | 32–1 | Diego Avila | TKO | 8 (?) | 1984-12-02 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 32 | Win | 31–1 | Wayne Lynumn | TKO | 2 (10) | 1984-10-30 | Veterans Memorial Building, Culver City, California, U.S. | |
| 31 | Win | 30–1 | Bernardo Ibarra | PTS | 10 (10) | 1984-10-01 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 30 | Win | 29–1 | Berlin Olivetti | TKO | 2 (10) | 1984-06-17 | J.J. Crosetti Hall, Watsonville, California, U.S. | |
| 29 | Win | 28–1 | Manuel Aguilar | KO | 6 (?) | 1984-03-31 | Auditorio del Estado, Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 28 | Win | 27–1 | Paul Ferreri | UD | 10 (10) | 1984-03-15 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | Rodolfo Martinez | TKO | 9 (?) | 1984-01-13 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Freddie Santos | KO | 4 (10) | 1983-12-01 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 25 | Win | 24–1 | George Garcia | TKO | 9 (10) | 1983-11-03 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 24 | Win | 23–1 | Ron Cisneros | TKO | 7 (10) | 1983-09-15 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 23 | Win | 22–1 | Pedro Rojas | KO | 2 (?) | 1983-07-08 | Poza Rica, Mexico | |
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Armando Loredo | UD | 10 (10) | 1983-06-20 | Astro Arena, Houston, Texas, U.S. | |
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Jose Torres | PTS | 10 (10) | 1983-05-19 | Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Jose Sosa | TKO | 3 (?) | 1983-04-15 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Elid Fernandez | TKO | 7 (?) | 1983-03-06 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Ubaldo Gonzalez | TKO | 2 (?) | 1983-02-14 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Antonio Escobar | TKO | 10 (10) | 1983-01-31 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Lupe Acosta | KO | 6 (?) | 1982-12-15 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Ramon Noguera | KO | 4 (?) | 1982-11-29 | Tijuana, Mexico | |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Carlos De La Paz | TKO | 5 (?) | 1982-10-16 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Fidel Martinez | KO | 4 (?) | 1982-09-21 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Bobby Ruiz | TKO | 6 (?) | 1982-08-21 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 11 | Loss | 10–1 | Diego Avila | DQ | 7 (?) | 1982-07-03 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Heriberto Saavedra | PTS | 10 (10) | 1982-06-12 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Ciro Cayetano | KO | 8 (?) | 1982-05-28 | Acapulco, Mexico | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Alejo Garcia | PTS | 10 (10) | 1982-04-02 | Ciudad Valles, Mexico | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Miguel Angel Juarez | KO | 7 (?) | 1982-03-19 | Acapulco, Mexico | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Gilberto Villacana | TKO | 7 (?) | 1982-02-19 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Juan Zarate | KO | 3 (?) | 1982-01-16 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Juan Carlos Montalvo | KO | 1 (?) | 1981-12-19 | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Leo Castellanos | KO | 1 (?) | 1981-10-30 | Acapulco, Mexico | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Leonardo Valdez | TKO | 8 (10) | 1981-09-13 | Mexicali, Mexico | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Gilberto Morales | KO | 7 (?) | 1981-08-29 | Villahermosa, Mexico | |

## Death

Roman died in a car accident on 27 June 1990, he was riding in a car that was hit by a truck on a highway near Chilpancingo.