By Norm Frauenheim-
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – He wrapped himself in the blue-and-white Nicaraguan flag before and after stepping on the scale. Roman Gonzalez, a man of his people, has also become his country’s lone symbol of sporting success.
Nicaragua didn’t win a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics last month. Saturday at the Forum, however, Gonzalez enters the ring on boxing’s top pedestal. He’s alone, the consensus No. 1 in the pound for-pound debate. It’s a lonely place to be. Surprising and precarious, too.
Gonzalez, who goes after another title at another weight against WBC 115-pound champion Carlos Cuadras, is the lightest fighter to ever be at the top of The Ring and ESPN ratings. He’s been there ever since Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement more than a year ago. In other words, for a long time.
But this is boxing, which means that there is always an argument and a burden of proof. The prevailing theory is that Gonzalez is keeping the top spot warm for middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin, who faces Kell Brook Saturday in London in the first part of an HBO telecast (2:30 p.m. PST/5:30 p.m. EST).
Then, there’s the November clash between light-heavyweight Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward. It fair to assume that the winner of that one will have claim of his own. The assumption is that the bigger fighters, heavier hands will eventually sweep aside Gonzalez drop him to those rungs of that rating that once belonged to Ricardo Lopez, Michael Carbajal and Humberto Gonzalez.
But it could be a tough argument to make if Gonzalez (45-0, 38 KOs) continues to display his technical brilliance at more than one, two or even three weights.
Against Cuadras (35-0-1, 27 KOs), the former 105, 108 and current 112-pound champion goes after a fourth belt, also on HBO (7 p.m. PST/10 p.m. EST) on a portion of the card that includes a junior-middleweight rematch between Jesus Soto Karass (28-10-4, 18 KOs) and Yoshihiro Kamegai (26-3-2, 23 KOs).
A fourth major title at a fourth weight would add up to a first for Gonzalez, Nicaragua and Central America. It would surpass the three-title achievement of Gonzalez mentor and Nicaraguan hero, the late Alexis Argyle.
“I dedicate this fight to Alexis,’’ Gonzalez said to Spanish media that gathered in The Forum’s parking lot for an outdoor weigh-in beneath the roaring path of commercial jets preparing to land at nearby LAX. “I feel very comfortable knowing that Alexis had success here.”
Arguello was 4-0 at The Forum, winning titles at featherweight and super-feather. In his fourth fight at the rebuilt arena, he beat Bobby Chacon in November 1979. Chacon, 64, died Wednesday.
In two bids for a fourth title, Arguello, who died in 2009, fell short, losing by stoppage to Aaron Pryor in 1982 and again in 1983.
“I know how badly he wanted a fourth divisional championship,’’ said Gonzalez, who Friday was 114.6 pounds, two-tenths of a pound lighter than Cuadras. “I want to do this for him.’’
And for his people.
