McWilliams Arroyo ready, willing to go toe-to-toe with Roman 'Chocolatito' Gonzalez

LOS ANGELES - The Arroyo twins, McWilliams and McJoe, were headed with their dad to a youth basketball practice one day in Puerto Rico in 1997. But when they got there, they discovered the coach didn't show up.

"We were upset man, we wanted to play ball," McWilliams said during an interview with a few reporters on Thursday. "Right next to the practice (facility) there was a boxing gym, and my dad said, 'well, since the coach didn't come, let's go see (Puerto Rican boxer) John-John Molina and maybe say hi.' We never, never thought when we walked through that door that we were going to box. But once we saw kids our age hitting the bag and training, we thought, 'wow, it's cool.'

"My dad said, 'you want to try it?' I still remember the day, Oct. 22, 1997, the day we started boxing."

It's a good thing the boxing opportunity came along, because the Arroyo twins grew to a height of 5 feet, 4 inches, and their basketball prospects would have been bleak.

Nearly 19 years later, McWilliams Arroyo finds himself on boxing's biggest stage in one of its smallest weight classes, and on Saturday night at the L.A. Forum, he will be facing the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez, for the WBC flyweight title in the co-main event to Gennady Golovkin's middleweight title fight against Dominic Wade (HBO, 10 p.m. ET).

This is Arroyo's second title shot. He narrowly missed getting the IBF featherweight title in 2014 in a split decision loss to Amnat Ruenroeng in Thailand in 2012. Many felt he won that fight.

Arroyo (16-2, 14 KOs) has not fought in more than a year, since his TKO victory against Victor Ruiz in San Juan. Not because he wanted the layoff but because a few potential fights fell through.

"That's not going to affect me. I've had that before," he said of the long layoff. "I'm a rat from the gym. I'm always training."

If Arroyo, who like most young Boricuas idolized Puerto Rican legend Felix "Tito" Trinidad growing up, is at all frightened by the prospect of facing the pound-for-pound king Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs), he hides it well. He knows exactly what he's up against with the champion from Nicaragua, who has stopped his last 10 opponents, including his most recent foe, former champ Brian Viloria, last October at Madison Square Garden.

"He likes to fight on the inside, he likes to pressure a lot, but I'm aggressive as well," Arroyo said. "So I can't get too excited in there because maybe I'll do his fight. But you never know, maybe that's the (type of) fight I have to do, so I can't really say what I'm going to do. But I know he fights very well on the inside."

Peter Rivera, Arroyo's manager, says he believes this is his fighter's time.

"He's in a moment of his life that I believe is the perfect moment," Rivera said. "He's 30 years old, really mature with a lot of experience, power, and a lot of boxing skills. To be a world champion, you need to have boxing skills.

"He has some power, too, with 14 of his 16 wins coming by KO. So I think it's a perfect moment for him to fight someone like Chocolatito on Saturday. All the group really thinks we have a good chance to beat the champ. We feel like champions already."

Arroyo, who trains every day with his brother and is motivated just by being around McJoe, the current IBF super flyweight titlist, says he watched Chocolatito's last decision, a unanimous decision victory against Juan Francisco Estrada, which also took place in Los Angeles in 2012.

"I believe it was a very, very close fight, but just by seeing a fight I can't say I'm going to do (what Estrada did). I'm a different style," Arroyo said.

"I've always been in this sport to fight the best. As an amateur I always fought the best so I know that type of competition is going to help me and motivate me to train real hard to pull the upset that you guys will see."

In boxing, it's always said that styles make fights, and Arroyo was asked how that applies in this fight.

"You're going to see two aggressive fighters hitting each other, and let's see who the best man will win," Arroyo said. "I do have power, but I'm not really thinking of that right now. I can say I'm using my power, but what about if I feel his power? If I have to box I can box, too."

A former Puerto Rican Olympian who was the flag bearer for his country in the 2008 Beijing Games, Arroyo got his unusual name for familial reasons.

"My parents always told me that 'Mc' means 'son of,' and I had an uncle that passed away but was alive when I was born, and my dad was his brother," Arroyo said. "His name was William, so they named me son of William in respect to (my dad's) big brother, and Joe was short for Jose (their father's name) and so McJoe."

Arroyo, who speaks fluent English - he spent six years in the U.S. as a child because his father was in the U.S. Navy - says he will not be surprised if he pulls the upset against Chocolatito on Saturday.

"I always say for every boxer, there is a time," he said. "And maybe this is my time to be the best."

(Photo of Roman Gonzalez and McWilliams Arroyo, right, by Chris Farina, K2 Promotions)