Gonzalez accepts boxing’s pound-for-pound tag

Now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has retired from competition, many boxing fans are debating who is the sport's new pound-for-pound king.

Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez is getting a lot of support, even though he is a flyweight. The World Boxing Council 112-pound champion from Nicaragua has been selected by several outlets as the No. 1 pound-for-pound champ, including USA Today, Yahoo Sports and ESPN.com.

Gonzalez is flattered by the attention.

"I am very happy about it and I thank my team because it is a team effort," Gonzalez (43-0, 37 knockouts) said on a conference call last week to promote his Oct. 17 title defense against Brian Viloria at Madison Square Garden in the co-feature of the Gennady Golovkin-David Lemieux middleweight title fight to be televised on HBO Pay Per View. "All the hard work has paid off."

No flyweight has ever been selected as a pound-for-pound No. 1 and Gonzalez said that makes the honor even more special.

"Definitely," he said. "It motivates me to work even harder. But there's no additional pressure."

Gonzalez, who stopped Edgar Sosa inside of two rounds in his most recent fight on May 16 at The Forum in Los Angeles, said he has been trying to make a fight with Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) for a while.

"He is a tough opponent and it will be a hard fight," Gonzalez said. "I have my arsenal and he has his arsenal. Whoever is in the best physical condition on Oct. 17 is going to win the fight."

OLYMPIC TRIALS — USA Boxing announced that the men's Olympic Trials will be held in Reno on Dec. 7 to 12. The Silver Legacy's Exposition Hall and the Reno Events Center will be the sites for the competition which will be a double-elimination format for the eight boxers in 10 weight divisions.

The women's Olympic Trials will be held Oct. 26 to 31 in Memphis, Tenn. Three weight classes will have competition and Jamie Mitchell, who lives and trains in Las Vegas, is one of eight competitiors in the flyweight division.

LAS VEGAS VS. IRELAND — North Las Vegas Center Ring Boxing will host a dual competition featuring local amateur boxers against a team from Ireland at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Walnut Recreation Center, 3075 North Walnut Road. Tickets are $10 at the door.

HALL OF FAME FUNDRAISER — The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame will hold a mixer on Oct. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Blue Martini, located at Town Square. It's an opportunity for boxing fans to get together, meet some of the Hall's inductees and other local fighters and raise money for some of the Hall's charities, including the boxing teams at UNLV and UNR.

Tickets are $40 in advance and $55 at the door. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the hall through its website, www.nvbhof.com

— Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him: @stevecarprj