Tijuana’s Gilberto “Chico Dorado” Espinoza still has a dream of being a champion, Revised: Nov 21

Gilberto “Chico Dorado” Espinoza is probably not a familiar name to many—outside of the Tijuana boxing scene that is. His current record stands at 13 wins (7 KOs), 2 losses, 0 draws, with his only losses coming from the only 2 fights he took outside of Mexico.  He has been inactive since his last fight in November of 2020, a fight he won by KO. Until his first fight in the USA, he looked like he might have a promising future, having honed an undefeated record mostly in club fights in Tijuana. Espinoza began boxing at the age of 11. And like many young fighters, dreamed that someday he might become a world champion. He told me his best moment in boxing is from 2014, when as an amateur competing in a national competetion in Puebla, he won the national championship. 

Espinoza turned pro in June of 2016 at a bar called Billar El Perro Salado. He won that fight by unanimous decision. Orginally, the ring was set-up in the middle of the bar itself, taking up a large amout of space. Later, they used a small warehouse next door that was connected with an indoor passage. From December 2015 until July 2016, some twenty fights were held there. On December 11, 2015, Devin Haney had his pro debut fight there, which was also the first fight to be held in El Perro Salado. In fact, Haney’s first 4 fights were at that bar.  Victor Sandoval, who just fought Ricardo Sandoval on the undercard of Golden Boy’s Rocha vs. Santillan event,  also fought on that June 2016 date that Espinosa had his debut. They would fight on the same card again at another venue.The very last fight to be held at Billar El Perro Salado was on July 2, 2016, one month after Espinoza’s debut.

Espinoza would gain a record of 9-0-0 with 5 wins by KO before suffering his first loss.  He took that first “L” on his very first fight outside of Mexico, on June 22, 2018, in Ontario, California. Thompson Boxing had tapped Espinoza, then 9-0-0, to fight the “B” corner against Manuel Mendez, then 14-2-3, Espinoza loss by unanimous decision. He would pick up 2 more wins back in Tijuana before taking another Thompson fight, this time in Sacramento. On June 29, 2019, he was matched against Pedro Moreno, then 11-0-0. Although Espinoza took him the distance, the 8 round fight was scored unanimously in Moreno’s favor. Moreno has been inactive since that fight with Espinoza in 2019..

Thompson Boxing brought many of their opponents up from Mexico, and quite frequently from Tijuana, These fighters would nearly always lose, albeit for an occasional upset. Even on a few ocassions, when the audience was swayed by the performance of the “B” corner fighter from Mexico and, much to their chagrin, they would see the win go to the promoter’s corner anyway. On at least one ocassion, even the winning fighter had a very brief look of surprise when he was announced as the winner! Maybe the surprise was as much for the boo’s as it was for the actual win. The enticement of being able to come to the USA, to be put up at a hotel with food vouchers or a food stipend, and be paid much more than they ever earned fighting in Mexico—particularly on the club fight scene—was undoubtedly a great motivator. What they were told, promised, or what they understood the contract to be is unknown, except to the parties of those transactions.

Espinoza expressed frustration with his experience fighting for Thompson, pointing to his fight in Sacramento. Moreno, who fights super lightweight, weighed in for their match at 143.3 pounds. On the otherhand, Espinoza, who always fought as a lightweight, weighed in at 139.6 pounds. They had tapped a person who was smaller to fight a super lightweight match, and their official weights fell right within the range for their respective weight classes. Espinoza pointed out a few other things that ocurred, including him not being giving adequate time to warm up before the fight. He was left with the definite impression that they expected him to lose anyway, so as to advance the other fighter. This was but some of the frustration that caused Espinoza to rethink boxing. Espinoza would fight one more time after his experience with Thompson.

After picking up a KO win in Tijuana towards the end of 2020, Espinoza walked away from the sport.  He worked in construction in the USA for awhile, got married and they had a child. He also a lot of time to think about the passion he once had for the sport of boxing and how his one time dream of becoming a  champion had all but evaporated. Eventually, the desire started to again burn from within and he felt compelled to give it one more try. But there was the matter of physical conditioning to be addressed. Being married, away from the sport and out of the gym had taken its toll. He told me he had to get his weight down from 211 lbs (96 kg) and succeeded, recently weighing in at 141 lbs (64 kg). He began to hit the gym and he even went away to train in Temoaya, a municipality near Mexico City, for an intensive 3 week boxing camp.

He seemed genuinely motivated, and to show just how serious he was, “Chico Dorado” returned to the ring to fight on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at the Evolution Club in Tijuana. After nearly 3 years since he last climbed through the ropes, he once again entered the ring, though this time as a welter weight at 145 lbs. And at 2:05 in the second round, he dropped his opponent and got the win by TKO. For the first time since his last fight on November 7, 2020, he again had his arm raised in victory. Only this time, he was proudly holding his young son in the other arm!

Esinoza’s professional boxing record is now 13-2-O.