Shaping up to be an awesome summer and lead into fall..
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[h1]Lightweights jockeying for position in stacked division[/h1]
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: April 3, 2009, 10:16 AM ET
John Rivera/Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions
Edwin Valero's chance to impress on U.S. soil comes on Saturday against Antonio Pitalua, right.
[h3]Lightweights look to make statements[/h3]
The lightweight division has a clear-cut champion in Juan Manuel Marquez, who owns two alphabet belts and the title lineage based on an impressive knockout of then-champion Joel Casamayor in the fall.
Marquez further cemented his status as the 135-pound kingpin Feb. 28 with a tremendous ninth-round knockout of Juan Diaz in a fight-of-the-year candidate.
Other top lightweights have left the division. Manny Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound king, gave up his belt to jump two weight divisions to welterweight, where he smashed Oscar De La Hoya in a December blockbuster. Instead of returning to lightweight, Pacquiao is instead dropping to junior welterweight to challenge champion Ricky Hatton on May 2.
Other would-be lightweight kings have also been weeded out. Diaz, a former unified titleholder, got knocked out by Marquez for his second loss in three fights and has work to do to get back on top. Nate Campbell lost his belts on the scale when he couldn't make weight for a Feb. 14 defense and is headed to junior welterweight.
Even Marquez might head north to 140 pounds, or even to 147, if he can land a big fight such as the showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. he is calling for or a third meeting with Pacquiao.
The movement leaves the lightweight division looking for either a notable challenger for Marquez or for someone to succeed him if he moves up.
John Rivera/Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions
Jesus Chavez, left, or Michael Katsidis can become a major player in the lightweight division with a win Saturday.
That storyline is the backdrop to "Lightweight Lightning," an ambitious four-fight all-lightweight Golden Boy card Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET) in Austin, Texas.
The eight fighters on the pay-per-view are all looking to make the statement that they deserve a shot at Marquez, or at least some other notable bout in the division, perhaps against one of the other winners on a card that was originally conceived of as the start of a tournament. However, because main-event fighter Edwin Valero is promoted by Top Rank and not Golden Boy Promotions, which is promoting the show, he didn't commit to a tournament format.
"I think that yes, it's an opportunity for these fighters to become No. 1. But you have to understand Juan Manuel Marquez still has not moved up. He still remains the champion and he still remains the target," said Austin's Jesus Chavez (44-4, 30 KOs), a former lightweight and junior lightweight titlist, who will have the hometown crowd on his side when he faces all-action slugger Michael Katsidis (24-2, 20 KOs) in a 10-round undercard fight.
Valero (24-0, 24 KOs), who gave up a junior lightweight title to move up, headlines against Antonio Pitalua (46-3, 40 KOs) in a fight for the belt Pacquiao vacated when he moved up. It will be Valero's first bout in the United States since being granted a license last year in Texas, a controversial move because he had been denied a license in New York on medical grounds a few years earlier because of a non-boxing-related head injury he suffered years ago.
Also on the show, ex-junior lightweight beltholder Carlos Hernandez (43-7-1, 24 KOs) meets 2004 U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo (19-1, 12 KOs), a prospect looking to take advantage of the opportunity to be on the card after former junior lightweight titlist Jorge Barrios withdrew because of a jaw injury; and former titlist Julio Diaz (36-4, 26 KOs) faces Rolando Reyes, (30-4-2, 19 KOs), a fringe contender who got the call after former champion Joel Casamayor withdrew two weeks ago because of a back injury.
[table][tr][th=""]Lightweight Lightning[/th] [/tr][tr][td]TV lineup for Golden Boy Promotions' card Saturday night (HBO PPV, 9 ET, $39.95) from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas: • Lightweights: Edwin Valero (24-0, 24 KOs) vs. Antonio Pitalua (46-3, 40 KOs), 12 rounds, for a vacant title
• Lightweights: Michael Katsidis (24-2, 20 KOs) vs. Jesus Chavez (44-4, 30 KOs), 10 rounds
• Lightweights: Carlos Hernandez (43-7-1, 24 KOs) vs. Vicente Escobedo (19-1, 12 KOs), 10 rounds
• Lightweights: Julio Diaz (36-4, 26 KOs) vs. Rolando Reyes (30-4-2, 19 KOs), 10 rounds
[/td] [/tr][/table]
Tournament or not, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer believes each fighter has a chance to make a statement.
