SAN DIEGO – Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Julio Cesar Martinez will square off Saturday night at Pechanga Arena (DAZN, 8:30 p.m. ET/ 5:30 p.m. PT). At Friday’s ceremonial weigh-in, Gonzalez weighed 114.8 pounds. Martinez weighed 116.4 pounds.

Chocolatito and Martinez are ready to get it on in San Diego. Photo / @DAZNBoxing

There were tense moments leading up to and immediately following the official weigh-in, which took place hours earlier. Gonzalez (50-3, 41 knockouts) easily made weight, but Martinez, the WBC flyweight titleholder, weighed 117 pounds, two pounds above the junior bantamweight limit.

Click here for the story of Martinez missing weight.

Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs), who resides in Mexico City, was given two hours by the California State Athletic Commission to lose the excess weight. The two camps eventually agreed after Martinez was only able to drop down to 116.4 pounds.

Gonzalez, who resides in Managua, Nicaragua, last fought on March 13 of last year, losing a close split-decision to Juan Francisco Estrada. The 34-year-old is ranked No. 2 by The Ring at 115 pounds.

THIS FIGHT 🔥

⚖️ #ChocolatitoMartinez@CsarReyMartnez1: 116.4lbs@chocolatitobox: 114.8lbs pic.twitter.com/2oNKQhoMIF

— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) March 4, 2022

Mauricio Lara and Emilio Sanchez had the most intense staredown of the media weigh-in. Photo / @DAZNBoxing

In the co-feature, featherweight contender Mauricio Lara (23-2-1, 16 KOs) of Mexico City, who is ranked No. 3 by the Ring at 126 pounds, will face Emilio Sanchez (19-1, 12 KOs) of North Hollywood, California.

Both fighters weighed in at the contracted weight of 126 pounds.

Fringe lightweight contender Angel Fierro (19-1, 15 KOs) weighed in at 134.6 pounds. He will square off against three-time world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (34-6-2, 21 KOs) in a crossroads clash of fighters who reside in Tijuana, Mexico. Burgos weighed 132 pounds.

In the opening bout of the main portion of the Matchroom Boxing USA card, junior middleweight Souleymane Cissokho will face Mexico’s Roberto Valenzuela (19-2, 19 KOs) in a 10-round bout.

Cissokho (14-0, 9 KOs), who is originally from Senegal and now resides in Bagnolet, France, weighed in at 153.8 pounds. Valenzuela weighed 154 pounds.

Other undercard weights:

Diego Pacheco 170, Genc Pllana 171

Fernando Molina 139.6, Miguel Angel Aispuro 139.8

Anthony Herrera 118.6, Jose Toribio 118.2

Skye Nicholson 129, Jessica Juarez 129

Marc Castro 134.8, Julio Madera 134.4

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing