Cuadras hopes sequel to ‘SuperFly’ beats original
The boxer, a loser in first event, predicts a victory that will lead him back to the belt.
Boxing’s “SuperFly” series has become one of the sport’s most novel undertakings thanks to its participants’ appreciation for greater exposure and purses as well as their willingness to entertain.
No one personifies the 115pound fighters’ energy better than Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras, who already has fought the best in the group and anticipates making a push for more fighting on the “SuperFly 2” card Saturday night at the Forum.
“I’m very happy for this opportunity for us little guys to show everyone how good we are,” said Cuadras, 29. “A lot of people follow us now, so it’s important to me to be involved in ‘SuperFly 3, 4, 5’, whatever’s coming next.”
Cuadras (36-2-1, 27 knockouts) will meet Puerto Rico’s McWilliams Arroyo (16-3, 14 KOs). The World Boxing Council has mandated that the winner must face the winner of Saturday’s main event pitting champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand against Mexico’s Juan Francisco Estrada.
As he entered a meeting room for an interview this week, Cuadras crossed paths with Estrada and said, “I hope Estrada wins, and the next time [I fight him] it won’t be close. I proved I can fight with him. I want to fight him for the championship because he beat me.”
Estrada edged Cuadras by three scores of 114-113 at StubHub Center in September on the opening “SuperFly” card, but Cuadras delivered Sor Rungvisai his most recent loss in 2014, a technical decision after eight rounds because of a cut over Cuadras’ left eye from a Sor Rungvisai head butt.
Sor Rungvisai has knocked out 15 of 16 opponents since that loss, including his fourth-round decking of boxing’s former No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, in September.
Cuadras’ entertaining scrap in a unanimous-decision loss to Gonzalez in September 2016 — both men were cut while combining to throw more than 1,800 punches — sold 6,718 tickets at the Forum and proved the market existed for the lighter fighters’ action-packed bouts.
September’s card at StubHub drew 7,418 fans, and Saturday’s crowd could near 8,000, according to an official monitoring ticket sales.
“I want to win this fight, win my championship back in ‘SuperFly 3’ and then maybe defend the belt against Chocolatito in ‘SuperFly 4,’” Cuadras said.
Those aspirations forced the effervescent Cuadras to make a cold decision.
He fired trainer Jorge Barrera and hired Big Bearbased Abel Sanchez, the 2016 trainer of the year who has unbeaten middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan and cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev of Russia in his stable.
“I’m going to do what’s best for me. This is my business. This is my life,” Cuadras said.
“You have to make changes if you want to go to the next level, so you go to the type of trainer who’s there. Abel gave me a lot of strength. We also talked a lot about strategy.
“That last fight, the strategy was missing. Now I have it.”
While training alongside Gassiev for the cruiserweight’s impressive 12thround technical knockout to reach May’s World Boxing Super Series final, Cuadras followed a similar regimen.
“I did the same tough work all the fighters do up there and I feel great for it,” Cuadras said. “In the last fight, I felt my body weakening by the seventh round and I was losing my rhythm.”
This time, the mobile Cuadras has grand plans for beating Arroyo.
“He’s never been knocked out before and I’d like to be the first,” Cuadras said. “I’ll put the pressure on and get him — maybe in round eight.”