By Cliff Rold
It’s not boxing’s oldest weight class, though its history goes back farther than one might think.
The modern incarnation of the 122 lb. weight class was born under the auspices of the WBC in the mid-1970s, shortly thereafter joined by the WBA. An earlier incarnation existed for a flicker in the early 1920s but didn’t last long. Like most of the ‘junior’ classes, Jr. featherweight (or super bantamweight if that makes one think it’s somehow bigger than 122 lbs.) had to earn its place as a weight class people gave a damn about.
Wilfredo Gomez took care of that.
Next Saturday, in the best match so far of 2016, the eyes of the boxing world will be giving a very excited damn. On February 27th, Northern Ireland’s IBF titlist Carl Frampton (21-0, 14 KO) takes on England’s WBA titlist Scott Quigg (31-0-2, 23 KO). Fight fans are hoping for a great fight and all the ingredients are there.
Being at 122 lbs. is just one of them. Historically, that’s been a good sign.
Since 1976, Jr. featherweight has produced some of the greatest action of any weight division. Gomez was a powerful foundation, his battles with Carlos Zarate and Lupe Pintor an establishment of bloody tradition. Even if one thinks no one has ever been as good as Gomez in class, a reasonable argument, it was still the foundation.
The decades that followed Gomez didn’t lack for memories. There haven’t been as many in the last few years.
Nonito Donaire’s arrival in the class was supposed to be a jolt of star power but the big knockout puncher didn’t bring as much sizzle as hoped for. His fights with Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Jeffrey Mathebula, and Toshikai Nishioka were all decent boxing matches but it would be hard to remember much about any of them without trying hard. Donaire’s most thrilling clash at 122 came only last year in a savage brawl with Cesar Juarez that may be a sign he’s nearing his end.
The end of his run at the top of the class had come long before.
Donaire’s anticipated unification rumble with Guillermo Rigondeaux turned into more of a one-sided master class for the Cuban. Scores were close. The fight wasn’t. And while it was certainly interesting to watch, Rigondeaux-Donaire wasn’t a moment that etched itself in the Jr. featherweight pantheon.
Quigg-Frampton might be.
While both have acknowledged, rightly, that Rigondeaux is the “man” in the division, theirs is the sort of battle that has made 122 lbs. so worth our time. For as brilliant and skilled as Rigondeuax might be, he’s never been a good fit in the marketplace for a class so rich with action warriors.
This is the weight class where Juan Meza and Jamie Garza had the damndest one-round war one could ever see. It’s where Daniel Zaragoza and Paul Banke traded pain, and wins, in a memorable three-fight series. It’s the class where Jeff Fenech, one of the great action fighters ever to lace them up, won the second of were ultimately three divisional titles.
It’s also where the most thrilling trilogy of title fights in the entire decade of the 2000s took place. This week as part of Showtime’s 30th Anniversary collection, they are re-airing the first two battles between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. Next week, they’ll show the third. Vazquez was no stranger to wars at 122 lbs. His second fight with Oscar Larios, the only one of their three he lost, and battle with Jhonny Gonzalez also came in the division.
It was the series with Marquez that may eventually place him in the Hall of Fame. Two of their battles won Fight of the Year. So too, in the 2000s, did an epic WBA title fight between Mahyar Monshipour and Somsak Sithchatchawal.
And of course it’s the class that launched a few dozen college funds by way of three of the biggest little stars boxing ever produced. Manny Pacquiao made his US arrival at 122 lbs. filling the void that was left when Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales moved up the scale. Pacquiao would eventually catch them in higher weight classes.
Barrera and Morales made the division theirs for several years before Pacquiao got there.
Tied to the birth of “Boxing After Dark,” Barrera and Morales were joined by a cast that included Junior Jones, Wilfredo Vazquez Sr., Orlando Canizales, an aging Zaragoza, Wayne McCullough, and Kennedy McKinney. They didn’t all fight each other but from the mid-90s and into the early 2000s fans were treated to a series of memorable clashes that redefined the stage for the division.
It culminated in 2000 with the first clash of Barrera and Morales. They would later fight again at 126 and 130 lbs. but most would say they were never more violent than the first time around.
Quigg and Frampton might have to beat Rigondeaux some day to carve their place as today’s best in class but next Saturday that’s not what this fight is chasing. This fight, which even the most cynical fan can look to with highest hopes, is a chance to reclaim the mantle of action central for the Jr. featherweights.
Gomez-Pintor.
Morales-Barrera.
Vazquez-Marquez.
Frampton-Quigg?
We’ll find out if that pairing earns its place in a little more than a week.
Cliff’s Notes…
Gennady Golovkin says, until recently, he didn’t even know who Dominic Wade was. No worries. Very few people did…Errol Spence-Chris Algieri is a good test of where Spence is and, more important, where he might be headed…If you’re not watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you’re missing arguably the funniest show on television…It’s the Walking Dead of TV comedy, and welcome back zombies by the way. What a return for that show…Roman Gonzalez doesn’t have the toughest potential foe but McWilliams Arroyo is a real foe and challenge. He’s also the third straight opponent ranked in the top ten by TBRB and Ring. Look through the list of titlists and champions in the sport. That sort of consistency isn’t all too common. It should be…Anthony Joshua-Charles Martin is the latest piece to fall into place as a new heavyweight era unfolds. It’s fun times for the big men.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
