Showtime features two of the 10 best fighters at junior middleweight tomorrow night; the only problem is that they are not fighting each other. Cornelius ?K9? Bundrage takes on once formidable Cory Spinks in a rematch of a one-sided stoppage win while Erislandy Lara meets a Freddie Hernandez who was knocked out in one round the last time he appeared on television. Unless the two fights turn out better than they appear on paper, I am afraid neither will provide tension or excitement. Therefore, I thought it would be good to show that there have been some great championship fights at 154 pounds and that when these boxers are matched correctly, fireworks ensue.
The junior middleweight division sprang to life in 1962 and has hosted some memorable world title fights over the past 50 years. Historically, the division has lacked the star power held a weight class above at middleweight and just below at welterweight but developed into a popular way station for the stars as they move up in weight. The early 2000s saw some of the best action, producing three of the 10 bouts I chose. Let?s hope there are some explosive couplings made later this year which is a real possibility. With divergent stars like Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto and James Kirkland, the future of the division looks solid. 10. Mike McCallum vs. Donald Curry (July 18, 1987) – Curry entered the fight having recently suffered what many thought was the upset of the decade, losing via sixth round kayo to Lloyd Honeyghan. Most blamed the setback on weight making difficulties and the move to junior middleweight would alleviate those draining effects. What the general public did not know was how good McCallum was. The respect the pair had for each other gave them heightened reflexes with each miscalculation punished by the other in an instant. McCallum had the better of the jab but Curry?s right hand reached McCallum when his jab fell short. Surprisingly, Curry did the better body punching, which ?The Bodysnatcher? countered with uppercuts and hooks. That is how it went for five rounds, each trapping the other, and Curry held a slight advantage by staggering McCallum with a right hand in the second. The evolving fight came to a dramatic halt when McCallum slipped a right hand and came over top with a counter left hook that Curry ran into face first. At age 30, McCallum was entering his prime while Curry was a spent force at 25.
9. Buster Drayton vs. Matthew Hilton (June 27, 1987) – Champion Buster Drayton ran hot and cold in the ring but win, lose or draw, he produced entertaining fights. Matthew Hilton was another talented but troubled fighter from Canada?s most notorious fighting family, possessed of a vicious left hook. Drayton was riding a hot streak that saw him defeat Davey Moore and Carlos Santos in title fights while Hilton came in a perfect 26-0. This was experience vs. youth with Hilton holding home country advantage. A straight right started the fireworks as Hilton dropped Drayton in the first; the champ survived and recovered while Hilton pressed his advantage for two more rounds. Hilton took off round four; Drayton recognized it and began to come on behind counters and uppercuts. The middle rounds went back and forth with Hilton getting away with low blows and elbows. The tide switched for good in the 11th as Hilton?s incessant bodywork paid dividends. Every time Drayton rallied, Hilton retaliated just as forcefully. In the end, stamina that comes with youth was served and later, it was revealed Drayton suffered two broken ribs.
8. Roberto Duran vs. Davey Moore (June 16, 1983) – A selection based on its historical significance and remains a case study of not rushing a young fighter to greatness (after only nine fights, Moore was a titleholder). Moore got a horrible start when a Duran jab missed its mark (or did it?) in round one and Duran?s thumb landed squarely in the eye of Moore. The eye began to swell and close almost immediately. Duran capitalized on the injury with fervor, throwing looping right hooks Moore had a hard time seeing. By the third round, Moore?s left eye was completely closed. In the fourth, Moore was noticeably flinching when Duran?s body shots impacted with sickening thuds of accuracy. The agony showed on Moore?s face and by the seventh round, even hardcore New York fight fans were asking for a stoppage. Too proud to quit, Moore walked into hooks, uppercuts and body shots. Press row shouted for the bloodbath to stop while Moore?s mother fainted at ringside. Finally, Davey?s corner threw in a towel to end the torture after eight rounds. Duran was born again as a fighter (fitting since this day was his 32nd birthday) and Moore was virtually finished. Moore never recovered, losing every time he stepped up in competition (a freak win when Wilfred Benitez broke his ankle after a knockdown was the notable exception). In time, Moore was reduced to fighting on local cards and met a tragic end dying in a freak auto accident exactly one week before his 29th birthday.
