Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez

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Rodolfo Gonzalez (born December 16, 1945 in Guadalajara, Mexico) was a Mexican boxer.

Known as "El Gato", Gonzalez started his career very young at the age of 14, and won his first 53 bouts. In 1972 he took on Chango Carmona for the WBC Lightweight Title and won via a Corner retirement in the 13th round. Gonzalez defended the title twice before losing the belt to Guts Ishimatsu in 1974 via KO. Later in the year he rematched Ishimatsu, but lost via TKO and retired from boxing. Gonzalez was a devastating puncher and was named to Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers, and had a career record of 81-7-1 with 71 ko's.

Gonzales actually missed making it into the World Boxing Hall of Fame by one vote in 2003, of the 140 voting members. A private vote was then taken by the 10-member Executive Committee, and Gonzales was accepted by an 8-2 vote. Two members resigned in protest, and later that year many more Executive Committee members had dropped out. More on this controversy here.