By Jake Donovan

Last year, the question asked was, Joel Casamayor or Juan Diaz.  This year, it’s Juan Manuel Marquez or Nate Campbell.

The names have changed atop the division, but the question remains the same: who is currently the best lightweight in the world?

In theory, the answer to that question should be a given for a division that boasts a lineal champion that’s presently very high on about every respectable pound for pound list. If it were that simple, then Juan Manuel Marquez removed all doubt after his knockout of Joel Casamayor this past September.

The problem is, nothing is ever that simple. Not to mention, the issue stands a great chance of being further magnified after a pair of lightweight bouts (Campbell-Ali Funeka and Marquez-Diaz) take place two weeks apart on HBO next February, similar to how separate results three weeks apart this past March offered few answers and raised even more questions.

At this same point last year, the cause for then-undefeated multi-belted Juan Diaz being the world’s best lightweight picked up major steam. He was two months removed from his second straight successful unification match, having forced Julio Diaz to quit on his stool after eight rounds, six months after having forced Acelino Freitas to bow in the exact same fashion.

Joel Casamayor still held the lineal claim as the division’s ruler, but few beyond the sport’s purists were willing to take up his cause. His 2007 campaign was as bad as it gets for any self-respecting world champion, having spent most of the season on the sidelines before resurfacing toward year’s end. It was hardly quality over quantity; Casamayor struggled mightily with Jose Armando Santa Cruz before taking a split decision in arguably the year’s most controversial decision.

As 2007 became 2008, all eyes turned to March and for good reason. The month was loaded with major fights on each of the first four Saturdays, including Diaz and Casamayor in separate bouts. Hope had entered the equation once it was announced that Diaz was done with King, and most likely signing with Golden Boy Promotions following his defense against Campbell. Such a course of action would make it that much easier to match him up against the winner between Casamayor and Michael Katsidis later that month.

Given the two matchups, many believed that the bout to determine lightweight supremacy would come between Diaz and Katsidis in a can’t-miss Fight of the Year contender.

A Diaz-Katsidis match came about – but as a loser bracket entry, after Diaz wound up on the wrong end of one of 2007’s biggest upsets, while Katsidis was knocked out in come-from-behind fashion by Casamayor in one of the year’s best fights.

While Diaz and Katsidis sought to resume their winning ways, talks surfaced of a Casamayor-Campbell rematch. There was no better time a sequel to their 2003 scrap, which saw Casamayor busted up but Campbell ultimately suffering the first defeat of his career. The storyline was there, not to mention plenty of alphabet hardware and both fighters closer to the twilight than their respective primes.

The money was also there, with Don King submitting a purse bid of more than $1.2 million, which meant a payday of greater than $600,000 for Casamayor. It apparently wasn’t enough, as Team Casamayor sought other options, eventually landing a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez for roughly the same payday.

The next payday Campbell sees will be his first since the Diaz fight. After being strung along for three months by Team Casamayor, the resurging Floridian set his sights on Joan Guzman, one of his three mandatory challengers at the time. An even bigger waste of time would follow, this one a bitterer pill to swallow after Campbell lost out on a $300,000 payday due to the Dominican failing to make weight and opting not to fight at all.

While Campbell was stuck without a fight in Biloxi, Mississippi, Casamayor would be dealt a mightier blow that same evening in Las Vegas. Juan Manuel Marquez made the most of his lightweight debut, surging ahead in the 11th round to twice drop the Cuban en route to a knockout win and a major title in his third weight class.

Next came the hard part – selling the prospect of Marquez being the man at lightweight.

More often than not, the lineal champion of a particular division is also its best fighter. It’s when the two are not one and the same is when the issue becomes… well, an issue.

Those who can differentiate between the two in such a situation have no problem recognizing Marquez as the man to beat at lightweight in a historical sense. But when the announcement of the February 28 clash between Marquez and Diaz came with the promise to “truly determine the best 135-pounder in the world,” confusion was surely to follow.

The resistance in defaulting Marquez as the best lightweight in the world is threefold. First comes the issue of whether or not an actual lightweight lineage still exists.

Some argue that it ended when the late Diego Corrales was knocked out in his October 2005 rematch with Jose Luis Castillo. The bout was a non-title fight due to Castillo’s well-documented failure to make weight (the first of several occasions). Others argue it should’ve been vacated at the scales one year later – almost to the day – when Corrales became the one to miss weight by more than a little bit, this for his rubber match with Casamayor.

Even if the weight issues are forgiven (as well as the fact that 30 months would go between lineal lightweight title fights where both sides made weight), less tolerated was Casamayor’s earlier mentioned gift decision win over Santa Cruz, who some would dub the uncrowned champion. Others looked to Juan Diaz and then Nate Campbell as their divisional leader.

In Marquez should’ve come the satisfaction of stability at the top. Only came the second issue, which was it being his first lightweight fight. Even worse, that it came following a loss, which leads to the third dilemma – that he was now in the same division as his prior conqueror and pound-for-pound the sport’s very best, Manny Pacquiao, who joined the 135 ranks after dominating David Diaz en route to a 9th round stoppage three months after edging out Marquez in their 130 lb lineal title fight.

The last part makes issue number three a moot point, though several argue it all the same. Not only does their head-to-head scoreboard come at lower weights (the two also fought to a draw at featherweight more than four years ago), but Marquez beat a higher touted fighter in Casamayor than Pacquiao in knocking off a top five-ish lightweight in David Diaz.

Pacquiao himself helps eliminate the argument with the speculation that he’ll never again fight at lightweight. Following his destruction of Oscar de la Hoya in the contracted welterweight fight, all signs now point to the eventual two-time Fight of the Year recipient to next land at 140, where he’ll challenge incumbent champion Ricky Hatton.

That at least brings the argument back to Marquez and Campbell. In a perfect world, the two square off sometime in 2009 and end all matters. Such a fight could still happen, provided that they win in February.

But as we learned earlier this year, plans for the future can easily be ruined by results from the present.

Though Marquez is presumably favored to beat Diaz, he has several matters working against him. At age 35 and with more than 15 years in service, the tires are bound to wear out. Who better against than a fiery ball of energy in Juan Diaz, whose stamina is nearly unmatched in the sport and whom also claims hometown advantage, with the fight landing at a site to be determined in Houston, though the Toyota Center is the most likely location.

By the time their fight begins, a winner will have most likely been decided in Campbell’s February 14 mandatory defense against Ali Funeka, a long-armed puncher from South Africa. For the moment, Campbell is favored, but like Marquez is no spring chicken. He’ll be three weeks away from his 37th birthday by fight night, which follows a forced 49-week layoff.

Funeka hasn’t exactly been the poster child for ring activity himself, having fought just once since September 2007. The one was a doozy, even if laced with controversy, as he was credited with a fourth round knockout of Zahir Raheem. The bout came this past July, which only puts him out of the ring for seven months come fight night, not to mention his being 6 years younger and (at least) five inches taller.

Who knows, maybe by this time next year, we’re debating whether Juan Diaz or Ali Funeka should be regarded as the best lightweight in the world. Or perhaps the division’s elder statesmen escape February unscathed, with the names remaining the same at the top.

Above all else, one thing will surely remain a constant to and through February 14 – the answer is there’s no clear answer to who rules the lightweight division.  

WHAT ABOUT ANTONIO PITALUA - OR EDWIN VALERO?

For those who waved a banner for Jose Armando Santa Cruz being the uncrowned lineal lightweight champion, the same respect would have to be paid to 39-year old Antonio Pitalua.

The Colombian banger, who lives and has spent nearly his entire 16 year career fighting in Mexico, stopped Santa Cruz in the sixth round of their September bout, thus securing a shot at the now vacant WBC lightweight title. In pursuit of an actual title and not one of the people’s variety, he will next face undefeated free-swinging Edwin Valero of Venezuela, presumably sometime in January.

Few have been willing to take up Pitalua’s cause - either that or the joke grew stale, especially the moment Santa Cruz was deemed a knockout loser. But perhaps a new wave would ensue should cult favorite Valero emerge victorious in their battle of knockout artists.

AND ON A PERSONAL NOTE…

Best holiday wishes to one and all, and for boxing a grand 2009 that already appears to be off to a kick-ass start. 

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .