Cuadras Confident He Would Down Chocolatito in Rematch

By Francisco Salazar

When it comes to colorful prizefighters at the top of his game, Carlos Cuadras figures to be near the top of the list.

Cuadras himself will tell you he is at the top of the list.

The jovial fighter is quick to throw jabs, both verbal and physical. The mixture of his personality and humility seems to draw more boxing fans with each passing day.

Cuadras is still irked of his close decision loss to Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez on September 10 at The Forum in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood. But he is confident an exceptional performance will likely put both fighters back in the ring later this year.

First he has to get by contender David Carmona Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The 10 round bout will precede the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs and the Roman Gonzalez-Srisaket Sor Rungvisai bouts. All three bouts will air on HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.

Cuadras (35-1-1, 27 KOs) suffered his first loss of his career at the hands of Gonzalez. But his stock seems to have risen based on the competitiveness of the fight.

While there are other noteworthy fighters Cuadras could face, including Naoya Inoue or countryman Juan Francisco Estrada, Cuadras is only eyeing a fight against Gonzalez.

There were preliminary discussions Gonzalez could even move up to 118 pounds. Gonzalez's bout Saturday night will mark the second time he is fighting at the junior bantamweight limit.

But Cuadras is willing to move up in weight as well.

"I will so it at whatever weight he wants to do it at," said Cuadras during a recent teleconference. "If he wants to fight and of the rematch at 118 (pounds), no problem. We can even do the rematch in the heavyweight division. It will be a great fight. I am going to bring the fight to him. I have the medicine in my hands and power to get after and to dispel of 'Chocolatito.'

"Juan Francisco Estrada (who recently called out Cuadras) is a great fighter and it is almost a guaranteed since we are both of Mexican descent that we will collide at some point down the line. But it is true that I want to fight Chocolatito in the rematch. That is what I want. He has the world title and that is what I want. But down the line, we will have a match with Estrada."

Cuadras may only be focusing his thoughts on Gonzalez and not enough on Carmona (20-3-5, 8 KOs), who in his last bout on May 8 lost a 12 round unanimous decision to WBO World junior bantamweight titleholder Naoya Inoue.

Trainer Rudy Hernandez told BoxingScene.com earlier this week Cuadras must look impressive to secure a future bout against Gonzalez.

"Obviously Carlos was disappointed in the decision and it was hard for him to get motivated for this camp against Carmona," said the longtime trainer and cut-man. "About three-four weeks ago, I saw a change in Carlos where he is very motivated and very eager to get in the ring with Carmona."

"An impressive win could make a rematch with Gonzalez more likely to happen. But he has to steal the show on Saturday night. He was shocked the decision in the Gonzalez fight (in September) didn't go his way. Based on the way he's been training for this fight, he's moved on and wants to give boxing fans a reason to cheer for him and want a rematch between him and Gonzalez."

As much as Cuadras looks at the lighter side of the sport and life, he still takes pride in performing at his best to achieve greatness in the sport.

"I love boxing and boxing is my life. If someone has a passion for something in anything that they do, it shows, and with me, I love boxing."

"It is absolutely my life and I enjoy being in the gym competing against great fighters, partaking in the sport of boxing and it is something that I really love."

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing