By Cliff Rold

February might be Black History Month, but the loudest exaltation in the sweet science was “Viva Mexico.”  The familiar cry was saved for the last minutes of a strong twenty-eight days and it was worth the wait.  Needless to say, Andre Berto-Luis Collazo has seen its reign as leading candidate for Fight of the Year ended.

Aside from what all will see was an obvious choice for Fight of the Month, February provided both memorable action and the end of some long running feuds.  Vic Darchinyan put all the talk to rest against rival Jorge Arce.  Nate Campbell lost his Lightweight belts on the scale but pulled out victory in a war with Ali Funeka.  World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik bounced back from defeat to overwhelm contender Marco Antonio Rubio.

And February 28th topped it all leading into a March highlighted by fan favorite Vitali Klitschko fighting on the big platform of ESPN.

March has some hidden gems as well beneath the brightest spotlights of this side of the pond(s).  Leading Bantamweight Hozumi Hasegawa takes on the only other man at 118 lbs. to topple Veraphol Sahaprom in the last decade or so, Vusi Malinga, and it could be a sleeper pick for fight of the month.  So too could be an excellently conceived showdown at 115 lbs. between former World Jr. Flyweight champion Hugo Cazares and former 108 and 112 lb. titlist Roberto Vasquez.  Both should be well worth seeking out away from the U.S. television scene.

That is the month ahead.  For now, a look back with February’s month in review.

Fighter of the Month:  Juan Manuel Marquez

Remember when Marquez had a reputation for being a little bit dull?  It’s getting harder to do so.  Since losing in disputed fashion to Chris John in 2006, Marquez has been in a series of thrillers against unheralded (Terdsak Jandaeng) and heralded (Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao, Joel Casamayor) alike.  In the process, he took himself from the position of man too often avoided to unavoidable candidate for the Hall of Fame.  In the last two years, he’s won title belts at 126 and 130 lbs. and now made concrete his claim to the lineal World Lightweight title he won last September against Casamayor. 

The man he defeated Saturday, Juan Diaz, was just a year ago seen as well on his way to the same peak.  Marquez wasn’t interested in moving aside and fans were treated to the latest display of Marquez’s humble genius in the ring.  He does it all, boxing and fighting, with a range of offensive weapons and angles the envy of any great fighter.  In knocking out Diaz in the ninth, Marquez garnered what may be a career best win and clearly separated from the pack for this passing of the 2009 calendar.

Fight of the Month: Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz

It wasn’t just as a lone figure that Marquez created space from his top perch.  The war between Marquez and Diaz was also clearly the highlight bout of the month.  As reported by BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=18709

A Fight of the Year contender was promised going in, and both fighters did their damnest to live up to the hype from the opening bell. As expected, Diaz took the fight to Marquez, who remained calm under pressure in gladly accepting the role of counter puncher. What Marquez was forced to accept, however, was a frenetic pace. Both fighters combined for nearly 200 punches thrown in the opening round.

The action didn’t slow one bit in the second, much to the delight of the capacity crowd on hand. Even more to their pleasure was Diaz pinning Marquez to the ropes, landing a left hook in the corner and going on the attack. Marquez was momentarily shook but eventually did what he always does best – regroup, readjust and take the fight to center ring towards the end of the round.

Things threatened to slow down in the third, but Diaz went into perpetual motion mode late in the round, forcing yet another shootout. Marquez fought well moving backwards, outlanding his younger foe for the first time in the fight.

The violent two-way action spilled over into the fourth, drawing plenty of ooh’s and ahh’s as both fighters continued to let their hands go at an incredible rate. Marquez managed to throw more in the round and land the more telling blows.

Diaz came back with a vengeance in the fifth, targeting Marquez’ midsection. Marquez spent much of the round with his back touching the ropes, as Diaz never stopped throwing. By round’s end, Marquez was cut around the right eye, though it didn’t prevent him from digging deep and outworking Diaz by a considerable margin in the sixth.

The instructions from Diaz’ corner heading into the second half of the fight were to not allow the older fighter to ever again outwork him. The younger fighter didn’t quite follow orders in the seventh, but was competitive enough to force Marquez to fight at a much busier than desired pace, with his mouth agape as the round wore on.

