Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez hopes to clean out the junior bantamweight division and then possibly move up to 118 pounds before he calls it quits in his career at age 35, Gonzalez told RingTV.com on Monday of his overall plans in the sport.
Gonzalez (45-0, 38 knockouts) is gunning for a world title in a fourth weight division when he faces undefeated junior bantamweight titleholder Carlos Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KOs) on Sept. 10 at The Forum in Inglewood, California on HBO. That may not be enough for the Pound-for-Pound King, who will surpass his idol and mentor Alexis
Arguello with a fourth championship against Cuadras.
A title in a fifth division could also be in his future. “Maybe I could make a move to 118,” Gonzalez said through manager/translator Carlos Blandon. “Only God knows, but I think 118 is the most I would go.”
The move to 118 pounds would come naturally and gradually for the 29-year-old dynamo. “This is something that we always analyze,” Blandon said. “There’s no pressure or anything, so we don’t feel we’re ready to pressure his body to go up to 118. So we’re going to let him develop himself at 115. And then naturally when his body feels it’s ready to go up, we’ll analyze that. But for now it’s just one step at a time. We’ll definitely stay at 115 for a while.”