By Elisinio Castillo
Carlos Blandon, manager of former four division world champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, says his boxer's return to the ring is being pushed back to the month of May.
Initially the fight was going to land on a date in April, but now it's being pushed back a little and may even land on the undercard to the highly anticipated rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, which takes place on May 5th.
"We received two strong offers. A title fight for Superfly 2 and another for April, and both rejected because it is not what we want. We were offered Khalid Yafai and also the third fight against [Srisaket Sor Ruingvisai] Rungvisai. If these come up later on, then we might go in that direction, but not right now. We want Román to retire as we have dreamed: as a champion," Blandon told La Prensa.
Gonzalez is coming off back to back defeats at the hands of Sor Rungvisai. Gonzalez lost his undefeated record, and his WBC super flyweight title, to Sor Rungvisai last March, and then he was knocked out cold in four rounds in the fall rematch.
Right now Blandon is focused on working out the details for Gonzalez's next fight and his next opponent.
"We delayed one of the trips to Japan because we were negotiating the fight. First we were thinking it would happen April, but now it will be in May. We also delayed the camp because we do not want Román to 'overtrain.' For the moment he is preparing in his country," Blandon said.
"All of the parties involved agree that Roman should return [on Canelo-Golovkin]. The Mexican community will be very motivated by that stellar fight, it could be a Mexican opponent, as I said it depends on the location of where the fight takes place. I want to clarify that nothing has been signed yet. Right now the important thing is that Román has not lost interest with the promoters or with HBO.
"Tom Loeffer has helped a lot, but [HBO President] Peter Nelson is also the key man, he's asking about Roman every month and they're interested in May. Although it still can not be ruled out that Chocolatito will appear on another card. If I tell you a name [of who would be a good opponent right now], then everyone will say that it will be the opponent."