7. Felix Trinidad vs. David Reid (March 3, 2000) ? Was this Duran vs. Moore II? This is a tale of two bouts within 12 fast-paced rounds. Reid was on the verge of an upset win after six rounds, his speed advantage dictating terms and location of the fighting. Reid won the early rounds (dropping Trinidad with a right hand counter) in clear but unspectacular fashion. Then Trinidad decided to turn up the heat on his inexperienced foe (this was Reid?s 15th pro bout) and clearly began to dominate the action. Reid?s pathway to a ferocious beating began in the seventh when Trinidad dropped him with a left to the jaw and the American Olympian was never the same. A stalker like Trinidad knows when his prey is hurt and drew blood in the eighth when Reid was cut over the right eye. Any doubt as to who would win was erased in the 11th with Trinidad dropping Reid three times. Now the question was whether Reid could survive and Reid showed heart, lasting the distance. However, Reid?s career did not survive as he was never the same after Trinidad rolled over him.
6. Carlos Santos vs. Mark Medal (November 2, 1984) – This fight was great in terms of aesthetics as Santos? awkward side-to-side movement produced stop-and-go action. When the duo remained within range, it was full steam ahead in search of a kayo. Many thought this would be the case with Santos scoring 27 of his 40 wins via kayo and Medal bettering him percentage-wise with 20 out of 24. Santos landed his bomb first, dropping Medal in the first round with a straight left. Santos kept the champ on the run, winning the next seven rounds. Santos was winning rounds but Medal found his spots, providing anxious moments when able to step to his left and unleash hooks. The tide swung in the 13th with Medal opening a cut over Santos? right eye that clearly bothered the challenger. A retreating Santos lost his advantage and Medal dropped him in the 14th with a big left hook. The work Santos did in the first 10 rounds paid off though and Medal did not have the gas to finish his hurt foe. Fans were left with images of a hurt Santos reeling in the late rounds, even though Santos won by unanimous decision. It wasn?t pretty but it was pretty exciting.
5. Oscar De la Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas (September 14, 2002) – A rivalry in and out of the ring made this fight very interesting, which is not to say the action within the bout was bad…anything but. Vargas targeted a showdown with De la Hoya from his pro debut on, verbally attacking the ?Golden Boy? in interviews. This was not a synthetically produced rivalry; Vargas genuinely disliked Oscar and got under the skin of the usually reserved De la Hoya. Give Oscar credit; beneath the pretty boy image lies a street fighter and he went into the bout to outfight, not outbox Vargas. The fight was a seesaw affair with Vargas taking the even rounds while Oscar countered by taking the odd rounds. It was power vs. speed with Oscar?s hand speed the telling difference as the rounds progressed. Both men had their moments with Vargas? more noticeable as his power made Oscar?s legs buckle and retreat on occasion, drawing blood from his nose. Everything was even until the 10th when Oscar stunned Vargas with only seconds left in the round. The punch took all the wind and stamina from Vargas and Oscar pounced in the 11th, bombing out a helpless Vargas along the ropes for his most enjoyable victory.
4. Wilfredo Benitez vs. Maurice Hope (May 23, 1981) – If there are three words not associated with Benitez, they are ?one punch kayo.? However, that is precisely what Benitez pulled from his bag of tricks to win this fight. A lethal right hand made Benitez a three-division champion, at age 22, and left Hope semi-unconscious for nearly 10 minutes. No one thought it would turn into a wild affair; in the first three rounds, there was more clinching than punching while Benitez figured out his southpaw opponent. Hope began to effectively use his stalking style, finding room to deliver his hard right hands as Benitez retreated to the ropes. It seemed Benitez had moved up too far in weight as Hope pushed and bullied the legend. Hope was further encouraged when he opened a cut over Benitez?s right eye. The blood spurred on Benitez, slowly turning the tide as he found Hope?s timing and rhythm while working his body. By the sixth round, Hope was tiring; his punches lacked the snap of previous rounds. Benitez became braver and aside from an eighth round rally from Hope, controlled the action. In the 11th, Benitez knocked two of Hope?s teeth out with an uppercut and finished him a round later with a perfect right hand.
