Mexican fighter Julio Cesar "Rey" Martinez dreamed of moving up a division and taking on the stars of the dreaded super flyweight division, but plans abruptly changed early in 2022 and now he is days away from facing Nicaraguan Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, one of the category's iconic figures.
This weekend in San Diego, Calif., Martinez will face Chocolatito in a 12-round bout as the headliner of a card that will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN (except Mexico and Latin America).
Martinez, the reigning WBC flyweight champion, thought his plans would have to go slowly — projecting to take six months to a year to break into the super flyweight elite — but that was not to be. A little over a month later, Juan Francisco Estrada came down with the coronavirus and had to pull out of his trilogy fight with Chocolatito, who sought a replacement opponent.
"Now I am very happy and very motivated, because these kind of fights are what we are looking for and to make history, because that's what I am in boxing for," the Mexican fighter, who has a record of 18-1 with 14 knockouts, said in an interview with DAZN News. "As the motto says, 'with everything but fear and with whoever and wherever.' We are here to fight, to take the fights and face the best to see if we have the quality to be the best."
As flyweight champion, Martinez has made four defences of the WBC crown, but now that he is moving up in the division, he expects the bids to improve considerably.
"We know we're not going against an easy opponent," he said. "We know we are going against a great idol. If we have never underestimated any opponent, it will be even less so this time. We are going to prepare not a thousand but a million to leave everything in the ring... it's going to be a war. We will not disappoint.
"I will go up there to make a big fight out of the small bantamweights. I will also demand more and make history and enter the Hall of Fame, that's the goal.
"I feel perfect, I'm happy, I've worked hard. My hands feel great, nothing hurts anymore, we're going to go up to 1,000.
"I think Chocolatito is going to be moving around attacking and coming out, using the ropes and I'm prepared for the attack and counter-punching technique. And more than anything else, we're both going to get out of the ring well."