By Jim Calfa: Julio Cesar Martinez feels he’s got all the advantages over Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez going into their fight this Saturday night on March 5th in their 12-round super flyweight bout which will stream LIVE on DAZN at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California. The WBC Diamond 115-lb title will be the line for Chocolatito to win.
Julio Cesar Martinez comes in 2 lbs overweight at 117lbs
Unfortunately, Martinez missed weight at Friday’s weigh-in, coming in at 117-lbs, so he won’t be able to compete for the WBC Diamond 115-lb title. For his part, Chocolatito weighed in successfully at 114.7 lbs.
With none of the major titles being on the line, it’s possible that Martinez chose to come in heavy to use the size to his advantage. Beating Chocolatito would be a huge feather in Rey Martinez’s cap, and fans wouldn’t take notice of him missing weight. In other words, winning is all that matters.
It’s unclear why Rey Martinez weighed in over the super flyweight limit of 115 when he was moving up in weight from the 112-lb division. It’s not a huge shock that Martinez was overweight, as he looked considerably bigger than Chocolatito during Thursday’s media workout.
Brought in by his promoter Eddie Hearn as a substitute for the former four-division world champion Chocolatito (50-3, 41 KOs) to fight, Rey Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs) confident that he’ll send the legendary boxer a crushing defeat.
Saturday’s Chocolatito vs. Martinez fight winner will face WBC Franchise/WBA super flyweight Juan Francisco Estrada.
That was the original opponent for the 34-year-old Chocolatito to be fighting in a trilogy match on March 5th, but he had to pull out due to a slow recovery from COVID-19.
The 27-year-old Rey Martinez is a pure brawler who attacks his opponents nonstop. He’s done well except when matched against a pure boxer in Jay Harris, who gave Martinez fits in their fight in February 2020.
Martinez pulled out in the late rounds after dropping Harris in the tenth, but the contest was closer than the scores turned in by two of the judges.
“We know we have a great legend that has elevated the smaller divisions, and we know we have a great challenge ahead of us,” said Julio Cesar Martinez to Tru School Sports on his fight on Saturday night against Roman Gonzalez.
“When it comes to advantages, I think I have more than the speed when it comes to power,” said Rey Martinez on what advantages he has over Chocolatito.
“Little by little, people are going to see what I have. We’re rivals, and we got to make sure we protect our pride in the ring. The technique, the head movement, the counter punching, what we’re doing is sharpening our skills with Eddy [Reynoso],” said Rey Martinez on the things he’s learning from Reynoso.
Martinez is trained by Eddy Reynoso, the same coach that Canelo Alvarez has been with most of his career.
However, Rey Martinez was already an excellent fighter when he came to Reynoso, so you can’t give him credit for his development. Since joining up with Reynoso, Martinez appears less aggressive and hasn’t looked quite as good as he did before.
“We’re looking for big fights. After this, it could be ‘El Gallo’ Estrada or Rungvisai,” said Martinez in looking beyond the Chocolatito bout. “We’re looking for those big tough fights. We’re here in boxing for whoever they put in front of us.
“The hunger, the desire,” said Martinez on what will carry him to victory on Saturday night against Roman Gonzalez. “This is the beginning of our trajectory.”
“As always, we’re prepared for everything, decision, for it to be a clash, a technical fight. We’re coming in here well trained; I want to make sure the public walks away with a good taste in their mouth,” said Martinez.
It might be wise for Rey Martinez to move back down to 112 if he struggles to beat Chocolatito or if he loses because he’s undersized for the weight class.
If Martinez gets in there with a pure boxer like Bam Rodriguez or a huge puncher like Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, he could lose. Those guys have elements to their games that would be a nightmare for Rey Martinez.