3. Felix Trinidad vs. Fernando Vargas (December 2, 2000) ? This loss pretty much made Vargas the Thomas Hearns of his generation. A great fighter who came up short against all-time greats De la Hoya and Trinidad, just as Hearns did against Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. There always seems to be controversy surrounding Vargas fights but this time, Trinidad supplied it. The controversy was Trinidad?s premeditated low blow which came as Vargas had turned the tide of the fight, scoring a fourth round knockdown. The fight started ominously for Vargas as Trinidad scored a knockdown with his first punch. Vargas recuperated, making the champ wince with a body shot in the second and had Trindad?s eye swelling by the third. In the pivotal fourth, Vargas scored a left hook counter, knocking down Trinidad, but Vargas was caught flush below the beltline rushing in to finish his hurt opponent. Just as Trinidad did against David Reid, he turned the tide in his favor in the sixth round. Trinidad?s jab and right cross landed solidly now and he was coming forward, establishing his advantages over a weakening opponent. Give Vargas credit for going out on his shield. Unwilling to lose a decision, he went all out for a kayo in the last round. Instead, Trinidad slipped and countered the young challenger, knocking him down three times for a stoppage win.
2. Vincent Pettway vs. Simon Brown (April 29, 1995) – The lasting image of this brawl is an unconscious Simon Brown, laying flat on his back, reflexively throwing weak jabs at an invisible opponent. While most will remember the final blow, the bout featured four knockdowns in six rounds. Pettway was thought the weak-chinned of the pair with Brown having never been stopped. Everything went by the script early as Brown scored a knockdown in the first but was unable to follow up before the bell sounded. Brown stalked in the second and third while Pettway retreated. Then, at almost the exact same stage as round one, Pettway surprised Brown with a straight right, driving Brown to the canvas. Brown dusted himself off and again stalked Pettway in the fourth. Brown was landing heavy shots and low blows in the fifth, culminating in a double right hand that pushed Pettway between the ring ropes and onto the ring apron. Pettway was furious and retaliated with a low blow that launched the duo into an extended volley of punches. Both men looked to avenge the low blows in the sixth but Brown missed wildly, leaving himself open for a perfectly placed left hook that landed with full extension. Brown folded like a Slinky and in the eerie scene described in the intro, began jabbing at the air.
1. Oscar Albarado vs. Koichi Wajima vs. (June 4, 1974) – These two champs are not well known nor fondly recalled…but how can you beat a fighter trailing on points scoring a kayo in the final round? A good thing the fight took place before 1985 when the championship distance was shortened to 12 rounds or else it might have only placed sixth or seventh on the list. This was a brawl between born sluggers that tested both men?s meddle in solid two-way action. Nicknames like ?Shotgun? (Albarado) and ?The Flame? (Wajima) do not conjure up images of defensive genius and the Albarado-Wajima bout never threatened to produce feints, ducks, weaves or brilliant footwork. The duo hurt each other from the start but the punches were of thudding instead of the lightning variety as both absorbed punishment without tasting the canvas. Albarado held a slight tactical advantage by stepping to the side and hitting Wajima to the ribs and liver. Once inside, Wajima was more effective and had the better of the affair, employing his unusual crouching style. As the rounds wore on, Albarado caught up in terms of speed and with a five-year youth advantage, his legs were steadier. Neither sustained any sort of dominance and both did well with counter volleys to stop runs by the other. Going into the last round, Wajima was ahead by two and one points on the scorecards. Albarado refused to relent to the body, scoring a knockdown with a double left hook combination to the body and head. Wajima was badly hurt but able to climb to his feet. If Wajima lasted to the final bell, he would still win the fight but was dropped a second time. Again, Wajima rose with a little under two minutes remaining. Albarado desperately threw wild punches, hoping to land with anything, knowing a punch of any variety would finish an exhausted Wajima. Albarado scored with a straight right hand as Wajima backpedaled; Wajima went down, rolled over and could not rise before the count of 10. It was a stark and draining end to a brilliant fight, leaving fans as exhausted as the boxers. In a rematch seven months later, Wajima was able to last the distance and regained his belt via unanimous decision.
