Phumelele Cafu will move forward with his career and title reign.

The next step, unfortunately, will not include a legend in this opposite corner.

The Ring has confirmed that South Africa’s Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) will now fight in his home country for the first defense of his WBO junior bantamweight title. Neither a confirmed date nor opponent was identified, other than a planned late May return.

What is absolute is that it will no longer be former four-division champ Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez (52-4, 42 KOs). As previously reported by The Ring, both fighters were what was described by all involved parties as advanced talks for a springtime clash in Gonzalez’s hometown of Managua, Nicaragua.

A deal was expected to be consummated around this time. However, talks suddenly broke off and which left Cafu without a dance partner.

“For whatever reason, the Chocolatito fight has not come together,” Cafu revealed on his social media channels. “We are now moving ahead with Cafu’s first defense of his World title right here in South Africa.

“The date we are targeting is at the end of May.”

Cafu, The Ring’s No. 4 junior bantamweight, won the WBO title in an Oct. 14 upset win over four-division titlist Kosei Tanaka (20-2, 11 KOs) in Tokyo, Japan.

Ironically, the outcome ruined plans for a Tanaka-Gonzalez showdown which was targeted for this spring. It prompted Gonzalez to turn to Cafu in hopes of one last title bid in his storied career.

Cafu never previously fought outside of South Africa prior to his points win over Tanaka. The 26-year-old southpaw was willing to make it two straight road trips but will now gladly take the home game in light of recent developments.

The Ring has learned that—with a Cafu win in May—a title defense against Gonzalez could still take place later this year in Managua. For now, Teiken Promotions agreed it was in the best interest to allow Cafu to remain active and will man the “in association with” role of the show’s promotion headed by the locally-based Boxing5 outfit.

It is unclear as this goes to publication whether Gonzalez will take a stay-busy fight or wait out the outcome of Cafu’s next fight.

The 37-year-old claimed a tenth-round knockout of Colombia’s Rober Barrera (28-6, 18 KOs) in a bout just above the junior bantamweight limit last July, which ended a 19-month ring absence. Gonzalez hadn’t fought since a majority decision defeat to then RING/WBC 115-pound champion Juan Francisco Estrada in their Dec. 2022 rubber match in Glendale, Arizona.

The win over Barrera marked Gonzalez’s first fight on home soil since 2015. A challenge for Cafu’s title would have—incredibly—marked his first-ever hometown title fight.

Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.