Cuadras: I’m too big and strong for Roman Gonzalez

By Boxing News - 09/06/2016 - Comments

Image: Cuadras: I’m too big and strong for Roman Gonzalez

By Dan Ambrose: WBC super flyweight champion Carlos “El Principe: Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KOs) isn’t worried about the combination punching from his unbeaten opponent Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night, because he believes his superior size and punching power will ultimately be too much for the 29-year-old Nicaraguan challenger.

There are many boxing fans who believe that Cuadras is too big, too strong and too mobile for Gonzalez to beat. Up until now, “Chocolatito” has looked unbeatable in striding through three divisions to win world titles. However, this time it might be different for the fighter that has never tasted defeat, and never felt what it was like to be in the losing end.

Cuadras is a fighter that has many of the same skills that Gonzalez has going for him in terms of his boxing ability, combination punching, but his size and strength gives him a huge advantage in this fight. Gonzalez is going to need to find some way to deal with being in the ring with a guy that is not only taller, with a longer reach, but also one that is going to be a lot heavier than him on fight night this Saturday. Unfortunately for Gonzalez, it may prove to be too much for him in dealing with the size advantage that Cuadras has. Unless Gonzalez can stay close to Cuadras, he’s likely to suffer his first career loss.

Gonzalez-Cuadras will be meeting this Saturday night at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The fight will be televised on HBO World Championship Boxing.

“He throws multiple combinations but I’m too big and strong for him,” said Cuadras. “I like being a world champion and I plan on staying that way on Saturday night. Doesn’t matter to me, knockout or decision, I will win.”

Cuadras carries himself like a fighter who absolutely knows he’s going to win the fight. He’s dead certain that he will be the one having his hand raised after the fight. The kind of confidence that Cuadras has going for him is hard to dismiss, because he looks and acts like a winner. During the meetings he’s had with Gonzalez, he seems to have unnerved him.

“Chocolatito” looks intimidated and no longer the confident fighter that he was in his previous 45 contests. For perhaps the first time in Gonzalez’s career, he doesn’t appear to have the look of a winner. You have to wonder whether Gonzalez thought though this fight hard before he made the decision, because it looks like a really bad match-up for him to be taking on this type of fighter. It might have been better for Gonzalez to have moved up in weight to the super flyweight division and fought WBA champion Kohei Kono, WBO champ Naoya Inoue or newly crowned IBF belt holder Jerwin Ancajas.

Gonzalez should have fought one or all of those guys before he took on Cuadras, because he appears to be the best fighter in the division by far right now. Inoue has a lot of boxing fans that believe in him, but there’s no comparison. He’s not nearly as good as Cuadras. Inoue would come unglued in a fight against the tough Mexican fighter, and it would likely end by a knockout. I don’t think Inoue’s management would want to make that fight with Cuasdras; at least until he starts getting a little older and showing signs of vulnerability if he’s still fighting in the same weight class.

“This was my first time meeting Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., right away he wanted to give me pointers for Saturday night,” said Cuadras.

It would be interesting to know what advice Chavez Sr. had for Cuadras for this fight. It’s hard to imagine Chavez telling Cuadras to box and move for 12 rounds, but you never know. It’s obvious that Gonzalez’s best and only chance of winning on Saturday night is for Cuadras to stand in one place to be a stationary target.

Gonzalez needs to be able to find Cuadras for him to be able to use his combination punching skills. Even then, there’s no certainty that Gonzalez will be able to get the better of Cuadras during their exchanges. Cuadras is so much bigger and stronger than Gonzalez. It might end badly for Gonzalez if Cuadras decides to fight him in a toe-to-toe battle, because he’s not really like a true super flyweight. Cuadras is more like featherweight. As good as Gonzalez is, he’s not going to beat the top featherweights. Those guys are too big for him. I think Cuadras might be too, because he’s as big as those fighters.

Gonzalez is going to need to use his defensive skills a lot more in this fight than he has in his recent matches against McWilliams Arroyo, Brian Viloria, Edgar Sosa and Valentin Leon. Those were all smaller fighters in the 5’3” mold, and they weren’t carrying the same kind of weight and muscle mass that we’re going to see from the 28-year-old Cuadras this Saturday night. Gonzalez has good boxing skills, but he can be hit due to his habit of standing in front of his opponents. He cannot let Cuadras hit him all night long if he wants to get the win, because it’s simply far too dangerous. It’s not going to be a winnable fight for “Chocolatito” if Cuadras is able to land clean shots in each round. He’s too powerful.

Gonzalez was getting hit a lot in his fights against Arroyo and Viloria. He was still able to get the victories in both cases thanks to his combination punching and power, but those were not easy fights by any stretch of the imagination for Gonzalez.

Cuadras is on a roll lately with his wins over Richie Mepranum, Koko Eto, Dixon Flores and Luis Conception. It’s not just the fact that Cuadras is winning; it’s the way he’s winning. He’s dominating everyone he faces right now. It doesn’t matter who it is. Cuadras is giving them beatings and looking invincible. Gonzalez is running into a machine right now in Cuadras, and I don’t think he’s ready for that kind of a fighter.