"We have with Jesus Chavez, Carlos Hernandez and Julio Diaz three stars of the sport fighting against opponents who want to make names for themselves, who want to really move up in the rankings and stake a claim eventually for a world title fight," Schaefer said. "And then, of course, in the main event with Edwin Valero and Antonio Pitalua, we have a great showdown with a very, very tough Mexican fighter, Antonio Pitalua, and Edwin Valero, sort of like a cult fighter who has a tremendous following within the boxing community. And I think it's going to be a great night of boxing with these four lightweight battles."
Chavez, who already owns a win against Hernandez and lost to Julio Diaz, hopes to look impressive enough to earn a shot at Marquez. The same goes for Valero.
"Yes, I think that's a fight that I am interested in," Chavez said. "Any fighter in the lightweight division would hate to see him move up, but that is his choice, his prerogative, and if he wants to leave everything on the table for everybody else to fight each other, I'm up for whatever comes up. But I think that Juan Manuel Marquez is the man at 135 right now."
Said Valero, "I'd like to fight the best in this division, so I'd like for Marquez to stay in the lightweight division. If he goes up to 140 it would really not be to fight the best. I'd like him to fight me, and once he fights me he can move on to fight at a different division and go up in weight, but at this point I'd like to fight the best fighters out there."
For Escobedo, the fight with Hernandez, who is 38 and looking for one more shot, isn't so much to show he should get a title fight, but to show that he's crossed from prospect status to contendership.
"I'm a young fighter and it's really a huge opportunity for me," said Escobedo, 27. "This is my moment and I'm going to go in there and step in that ring and give it all I got, give it 100 percent, leave it in the ring. I know I got a tough, tough fight against Carlos Hernandez, so we're prepared. We're ready and hungry."
For Hernandez, the fight is about more than him having a chance to re-establish himself. He needs to win to keep his career alive after going 3-4 in his past seven fights.
"It's not like I'm Escobedo's age," he said. "So to me, I'm pretty much backed into a corner and have to fight my way out of it. But Escobedo still has a future in boxing. For me, it's do or die."
One of the reasons Escobedo believes he is ready for this step up is because he has sparred with Marquez; they share trainer Nacho Beristain.
"I had the opportunity to spar with Marquez for his fight with Diaz. I helped him a couple times, and I've got to say it's amazing. You go in a sparring session with the world champion, you definitely notice the difference, his style, the way he is, his rhythm and everything is just on point. I learned a lot from him. I got to know what it's like to be in there with the world champion."
Someday he'd like to do it when it counts, as would the other seven men on the card.
[h3]Forrest-Martinez this summer[/h3]
Junior middleweight titlist Vernon Forrest (41-3, 29 KOs), who has gone out of his way to avoid a mandatory fight with interim titleholder Sergio Martinez, now is committed to facing him, promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com.
"We'll have the Martinez fight this summer, probably in August," Shaw said.
Chris Cozzone/Fightwireimages.com
Like it or not, Vernon Forrest will have to put his belt on the line against Sergio Martinez.
Shaw said Showtime is planning to do the fight, which might explain why the network is airing Forrest's tune-up, nontitle bout against club fighter Jason LeHoullier (21-1-1, 8 KOs).
Forrest was supposed to face LeHoullier on April 25 in the opener of a tripleheader headlined by the Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor super middleweight bout at the Foxwoods resort in Connecticut.
However, Shaw said, the fight has been shifted to May 1 and will take place on his "ShoBox" card in Santa Ynez, Calif., instead. That card will expand to a tripleheader. It also is headlined by welterweight Carlos Abregu against Irving Garcia.
The reason Forrest was shifted was because Shaw didn't feel that Forrest was welcome on the April 25 card.
"When Carl Moretti [of show promoter DiBella Entertainment] said there were no rooms and no food for Vernon and his people and that he was on his own, that's not a warm welcome," Shaw said. "I wasn't going to fight with [Foxwoods] for credentials and rooms. Vernon is a champion and should be treated like one, so I put him on my 'ShoBox' card instead. From there, we'll do the Martinez fight."
