Tom Loeffler Q & A: Chocolatito vs. Cuadras
By William Trillo
This coming weekend in Los Angeles Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, (45-0, 38 KO’S) will take on WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Carlos “El Principe” Cuadras, (35-0-1, 27 KO’s). Gonzalez, the consensus Pound For Pound best fighter in the world has big goals ahead of him in this fight, both figuratively and literally.Pound4Pound spoke to K2 Promotions Tom Loeffler about the magnitude of this fight and what it means to Chocolatito.
Pound4Pound: Could this be one of those matchups where both fighters are defined as great, like Leonard and Hearns, Ali and Frazier?
Tom Loeffler: This is definitely a career defining fight for both fighters. For Roman it’s to achieve a milestone that his idol Arguello wasn’t able to achieve with a title in a 4th division and for Cuadras to be able to beat the top P4P fighter would put him on top of the boxing world.
P4P: Roman has mentioned Arguello many times. What part did Arguello play in the development of Roman?
TL: Arguello was his idol and a big inspiration for him to train hard and reach the success that he has now, while staying grounded with his success.
P4P: He has also talked about winning the 4th title that Arguello wasn’t able to. How important is that to Roman?
TL: For Roman it is important to do as well as he can in each fight, regardless of the circumstances. It is the biggest fight of his career headlining HBO and the Forum. Naturally fighting for a title in a 4th division is an historic event and a goal that Roman would be happy to achieve, but he is more focused on beating Cuadras than everything else
P4P: What about the significance of this fight being at the Forum. There’s history there.
TL: There’s a lot of history of fights at the Forum, especially with Arguello fighting there before, he is very comfortable there in his 3rd fight at the Forum.
P4P: In beating Arroyo, after the fight Roman said:”It was a very difficult fight. Arroyo moves very well. He knows how to avoid the punches. I wanted to fight him, I wanted to roll him and catch him with counter punches, but it was difficult because he moved quite a bit.” Cuadras is a master at moving and using the whole ring. He also has very good upper body and head movement. If Roman had trouble hitting the elusive Arroyo, how will he deal with Cuadras, a much better fighter?
TL: Arroyo has a very difficult style and was very well prepared. He knows that Cuadras also moves a lot, it is his job to cut off the ring and slow Cuadras down. With the preparation this time in Big Bear Lake, he feels even stronger now than before.
P4P: Cuadras has fought whole career at 115, and is the naturally bigger man? Will the move up in weight be a factor?
TL: Cuadras is clearly physically much bigger, so Roman has to use his speed, power and boxing skills to take away the advantage of Cuadras size.
P4P: Just curious, but I read where Roman came into the ring for last fight weighing 126. If true, does that indicate to you he can easily go up a weight class & be strong?
TL: Roman should be very strong at 115 as he was big for 112 divisions, with the right preparation he will be strong at 115 as well.
P4P: What about Cuadras’ offensive skill set. What potential problems do you see there for Roman.
TL: Roman has to be careful as Cuadras is the bigger guy and a great boxer, Roman will have to cut off the ring and pick his shots to break down Cuadras.
P4P: How do you see this fight playing out?
TL: This looks to be a very even fight for the first 6 rounds, after that it will depend on who has the better preparation and stronger will in order to take control after that.
Thank you!
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