Whatever transpired in the minute between rounds seemed to work wonders for Marquez, who came out rejuvenated in the eighth. Repeated left hooks landed to the body, as Diaz struggled to get his offense going while contending with a cut over his right eye. Marquez set traps along the ropes, inviting Diaz in then unloading with combinations. A left hook stunned Diaz late in the round, but Marquez remained poised, landing to the body then sliding backwards to avoid any potential incoming.

Two-way action returned in the ninth, with Diaz resuming his role of the aggressor. It worked well for him at fight’s start, but would ultimately prove to be his downfall. Diaz repeatedly charged forward, but it was Marquez’ combination punching that proved to be the overwhelming difference.

The beginning of the end came when an uppercut froze Diaz in his tracks with about 45 seconds left in the round. Marquez hesitated on a left hook, and instead threw a 1-2 upstairs, followed by another uppercut that led to the bout’s first knockdown.

Diaz took an eight count from referee Rafael Ramos, whose presence was hardly noticed for much of the fight. He would be needed moments later, when Diaz was overwhelmed by a body attack and the mother of all right uppercuts to flatten him. No count was needed, as the fight was waved off the moment his head slammed against the canvas.

The official time was 2:40 of round nine.

Critical Results

Using a formula inspired by the college football BCS, quarterly divisional ratings have been compiled at Boxing Scene since the beginning of the year.  These are the critical results from the month of February with the pending March schedule for contenders and champions schedule thrown in for good measure.  Full ratings can be found at: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings

Heavyweight (201 lbs. – Unlimited)

02/07: #3 Ruslan Chagaev (25-0-1, 17 KO, WBA) TD6 Carl Drummond (26-1, 20 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/21: #2 Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KO, WBC) vs. #10 Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KO)

03/27: #5 Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KO) vs. Eddie Chambers (33-1, 18 KO)

Cruiserweight (176-200 lbs.)

02/27: World Champion Tomasz Adamek (37-1, 25 KO, Lineal/Ring/IBF) TKO8 Johnathon Banks (20-1, 14 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/14: #7 Enzo Maccarinelli (29-2, 22 KO) vs. Ola Afolabi (13-1-3, 5 KO)

Light Heavyweight (169-175 lbs.)

02/06: Yusuf Mack (27-2-2, 16 KO) SD12 #10 Chris Henry (23-2, 18 KO)

02/14: #9 Clinton Woods (42-4-1, 24 KO) UD12 Elvir Muriqi (35-5, 22 KO)

02/27: #4 Glen Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KO) UD10 Daniel Judah (23-4-3, 10 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/21: #8 Roy Jones Jr. (52-5, 38 KO) vs. Omar Sheika (27-8, 18 KO)

Super Middleweight (161-168 lbs.)

02/06: #10 Andre Ward (18-0, 12 KO) UD10 Henry Buchanan (17-2, 12 KO)

02/11: #6 Anthony Mundine (34-4, 23 KO) UD12 Shannan Taylor (48-7-3, 34 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/13: #2 Lucian Bute (23-0, 18 KO, IBF) vs. Fulgencio Zuniga (22-3-1, 19 KO)

03/28: #9 Andre Dirrell (17-0, 12 KO) vs. David Banks (18-4-1, 3 KO)

Middleweight (155-160 lbs.)

02/21: World Champion Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO, Lineal/Ring/WBC/WBO) RTD9 #4 Marco Antonio Rubio (43-5-1, 37 KO)

02/21: #9 John Duddy (26-0, 17 KO) UD10 Matt Vanda (39-9, 22 KO)

02/28: #5 Sebastian Sylvester (30-3, 15 KO) KO7 Gaetano Nespro (14-5, 2 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/14: #1 Arthur Abraham (28-0, 23 KO) vs. Lujuan Simon (21-0-2, 12 KO)

03/21: #6 Javier Castillejo (62-8, 42 KO) vs. Pablo Navascues (23-1, 16 KO)

Jr. Middleweight (148-154 lbs.)

02/14: #6 Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KO, WBC interim) D12 #9 Welterweight Kermit Cintron (30-2-1, 27 KO)

02/14: #10 Alfredo Angulo (15-0, 12 KO) TKO5 Cosme Rivera (31-12-2, 22 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/07: #7 James Kirkland (24-0, 21 KO) vs. Joel Julio (34-2, 31 KO)

Welterweight (141-147 lbs.)

02/21: #2 Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KO) TKO5 Michael Jennings (34-2, 16 KO); vacant WBO title

No BoxingScene scheduled fighters scheduled to compete in March.

Jr. Welterweight (136-140 lbs.)

