ANTICIPATED WEEKEND LIVES UP TO THE HYPE!
Alexandria, VA?While fans didn?t get the war they expected in Las Vegas, they did get a war to remember in the Windy City of Chicago. From top to bottom, boxing fans got a four day spread of fights to point to as reasons to be optimistic about the health of the game as well as a reminder of distances needing to be traveled. No fight was more important than Showtime?s third battle between defending World lightweight champion Diego Corrales (40-4, 33 KOs) and number one contender Joel Casamayor (34-3-1, 21 KOs). For the 35 year old Cuban challenger and 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist, the narrow split decision win over Corrales was a career defining victory. Casamayor, who failed to unseat then-champion Jose Luis Castillo in 2004 and who always seemed to come up short at moments of great opportunity, adds his name to a roll call of 135 lb. champions that includes Joe Gans, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran and Pernell Whitaker. His name may never have the reverence that those legends of the past carry but it doesn?t seem out of place either.
NON-CLASSIC FIGHT BE END OF CLASSIC ERA!
It wasn?t a great fight. Let?s say that right away. Their first two fights both bordered on great and were certainly memorable for what occurred in the ring; the lasting memories of this bout will be only as a footnote in deciding their personal rivalry and the weight fiasco that preceded the bout out of the ring. Corrales? failure to make weight marks an interesting addendum to his outrage at the failure of Castillo to make weight for their proposed rubber-match last June. The fact of the matter then is the fact of the matter now: the current weigh-in system is just as dangerous as the old weigh-in system but creates a worse quandary for the sport by convincing fighters to try to squeeze into bodies at least two divisions below where they would have fought twenty years ago. Lightweights ought to be lightweights (i.e. logically within range of 135 lbs.). That said, these are the lightweights of today and Saturday may have marked the end of an era.
24 K’S LIST OF SUPERLATIVE MATCHES
Barring a return engagement between Casamayor and Acelino Freitas (who has retired) or a rubber match at 140 between Corrales and Castillo, the five way rivalry at 130/135 between the decades dominant forces in those classes may well have turned its last page. It?s been a blessing to boxing fans that produced these eleven encounters:
Floyd Mayweather-Diego Corrales (2001) Acelino Freitas-Joel Casamayor (2002)
Floyd Mayweather-Jose Luis Castillo I & II (2002)
Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales I, II &III (2003, 2004, 2006)
Diego Corrales-Acelino Frietas (2004)
Joel Casamayor-Jose Luis Castillo (2004)
Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo I & II (2005)
LEGACY OF A FIVE-WAY RIVALRY!
Corrales legacy may be tarnished with the weight fiasco and his ultimate failure to prove himself dominant over anyone but Freitas; it is enhanced by the fact that he is the only one of these five warriors to face each of the other four, ultimately going 3-4 with three stoppage losses and two stoppage wins (one of which, the first Castillo bout, is a likely candidate for fight of the decade). Should he continue on at 140 lbs., Corrales will be building on this solid and fan friendly foundation. Casamayor is a model of perseverance who now stands to make big money against any of the big names at 130 lbs. (Barrera, Pacquiao) or can face the rough challenge of now number one contender Juan Diaz. While the book may have closed with a whimper rather than the bang it deserved, I believe history will one day regard this collection of talented men as a high water mark for the lightweight division. Three of these warriors (Mayweather, Castillo, Corrales) will certainly one day enter the Hall of Fame; Casamayor has a chance to join them if he can add a few more marquee wins and can take solace in knowing that Mayweather ducked him in 2005 in favor of an easier bout with Sharmba Mitchell. So while fans may have been disappointed with the lack of action Saturday night, they (we) can never look back with disappointment at what we?ve seen over the last five years…and we should all say thank you.
HBO WINS NIGHT WITH AMAZING UNDERCARD WAR!
