While the superstars capture all the headlines and draw in casual fans, boxing’s unsung heroes are those who execute with proficiency and always seem to attract real challenges and quality match-ups. These are the fighters who don’t possess the charisma or publicity machines of the sport’s bigger draws, but will always give an honest effort for an honest day’s pay.
At the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Panama’s Anselmo Moreno leaves his bantamweight comfort zone and moves up to challenge rising star, Abner Mares in a bid for Mares’ WBC junior featherweight title. The 27-year-old Moreno is a joy to watch for the boxing purist– a slick boxer who fights with a technical proficiency well beyond his age and status as a ten year pro. He may be hard to sell to casual fans and those who prefer face-first brawlers, but he’s a true artist in the ring and will get his due respect anywhere real boxing fans gather to discuss the sport.
On the undercard of the Abner Mares-Anselmo Moreno card, Mexico’s Alfredo Angulo will return to the ring for the first time in nearly a year. Back from a career-upsetting TKO loss to James Kirkland and a subsequent seven month incarceration at an immigrant detention center, Angulo has a lot to prove if he wants to reestablish himself on the main stage of a stacked junior middleweight division. “El Perro” begins his comeback against Texas-based club fighter, Raul Casarez.
In Helsinki, Finland, Robert Helenius returns to the ring after eleven months of inactivity due to a shoulder injury. Prior to being put on the shelf, Helenius was a heavyweight wrecking machine and was deemed one of the few active heavyweights with a legitimate chance at defeating a Klitschko. Helenius will be in the ring this Saturday with veteran, Sherman Williams, who is better than average, but less than awesome and rated somewhere between journeyman and fringe contender. If “The Nordic Nightmare” is back near full capacity, he should flatten Williams.
Also in action this Saturday, Cuban national, Erislandy Lara will take on Vanes Martirosyan in a WBC “final” eliminator for a shot at Saul Alvarez’s WBC junior middleweight title. For fans of skill and guile, Lara is one of the sport’s very best. Once a highly-decorated amateur in the outstanding Cuban system, Lara found his way out of the stifling Communist nation and became a quick-rising junior middleweight contender. In just nineteen fights and four years as a pro, Lara has already earned the respect of hardcore fans and has made a case for himself as an elite-level boxer. Against Martirosyan, Lara will be facing a supremely talented young fighter and one of the toughest challenges of his career.
On the undercard of the Lara-Martirosyan contest, Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia stays active in a super featherweight bout. He’ll be facing former featherweight world titlist, Jonathan Victor Barros, while waiting for his shot at WBO featherweight kingpin, Orlando Salido. Garcia lacks the fire and bluster of many Mexican and Mexican-American talents, but he makes up for it with solid fundamentals and technical precision. Calm, cool, and collected, Garcia is a silent hit man who slowly picks apart his opponents before putting them away. At 24 years of age, Garcia is just starting to reach his physical prime and has plenty of career ahead of him with plenty of quality opposition to be met.
All in all, the hardcore boxing purists are going to be in for a treat this weekend. Expect quality action in bouts that actually mean something. What more can any fan ask for? **************