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
22 comments on "Lightweights jockeying for position in stacked division"
[h4]QUICK HITS[/h4]
Cotto
• The much-anticipated Miguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey welterweight unification bout has been agreed to, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com. Clottey signed his contract more than a week ago, but Arum was waiting on Cotto. But Arum said he worked out the details with Cotto's camp this week and the fight is on. It will take place at Madison Square Garden on June 13 (HBO), the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York. Puerto Rico's Cotto has fought regularly on that weekend and Clottey, of Ghana, lives in New York. "Everything is agreed to and the paperwork is going back and forth," Arum said. "There will be a press conference April 14 in New York."
Soto
• Arum also told ESPN.com that he has fights lined up for two of his other titleholders. Junior lightweight Humberto Soto (47-7-2, 30 KOs), who destroyed Antonio Davis for a fourth-round knockout in his first defense last Saturday night, has officially replaced injured featherweight titleholder Steven Luevano on the May 2 Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao HBO PPV card. Soto's opponent is not signed, but Canada's Benoit Gaudet (20-1, 7 KOs) is the leading candidate. Fernando Montiel (39-2-1, 29 KOs), who claimed a vacant bantamweight belt with a third-round knockout of Diego Silva on last week's card, makes his first defense against mandatory challenger Eric Morel (41-2, 21 KOs) on June 27 in a televised match on the Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Mora pay-per-view undercard in Atlantic City, N.J. "I was really thrilled with the performances of Soto and Montiel last week," Arum said. "Both of these guys are tremendous fighters and exciting."
Malignaggi
• Coming off a lopsided loss to Hatton in November, former junior welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi (25-2, 5 KOs) is on the comeback trail. Malignaggi, who complained bitterly when his corner stopped the Hatton fight in the 11th round, faces Chris Fernandez (16-6-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round untelevised match April 25 on the Carl Froch-Jermain Taylor undercard. "Paulie has been busting my [chops] every day to get him a fight," promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com. "I love the kid. Paulie is a proud person and he wants to get back in the ring. He wants to get distance from the poorest performance of his career against Hatton." If Malignaggi wins, he'll probably meet undefeated prospect Mike Alvarado on June 27 on the Pavlik-Mora PPV card. "We've had conversations with Top Rank about the fight," DiBella said. "It's an attractive fight. This [April 25] fight is a way for Paulie to get back in the groove and see how he feels. He wants to fight Alvarado, and hopefully that fight will be made. We're talking numbers, but first he has this fight."
Kirkland
• Junior welterweight Victor Ortiz and junior middleweight James Kirkland, Golden Boy's prized rising stars, will get their first opportunities to fight for world titles this summer, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN.com. Schaefer said he has come to terms with Universum, which promotes junior welterweight titlist Andreas Kotelnik and junior middleweight beltholder Sergei Dzindziruk. "I made a deal with Universum," Schaefer said. "We have agreed on the monetary side. We made a deal for both fights and to have them in the United States." Schaefer said Universum was finalizing its deals with its fighters. Schaefer said Kotelnik-Ortiz will take place June 27 in Los Angeles -- either at the Staples Center or the smaller Nokia Theatre across the street -- on HBO's "Boxing After Dark." The other fight on the card probably will be a rematch of the Feb. 28 draw between featherweight titlist Chris John and Rocky Juarez, Schaefer said. Kirkland will challenge Dzindziruk on another "BAD" card, probably Aug. 1, from somewhere in Kirkland's home state of Texas, as long as Kirkland beats Michael Walker on May 2.
Guerrero
• Junior lightweight contender Robert Guerrero (23-1-1, 16 KOs), who wound up with a second-round no-contest against Daud Yordan on March 7 when Guerrero elected not to continue after suffering a cut from an accidental head-butt, is expected back in the ring June 12 as the headliner on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," Schaefer told ESPN.com. If Guerrero wins, he'll likely return to open HBO's August card featuring Dzindziruk-Kirkland.
Darchinyan
• Junior bantamweight champion Vic Darchinyan's move up to bantamweight to challenge Joseph Agbeko on Showtime will take place July 11 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., Darchinyan promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com. The arena, secured by Agbeko promoter Don King, is the same venue that hosted a King-Shaw co-promoted HBO card Feb. 14.
