By Dan Ambrose: #1 WBC super flyweight contender Carlos Cuadras (35-1-1, 27 KOs) says he’s totally focused on his fight next month against #10 WBO, #14 WBC David Carmona rather than a rematch against Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez on March 18 on HBO pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The 28-year-old Cuadras lost his WBC super flyweight title to Roman Gonzalez on September 10 last year when he failed to stand his ground and fight the Nicaraguan in each round. Cuadras thought he could use brief flurries to win the fight rather than consistently fight Gonzalez for three minutes of each round.
The results saw Gonzalez winning the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111. Cuadras is in a position to get a rematch against Gonzalez if he beats Carmona on March 18. Gonzalez is fighting in the co-feature bout on the card, which is headlined by IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin vs. Daniel Jacobs.
Gonzalez will be facing Srisaket So Rungvisai, a fighter that Cuadras had a lot of problems in beating by a eight round technical decision on May 31 in 2014. That was a really tough fight for Cuadras because he was unable to stand and fight Rungvisai, because he was getting hit with solid shots that he wasn’t comfortable with.
Cuadras has the boxing ability to beat Carmona, but he probably won’t be able to knock him out. Carmona was recently beaten by WBO World super flyweight champion Naoya Inoue by a 12 round unanimous decision on May 8 last year. Inoue is arguably a better puncher than Cuadras, and he wasn’t able to hurt Carmona.
Inoue was trying hard to score a knockout, but Carmona was able to take his best shots and answer back. For Cuadras to have a chance of knocking out Carmona, he’s going to need to change his style of fighting. In other words, Cuadras will need to stop moving so much in every round and instead put more emphasis on standing and fighting. He’s not going to knock out Carmona if all he’s going to do is circle the round in endless patterns for three minutes of each round like he did against Gonzalez and Ruingvisai. Cuadras isn’t going to knockout Carmona by throwing occasional flurries in hopes of impressing the judges.
“I wanted a rematch with Roman Gonzalez but right now my sole focus is on Carmona,” said Cuadras via Fight News. “We’ve known each other for many years and there is a true rivalry between us. I’m looking forward to settling it in the ring at Madison Square Garden, the home of so many classic battles and in front of the great Mexican boxing fans in New York City and those watching on HBO Pay-Per-View.”
Carmona is fighting in the role of a spoiler against Cuadras. He’s the clear B-side opponent in this fight, but he has the ability to make Cuadras look really bad. Even if Carmona loses the fight, if he’s seen as the one making the fight for the full 12 rounds, then he could come out looking like the winner in the eyes of the boxing fans. Cuadras has got to stand and fight Carmona, because his defensive style of fighting won’t impress the boxing fans if all he does is run around the ring.