Roman Gonzalez aims to surpass hero Alexis Arguello with fourth world title

Roman Gonzalez won a clear unanimous decision over McWilliams Arroyo in in his most recent fight in April. Mark J. Terrill/AP Photo

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

Pound-for-pound king Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez knows his boxing history and aims to secure his place in it.

He knows how big of a deal it was to his Nicaraguan countrymen when the late Alexis Arguello, one of the greatest fighters in boxing history, moved up to the junior welterweight division to challenge fellow Hall of Famer Aaron Pryor for the 140-pound world title in 1982 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Roman Gonzalez-Carlos Cuadras
Where: The Forum in Inglewood, California
When: Saturday
TV: HBO, 10 p.m. ET/PT
Arguello had already won world titles as a featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight and was attempting to become the first fighter in boxing history to win a belt in a fourth weight division (although it has been accomplished several times since). He and Pryor produced an instant classic, one of the most scintillating battles in boxing history.

Ultimately, however, Pryor knocked out Arguello in the 14th round, bringing an abrupt end to a great fight and Arguello’s historic quest. Ten months later, they met again, this time at famed Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and Pryor again stopped Arguello, doing so far more easily in the 10th round of a fight not nearly as epic as the first encounter.
The late Alexis Arguello was a mentor for countryman Roman Gonzalez. Bettmann/Getty Images
It is that first great battle that is etched in Gonzalez’s mind forever, even though it occurred five years before he was born. Gonzalez said he has watched it more than 200 times.

“I’ve seen it a lot,” Gonzalez said through translator and manager Carlos Blandon. “I know from watching that fight that even if you train as hard as you can, there is a possibility of losing. Arguello always taught me, that but he also told me you have to persevere no matter what.”

Long after Arguello’s fighting days were over, he discovered Gonzalez. He took him under his wing and trained him as an amateur and as a pro before his death in 2009.

He was a friend, mentor and hero to Gonzalez, who is on his own Hall of Fame path and now has the opportunity to do what Arguello could not — win a world title in a fourth weight division.

“I believe even if I win five world titles I will never surpass Alexis Arguello. He will always be No. 1. Each person can be the best of their time but I can never surpass Alexis Arguello.”
Roman Gonzalez
Gonzalez, a former strawweight and junior flyweight world champion, is the reigning flyweight champion. Now he is moving up to junior bantamweight to challenge unbeaten titleholder Carlos Cuadras in what most view as the most formidable test of his 11-year professional career.

They will meet on Saturday (HBO, 10 p.m. ET/PT) at The Forum in Inglewood, California, where Gonzalez will be fighting for the third time in his past four bouts and where Arguello fought four of his world title fights, including one in 1974, when he knocked out fellow Hall of Famer Ruben Olivares in the 13th round to win the featherweight crown.

So what would Arguello think about Gonzalez’s quest to surpass his accomplishment?

“He would be ecstatic and happy because Arguello and my father made me,” Gonzalez said.
The first time Roman Gonzalez fought at The Forum, he finished Edgar Sosa in two rounds in 2015. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Also on the card, Mexican junior middleweight Jesus Soto Karass (28-10-4, 18 KOs) and Japan’s Yoshihiro Kamegai (26-3-2, 23 KOs), both 33, who fought to a draw in a blazing slugfest on April 15, will meet in a scheduled 10-round rematch between hard-charging action fighters. The first bout ended with one judge scoring it 97-93 for Kamegai, one had it 96-94 for Soto-Karass and one had it 95-95.

The telecast will also include a replay from earlier in the day of unified middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) defending against welterweight titleholder Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs), who is moving up two weight classes, at the O2 Arena in London.

The 29-year-old Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KOs) said he and Arguello discussed the Pryor fight during their time together but not too much. Arguello, he said, did not like to talk about it often.

“We did talk about it but we more concentrated on how to train and how to be a champion and maintain yourself as a champion,” Gonzalez said. “He did talk about it, but he wouldn’t talk too much about his losses.”

“I know what a great career Gonzalez has had and it really motivates me to train and get ready to fight him. This is the fight of my life.”
Carlos Cuadras
Gonzalez said he has watched Arguello’s most painful loss over and over because it drills into him many of the lessons his mentor taught him.

“I like to see it because of how fast they were, and you have to be fast every day and see that speed sometimes can beat you,” Gonzalez said. “It was a great fight even though he lost. It hurts to watch it sometimes. Of course, it does. But it was a great fight.”

Gonzalez also spends time watching other fighters. As an example, he said during one of his final nights at training camp in Big Bear Lake, California, where he trained alongside Golovkin, he and his team spent the evening watching another legendary fighter, Puerto Rican great Felix “Tito” Trinidad.

If Gonzalez wins his fourth title, he will do so against a quality opponent in Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who will be making his seventh defense since claiming the belt by eighth-round technical decision from Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in May 2014.
Unbeaten junior bantamweight titleholder Carlos Cuadras seems ready to score an upset victory over Roman Gonzalez. Chris Farina/K2 Promotions
“I know what a great career Gonzalez has had, and it really motivates me to train and get ready to fight him,” Cuadras said. “This is the fight of my life.”

Gonzalez, as is always the case, showed great respect for his opponent.

“He’s a great guy and a good champion,” Gonzalez said. “It’s going to be a very exciting fight. If it’s my toughest test, I don’t know because the fight hasn’t happened yet, but I believe he is a good fighter. He has had really good fights against other good rivals and so have I. So I will wait to see what happens (on Saturday).”

Gonzalez did make it clear that he is not moving up to 115 pounds because he can no longer make the flyweight limit of 112. He said he made the move in a quest for history.

“It wasn’t a weight issue at all,” Gonzalez said. “I am champion at 112 pounds, but no top fighters wanted to fight me at 112 and I wanted an opportunity to win a title in a fourth division and avenge the losses Arguello had looking for a fourth world title.

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“I think this opportunity is a blessing and I am going into this fight in the best condition of my life and to look for that fourth world title. Winning this fight would be the biggest happiness in my life.”

Blandon said the fight is a huge event in Nicaragua. He said televisions and big screens will be put up in common areas in towns and cities across the country for people to watch the fight in a community atmosphere.
“It’s a big deal,” Blandon said. “There is so much media coming in for the fight. Everyone is talking about it. Everybody knows Roman is trying to do what Arguello, the hero, could not do. The government is supportive.

“Nicaragua is going to be paralyzed on (Saturday) with anxiety over this fight. The opportunity for Roman to have a fourth world title is a big deal, and hopefully everything pays off and he wins. Roman doesn’t party, but if he wins all Nicaraguans will.”

And if he does would that allow him to surpass Arguello as the best fighter in Nicaraguan history? Gonzalez said no.

“I believe even if I win five world titles, I will never surpass Alexis Arguello,” Gonzalez said. “He will always be No. 1. Each person can be the best of their time, but I can never surpass Alexis Arguello.”