rudee
07-14-2016, 03:40 PM
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, USA TODAY/Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, will move up a weight class and challenge Mexican champion Carlos Cuadras for the WBC Super Flyweight belt, it was announced Wednesday.
Gonzalez (45-0-0, 38 KOs) will try to win a title in his fourth weight class when he takes on Cuadras, (35-0-1, 27 KOs) on Saturday, Sept. 10 from the Forum in Los Angeles. It’s his first fight on HBO as a headliner. In his last two fights, he was the co-main event to Golovkin.
The event will be televised live on HBO at 10 ET/PT, and will include the tape delay broadcast of the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook unified middleweight championship at the O2 Arena in London. The GGG-Brook fight will also be telecast live on HBO earlier on that Saturday from London.
“Viewers will again be able to see the pairing of the two best fighters in the sport,” K2 director Tom Loeffler told USA TODAY Sports Wednesday. “All four fighters are undefeated. It will be a treat for HBO viewers to see this level of quality fighters.”
Gonzalez, 29, said he was happy to challenge Cuadras for yet another world title.
“It’s an honor to return to fight at the Forum in front of the great Los Angeles fight fans,” said Gonzalez. “Thanks very much to God, K2 Promotions, Mr. Honda and HBO for making this happen.”
Cuadras, 27, is fighting in the U.S. for just the second time, the first being on Nov. 13, 2014 at Fight Night at the Washington D.C. Hilton, where he defended his title for the second time with a sixth-round TKO victory against Marvin Mabait.
All of his other fights were either in Mexico or Japan.
“I am excited to fight in the United States for the first time on HBO and at the legendary Forum in front of the great boxing fans in California,” said Cuadras. “Roman Gonzalez is a great champion and I have a lot of respect for him. I will prepare myself to be in the best condition of my boxing career to defend my WBC belt.”
“We’re very excited to bring Roman back to the Fabulous Forum in his first main event at the famed venue,” said Loeffler. “Roman has proven with each fight why he is considered to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
Chocolatito will attempt to surpass his idol and mentor, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello, also from Nicaragua, who won titles in three weight classes.
Chocolatito is coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision against McWilliams Arroyo on April 23rd, also at the Forum. It was the first time he had not stopped his opponent in four years.
“I think Arroyo was underestimated by many boxing fans who didn’t know about him,” Loeffler said. “And he did everything he could to win that fight. It was a very tough fight for Roman.
“But I think Chocolatito showed why, at 45-0 and fighting the level of opposition he’s been fighting, and now moving up another division, not taking any tuneup fights and fighting the best in the division, it’s a huge achievement for Chocolatito. And it’s a great statement for Cuadras, defending his title against the toughest opponent he could be facing. So it’s a great matchup,”
Gonzalez (45-0-0, 38 KOs) will try to win a title in his fourth weight class when he takes on Cuadras, (35-0-1, 27 KOs) on Saturday, Sept. 10 from the Forum in Los Angeles. It’s his first fight on HBO as a headliner. In his last two fights, he was the co-main event to Golovkin.
The event will be televised live on HBO at 10 ET/PT, and will include the tape delay broadcast of the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook unified middleweight championship at the O2 Arena in London. The GGG-Brook fight will also be telecast live on HBO earlier on that Saturday from London.
“Viewers will again be able to see the pairing of the two best fighters in the sport,” K2 director Tom Loeffler told USA TODAY Sports Wednesday. “All four fighters are undefeated. It will be a treat for HBO viewers to see this level of quality fighters.”
Gonzalez, 29, said he was happy to challenge Cuadras for yet another world title.
“It’s an honor to return to fight at the Forum in front of the great Los Angeles fight fans,” said Gonzalez. “Thanks very much to God, K2 Promotions, Mr. Honda and HBO for making this happen.”
Cuadras, 27, is fighting in the U.S. for just the second time, the first being on Nov. 13, 2014 at Fight Night at the Washington D.C. Hilton, where he defended his title for the second time with a sixth-round TKO victory against Marvin Mabait.
All of his other fights were either in Mexico or Japan.
“I am excited to fight in the United States for the first time on HBO and at the legendary Forum in front of the great boxing fans in California,” said Cuadras. “Roman Gonzalez is a great champion and I have a lot of respect for him. I will prepare myself to be in the best condition of my boxing career to defend my WBC belt.”
“We’re very excited to bring Roman back to the Fabulous Forum in his first main event at the famed venue,” said Loeffler. “Roman has proven with each fight why he is considered to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
Chocolatito will attempt to surpass his idol and mentor, the late Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello, also from Nicaragua, who won titles in three weight classes.
Chocolatito is coming off a hard-fought unanimous decision against McWilliams Arroyo on April 23rd, also at the Forum. It was the first time he had not stopped his opponent in four years.
“I think Arroyo was underestimated by many boxing fans who didn’t know about him,” Loeffler said. “And he did everything he could to win that fight. It was a very tough fight for Roman.
“But I think Chocolatito showed why, at 45-0 and fighting the level of opposition he’s been fighting, and now moving up another division, not taking any tuneup fights and fighting the best in the division, it’s a huge achievement for Chocolatito. And it’s a great statement for Cuadras, defending his title against the toughest opponent he could be facing. So it’s a great matchup,”