The coach of pound-for-pound king Roman (Chocolatito) Gonzalez was declared brain dead on Monday and is only breathing through a ventilator, according to ESPN Digital writer Salvador Rodriguez.
The trainer, Arnulfo Obando, previously had surgery for a brain aneurysm after suffering a stroke on Oct. 30 while he was on vacation in Terrabona, Nicaragua, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper, El Nuevo Diario. On Monday afternoon, Hoy.com, reported that his family planned to take him off his ventilator in the next few hours. A number of industry officials and media have offered their condolences on social media to Obando’s family on his death, though there seemed to be no official confirmation he had been taken off the ventilator.
Obando, 54, is the coach of Nicaragua’s only four-division champion — Roman Gonzalez — who is widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Gonzalez (46-0, 38 knockouts) won a competitive decision against Carlos Cuadras in September to surpass his idol, mentor and countryman Alexis Arguello as the only fighter from the Central American nation to win a championship in four divisions as he wrested away the WBC junior bantamweight title.