DeMarco
• Couple of other items from Shaw: He said lightweight prospect Antonio DeMarco (20-1-1, 14 KOs), who scored an impressive ninth-round knockout of Almazbek Raiymkulov on Feb. 7 on Showtime, will return to the network to open the July 11 Agbeko-Darchinyan show. Also, Shaw said he signed lightweight Jose Guzman (7-0, 5 KOs), the younger brother of lightweight contender and former two-division titleholder Joan Guzman. "Jose reminds me of Yuriorkis Gamboa when I look at him in the ring," Shaw said, comparing him to the red-hot featherweight prospect and Cuban Olympic gold medalist.
Adamek
• With a potential Tomasz Adamek-Bernard Hopkins fight dead because of Hopkins' lowball offer to the cruiserweight champion, Adamek promoter Main Events and Seminole Warriors Boxing are talking about Adamek facing former light heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, Warriors' Leon Margules told ESPN.com. "We've had some preliminary discussion," said Margules, Johnson's co-promoter with DiBella. "Glen would love to fight Adamek. He'll go wherever the money is and fight anyone on earth between 171 and 200 pounds." Margules said the fight is probably a long shot because they need a network to buy it for a summer date. He said Showtime has shown interest, but its schedule is tight.
Diaconu
• When light heavyweight titleholder Adrian Diaconu's first title defense against Silvio Branco on April 10 in Italy was canceled because cruiserweight titlist Giacobbe Fragomeni suffered an injury and his main event against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk was postponed, bringing down the entire show, Diaconu promoter InterBox added him to Saturday's Timothy Bradley-Kendall Holt undercard in Montreal, where Diaconu is based. Rather than waste a training camp, Diaconu (25-0, 15 KOs) will stay busy in an eight-rounder against David Whittom (10-7-1, 6 KOs). If Diaconu's team gets its way, he'll make an optional defense this summer in Montreal and then face Branco in the mandatory this fall. Besides adding Diaconu to Saturday's card, InterBox also signed him to a new two-year promotional agreement.
Linares
• The cut that junior lightweight titlist Jorge Linares (26-0, 17 KOs) suffered in training, which forced postponement of his March 14 first defense against Josaphat Perez (12-1, 7 KOs), has healed and the fight has been rescheduled. Linares and Perez will meet in El Paso, Texas, on May 9. Edwin Valero relinquished the belt and Linares, a former featherweight beltholder, moved up in weight and claimed the vacant title by stopping Whyber Garcia in the fifth round in November.
Chambers
• Although he was not in prime condition and the fight was a bit ugly, Eddie Chambers (34-1, 18 KOs) outpointed former titleholder Samuel Peter last Friday night and says he wants a title shot. "It was definitely the next step toward a title," Chambers said. "When you defeat a big heavyweight and one who recently held a world title, it feels good to have earned my opportunity to go for one of the world titles. I have worked long and hard to get there and I'm determined to be better next time out and win the heavyweight championship when I get my title shot. I am ready to take on any of the champions."
[h4]QUOTABLE[/h4]
Roach
"Floyd can read some good poems. That's all he's good at that I know of. What has Floyd Sr. achieved? His son's a natural-born fighter. His brother Roger trained him anyway. Floyd never trained his son for a world title fight. He tells me he's the greatest but what has he done? He trained Oscar De La Hoya after Oscar has already won four world titles. Floyd is a legend in his own mind." -- Trainer Freddie Roach, in his continuing war of words with Floyd Mayweather Sr., whom he will oppose when Manny Pacquiao faces Mayweather-trained Ricky Hatton on May 2.
[h4]QUOTABLE[/h4]
Klitschko
"I am used to being attacked by my opponents before a fight. But David is top of the list of crudity. He has to pay the bill for it and I promise it will be painful." -- unified heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, on David Haye, with whom he finalized a match with this week for June 20.
[h4]QUOTABLE[/h4]
Haye
"Klitschko's last opponents were cowards. I will knock him out and take his belts to my hometown London. And that is not all: I will also go and get Vitali's belt. None of them can stop me. The new world heavyweight champion will soon be David Haye." -- Haye, on challenging Wladimir Klitschko and then possibly older brother Vitali Klitschko
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