Last night in San Luis Potosi, the homeland of lucha libre star Mil Mascaras, one of Mexico’s finest boxers Fernando Montiel disposed of fellow country man Luis Maldonado by technical knockout. ?Cochulito? earned his eleventh consecutive victory in the super flyweight division, a string of wins spanning four years and only stained by an uninspired performance and defeat against Jhonny Gonzalez in a May, 2006 contest.
Is Montiel the best 115 pound boxer in the world today?
Maybe.
Another Mexican, Cristian Mijares, also has a legitimate claim as top dog.
This is boxing and while debate amongst fans, writers, and experts can season the overall flavor of an expected dual, the argument over who is the best fighter in a particular weight class should be settled in the ring and that is that we have generally seen take place in boxing over the last two years.
Jermain Taylor and Kelly Pavlik had two battles to see who was the ?man? at middleweight. Joe Calzaghe accepted the challenge and conquered Mikkel Kessler for super middleweight bragging rights. Though Floyd Mayweather may be considered the best in the welterweight class, he is more of a circus act that fighter these days, and Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito fight later on this year to decide who is the best active fighter in that division.
As for for the mean below the 118 weight limit (bantamweight), it is rare to see the best fighters actually square off. Why? The same answer seems to hold true over the years, money. The talent in these divisions expect to be paid a fair and honest salary, which they deserve, but the broadcasting networks do not draw the necessary viewer ship necessary when presenting these mini-titans to justify the needed economic investment.
Montiel vs. Mijares might be a fight junkies dream. The technically grounded, but offensive heavy style of Montiel would be perfect to test Mijares incredible boxing skills and subtle defensive wizardry. A great fight it could be, but do not expect to see it on HBO, SHOWTIME, or ESPN and do not hold your breath to catch it on American Spanish language networks Telemundo, Univision, or Telefutura.
While appearing on a recent episode of Boxing Confidential Radio to hype up Mijares’ small budget pay per view fight with Alexander Munoz, Mijares’ New York based co-promoter Lou DiBella made it clear for a fight with Montiel to happen, the money must be there for his fighter.
As a fan of boxing, at every weight class, and proponent of the little men who bring energy and excitement into the ring, it is disheartening to see the best fights in the lower divisions not being made due to the economic structure of the sport. Men like Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Bernard Hopkins are regularly OVER paid for their soul-less in the ring efforts, while warriors like Montiel and Mijares who leave it all on the ring, fight after fight, never get a small slice of the pie.
Networks might not pony up the needed cash for these mega bouts in smaller divisions to happen, but promoters can get their share of the blame as well. DiBella in association with Mexican promoter Nacho Huizar felt it fine and dandy to present Mijares vs. Munoz on pay per view, a fight fir for Telefutura’s Solo Boxeo. Instead Mijares’ promoters could have saved the small time pay per view event for a fight worthy of a pay per view fee between Mijares and Montiel.
These writings might be a medium for my frustration more than anything else, as in my head and heart I know Montiel will never grace the ring against Mijares. Each fighter will continue to fight lesser competition for smaller purses over the next few years, until they are upset and fade into the annals of boxing’s encyclopedia.
Little men fight with all their heart, but the miles in their tickers are numbered and don’t span into middle age.