Fans have grown so accustomed to Showtime main events outshining recent HBO fare that it was a pleasant, though not unexpected surprise, when WBC light heavyweight titlist Tomas Adamek (31-0, 21 KOs) and Paul Briggs (25-3, 18 KOs) repeated the brutality of their 2005 battle Saturday night in Chicago on the undercard of WBA heavyweight titlist Nicolay Valuev?s (45-0, 33 KOs) 11th round knockout of Monte Barrett (31-5, 17 KO?S) as the fight of the night. Through 24 rounds, these two warriors from Poland (Adamek) and Australia (Briggs) painted a bloody canvas that has been a credit to each other and the game. In a year without Somsak Sithchatchawal-Mahyar Monshipour, this bout may well have been the fight of the year. With the narrow points win and notable exposure, Adamek now seems poised to step from the shadow of promotional disputes with Don King and up to the head of the class at 175 lbs.
ADAMEK READY FOR ANYONE AT 175!
Given his previous exposure in Germany, Adamek stands as a viable and financially sane challenge to lineal World champ Zsolt Erdei (25-0, 15 KO?S). More important to his own wages, Adamek would have to be favored, given his youth and hunger, over any of the four biggest names in the divisions (Roy Jones, Antonio Tarver, Glenn Johnson and Ring titlist Bernard Hopkins). The wars with Briggs merit his inclusion with those men not only on paper but in the ring. For Briggs, this second heartbreaker does not mark the end of his ability to earn a hearty pay check. Only seven pounds below him are two exciting local Australian draws in Anthony Mundine (26-3, 20 KOs) and Danny Green. Bouts with either would sell tickets and create buzz domestically and internationally. Both Adamek and Briggs gave the sport everything they had against each other; lets hope boxing gives them back what they have coming.
SHOBOX TOURNAMENT AT 168 LBS. HEATS UP!
Not to be forgotten in the buzz of a new World champion and classic light heavyweight bout on Saturday was the progress we all witnessed Friday night at super middleweight. Jean Paul Mendy (23-0, 12 KOs) won a decision over Henry Buchanan (14-1, 11 KOs); Anthony Hanshaw (21-0, 14 KOs) blew out Lafarrel Bunting (16-2-1, 16 KO?S) in three rounds. Come January 5, 2007 the 168 lb. weight class will have a concrete contender to anyone at the top when Mendy and Hanshaw decide which of them is superior. The tournament has been a fun exercise and a model for more weight classes to follow. It in fact has grown from the ?Contender? series model but with a better mastery of the concept of introducing fresh new faces than the ESPN version showed this year. Hanshaw looks the part and is my early pick, but Mendy will be no shrinking violet. Two young undefeated fighters facing off for a future at the top?what more can we ask?
24-KARAT NOTEBOOK…
Not much to say about Valuev?s win. It was expected. I will say though that it?s never bad when a fighter makes Sportscenter’s ten best highlight reel. Valuev is going to bring fans because he?s seven feet tall. Keep putting fights like Briggs-Adamek beneath him, and those fans will stay. Valuev is nothing but good for the game…Vic Darchinyan also won as expected on the undercard of Casamayor-Corrales, setting the stage for a superfight in the sports mega-talented flyweight/super flyweight range. Let?s pray for this one?Still haven?t seen Caballero-Sithchatchawal from Wednesday. That sucks…Since it?s never been mentioned on the air, it seems a lock that HBO will only show highlights of Mikkel Kessler-Markus Beyer with the Joe Calzghe-Sakio World 168 lb. title fight. Better than nothing, but it sure would have been a cherry on top to this awesome spread of fights we?re having. Back with my predictions at midweek…Oh, and before I forget, let me offer this. Casamayor may be the new king, but he also is showing his age (35) and slowing down. Should Manny Pacquiao defeat Erik Morales again next month, the rematch with Marco Antonio Barerra might be less logical than a bout with Casamayor. It would give Pacquaio a chance to enhance his legacy. Already the only man to win the World titles at 112 and 126, he would have to be at least even money to capture the title at 135. It is the sort of history-making achievement story that Boxing can only embrace and would allow Pacquiao, with a win, to bring Barerra to him.
