Pound-for-pound king Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez is boxing's littlest big man

NEW YORK - At 5-feet-3 and 112 pounds, flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez is who Teddy Roosevelt might have had in mind when he uttered those famous words, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Gonzalez, best known by his nickname "Chocolatito," is as soft-spoken as it gets, and as anyone who has ever seen him fight knows, he certainly carries a big stick.

The Nicaraguan star, who studied and perfected his craft at the hand of the late, great former champion Alexis Arguello, has ascended the throne vacated by the retirement of Floyd Mayweather, and voted Paste BN Sports/Boxing Junkie's pound-for-pound king.

Gonzalez will put his WBC flyweight title on the line on Saturday night when he fights former champion Brian Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) in the co-feature of the middleweight unification bout between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux at Madison Square Garden (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET/6 PT). It's the biggest stage on which Gonzalez will likely ever perform.

Chocolatito stands tall in a big man's sport and has amassed a record of 43-0 with 37 knockouts. The 28-year-old from Managua has an 86% knockout rate and is coming off of one of his most impressive outings, a second-round knockout of veteran former champion Edgar Sosa in his HBO debut in May. That card was also headlined by Golovkin, another knockout king eight inches taller and 48 pounds heavier than Gonzalez, who also espouses the Roosevelt ideology.

When Chocolatito stepped on the scale Friday to weigh in for his fight, it registered 111.4 pounds. But packed into that tiny frame are head-to-toe musculature, quick feet and piston-like fists that find their opponent's head and body with frightening accuracy.

With a loud contingent of fellow countrymen waving Nicaraguan flags and cheering on their man Friday inside the Theater at MSG, Gonzalez spoke, in Spanish with his usual humbleness, about what was about to go down the next day.

"The fighters made weight, that's the most important part," said Gonzalez. "Now we're ready to fight, and it's going to be a good fight. It's like a dream come true to be fighting at Madison Square Garden, where a lot of legends fought. And I'm just hoping to put on a good show so the fans enjoy it.

"I don't like to speak much, but I will say I had a great camp and feel strong and in good condition to win Saturday's fight. I'm thankful and feel blessed that I am able to fight, and I am ready to give the fans a good fight."

That's not the kind of rhetoric that usually came out of the mouth of his P4P predecessor, but the only thing Mayweather and Gonzalez have in common are their ring wizardry.

Chocolatito's opponent Saturday, Viloria, has been in the ring with some of boxing's best small men and is not intimidated by Gonzalez's record.

"I'm not fazed at all," Viloria told Paste BN Sports on the Boxing Junkie Podcast. "In fact, I think it's the other way around, I think he's a little intimidated by me. I can see it in his eyes. … He's a regular guy like me, he has ability to lose given the stars align and the right circumstances. I truly believe I have what it takes to beat a guy like Roman Gonzalez."

If he does indeed have what it takes, boxing will be looking for a new pound-for-pound king and the stars will have to be re-aligned.