02/07: #3 Andriy Kotelnik (31-2-1, 13 KO, WBA) SD12 #8 Marcos Maidana (25-1, 24 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/20: #4 Junior Witter (37-2-2, 22 KO) vs. Gianluca Branco (42-2-1, 22 KO)

Lightweight (131-135 lbs.)

02/14: #2 Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KO, WBA/IBF/WBO) MD12 #8 Ali Funeka (30-2-2, 25 KO); Campbell missed weight – stripped of titles

02/28: World Champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KO, Lineal/Ring) TKO9 Juan Diaz (34-2, 17 KO); also for vacant WBA and WBO belts

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in March.

Jr. Lightweight (127-130 lbs.)

No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in February.

Scheduled for March

03/07: #10 Robert Guerrero (23-1-1, 16 KO) vs. Daud Yordan (23-0, 17 KO)

03/14: #3 Nicky Cook (29-1, 16 KO, WBO) vs. #6 Roman Martinez (21-0-1, 12 KO)

03/28: #1 Humberto Soto (46-7-2, 29 KO, WBC) vs. Antonio Davis (26-4, 13 KO)

Featherweight (123-126 lbs.)

02/14: #3 Cristobal Cruz (38-11-1, 23 KO) UD12 Cyril Thomas (33-3-4, 10 KO)

02/20: #7 Yuriorkis Gamboa (14-0, 12 KO) KO1 Walter Estrada (35-9, 24 KO)

02/28: #1 Chris John (42-0-2, 22 KO, WBA) D12 #5 Jr. Lightweight Rocky Juarez (28-4-1, 20 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/21: #9 Orlando Salido (31-10-2, 20 KO) vs. Eloy Perez (12-0-2, 2 KO)

Jr. Featherweight (119-122 lbs.)

02/21: #10 Rendall Munroe (18-1, 8 KO) UD12 Kiko Martinez (20-2, 15 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/20: #1 Celestino Caballero (31-2, 22 KO, WBA/IBF) vs. Jeffrey Mathebula (22-1-2, 12 KO)

Bantamweight (116-118 lbs.)

No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in February.

Scheduled for March

03/12: #1 Hozumi Hasegawa (25-2, 9 KO, WBC) vs. Vusi Malinga (18-2-1, 11 KO)

03/14: #5 Jr. Bantamweight Cristian Mijares (36-4-2, 15 KO) vs. Nehomar Cermeno (16-0, 10 KO); interim WBA belt

03/28: #2 Jr. Bantamweight Fernando Montiel (38-2-1, 28 KO, WBO) vs. Diego Silva (24-1-3, 12 KO); interim WBO belt

Jr. Bantamweight (113-115 lbs.)

02/07: #1 Vic Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KO, WBC/WBA/IBF) RTD11 #6 Jorge Arce (51-5-1, 39 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/14: #8 Z Gorres (25-2-2, 15 KO) vs. Roberto Leyva (25-8-1, 20 KO)

03/24: #9 Roberto Vasquez (27-2, 20 KO) vs. #6 Junior Flyweight Hugo Cazares (27-5-1, 20 KO)

Flyweight (109-112 lbs.)

02/07: #3 Omar Narvaez (29-0-2, 18 KO, WBO) TKO10 #9 Rayonta Whitfield (22-1, 11 KO)

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in March

Jr. Flyweight (106-108 lbs.)

No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in February.

Scheduled for March

03/13: #5 Juan Carlos Reveco (19-1, 10 KO) vs. Wilson Simao (11-0, 8 KO)

03/14: #3 Cesar Canchila (27-1, 21 KO, WBA interim) vs. #7 Giovanni Segura (19-1-1, 15 KO)

Strawweight (105 lbs.)

02/28: #1 Roman Gonzalez (23-0, 20 KO, WBA) MD12 Francisco Rosas (20-6-2, 12 KO)

02/28: #4 Donnie Nietes (24-1-3, 14 KO, WBO) UD12 Erik Ramirez (25-6-1, 19 KO)

Scheduled for March

03/14: #10 Muhammad Rachman (62-6-5, 31 KO) vs. Milan Melindo (17-0, 5 KO)

03/21: #3 Raul Garcia (25-0, 15 KO) vs. Ronald Barrera (26-5-1, 16 KO)

03/27: #8 Yasutaka Kuroki (20-3, 14 KO) vs. Junichiro Kaneda (19-3, 12 KO)

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com