By Jake Donovan

Last weekend’s edition of HBO’s Championship Boxing was just the latest in a fall schedule flooded with golden oldies. Shane Mosley’s last second knockout of Ricardo Mayorga is and will remain for the time being best remembered for its sudden ending. But beyond that, the general consensus was that both fighters need to call it a career.

The sad truth is, neither fighter will – nor will the networks allow it, at least in the immediate future. The same faded stars are being recycled as the sport struggles to find the top stars today that can properly bridge the gap between yesterday and tomorrow.

That’s the bad, and perhaps very depressing, news.

The good news is that this weekend plays host to three cards that go against the modern-day template. On Friday and Saturday night, the sport changes the dial from the oldies station to something a lot more contemporary.

Telefutura kicks off the leaders of the new school festivities with a doubleheader headlined by Mike Alvarado, a red-hot junior welterweight rapidly shaking the prospect label and steamrolling toward contender status. Friday night’s main event is less about who’s sharing the ring with Alvarado (Manuel Garnica) than where the ring is set up.

A Thornton (CO) native, Alvarado returns to his home state for the first time since 2004 and only the third time in his career when Solo Boxeo Tecate sets up camp in Denver (Friday, 8PM ET/PT). The fight marks his fourth ring appearance in 2008, and first since a high-profile showcase on the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto pay-per-view undercard this past July, where he easily dispatched badly faded former lightweight titlist Cesar Bazan inside of four rounds.

The fight was a bit of a step back considering his prior opponents this year – Michel Rosales and Jesus “Chuy” Rodriguez, both on Telefutura, and both of whom are solid tests on the prospect level. Alvarado struggled a bit with Rodriguez but still got the well-earned win, but had far less difficulties in getting rid of Rosales in an entertaining, albeit one-sided, beatdown.

Garnica is more of a lateral move than anything else, but it keeps Alvarado busy, and most likely in a fight where he winds up looking good.

The evening’s co-feature is less of a guarantee, as it offers undefeated featherweight Brandon Rios against divisional trialhorse Manuel Perez.

Not unlike his other Oxnard (CA) counterparts Victor Ortiz, Fernando Vargas and Roberto “Grandpa” Garcia, Rios hits hard but also not hard to hit. Also like the aforementioned, his inability to dodge a punch isn’t a good thing in terms of progression; he’s already seen a few trips to the canvas in his young career, hardly a ringing endorsement considering his relatively thin resume to date.

His chin shouldn’t get much of a workout on Friday – Perez only boasts two knockouts in 16 fights. But what the Mexican brings to the table is his ability to remain upright from bell-to-bell. He’s never been stopped, though often falling short when stepping up in competition.

The Telefutura telecast is scheduled to sign off at 10PM ET, but that won’t be the end of your boxing evening. One hour later, Showtime’s prospect-based Shobox series takes it up a notch, which is saying something considering their already-lofty standards.

It’s well-documented by now that rising young talent rolling through the Shobox circuit will be matched considerably tougher than on other outlets. This Friday goes beyond that, with no true A-Side and B-side in the main event or co-feature, which takes place in Salisbury, MD (Friday, Showtime, 11PM ET/PT).

Tim Coleman and Fernando Guerrero enjoy hometown advantage, but it’s probably the only edge they get in a night where every fighter on the telecast boasts an undefeated record.

The 24-year old Coleman (14-0, 3KO) is perhaps among the sport’s best kept secrets, with his all of his young career spent off camera and almost exclusively in the Baltimore region. That changes this weekend, when he meets the more polished James de la Rosa (17-0, 12KO) in the evening’s headliner.

De la Rosa is a little more familiar with the cameras and bright lights. The younger – and more talented – brother of former Contender entrant Juan de la Rosa, James fights for the fourth time in 2008, all of which have made their way to a television screen.

Two appearances on Telefutura, both of which ended in knockouts, were followed up by a June ESPN2 showcase where he pitched a shutout over Troy Wilson in Scranton, PA. The fight lasting the distance was the closest you can claim to be a negative on the night for de la Rosa, who had knocked out five straight heading into the fight.

It could be argued that Coleman is the best opponent in his young career; there’s no such debate in the other direction – de la Rosa is a quantum leap in competition for the Charm City boxer.

Ferocious punching middleweight Fernando Guerrero (9-0, 9KO) also takes a big step up this weekend, when he meets unbeaten Pittsburgh native Tyrone Watson (7-0, 3KO) in the evening’s co-feature.

Guerrero, a former national amateur champion, has been brought along in the mid-south region, under the careful watch of Prize Fight Boxing. The Dominican southpaw has appeared on the non-televised undercard portion of shows that have aired on ESPN2 and HBO, but this will be his first in front of the camera.

If bout number 10 goes anything like his previous nine, boxing fans won’t be disappointed – though they may want to grab a beverage, go to the bathroom, or do whatever you have to do before settling in for the evening. Guerrero often fights like a man that’s double-parked, with his nine career fights lasting a total of just 18 rounds.

What he lacks for the moment, is a win over anyone worth talking about. Watson, if nothing else, has accomplished that much. Unheralded for the most part, the Pittsburgh-based super middleweight pulled off a minor upset two years ago, outpointing Stephan Pryor on the undercard of a show headlined by Mike Tyson’s exhibition match with Corey “T-Rex” Sanders.

A win over previously unbeasten Dyah Davis a few months later lent the suggestion that Watson was either for real or one hell of a spoiler. Only he never gave the industry a chance to further investigate; Friday’s fight will be his first in 15 months. Not to say that a win isn’t out of the question, but having Fernando Guerrero be the first fighter in over a year to competitively punch you for pay can’t be a good thing.

Speaking of good things, HBO’s Boxing After Dark caps the youthful surge this weekend with another installment of “Night of the Rising Stars” (Saturday, Temecula, CA, 10:05PM ET/PT).

The idea was to bring back the same three fighters that emerged victorious from the May edition. Undefeated junior middleweight James Kirkland turned it into a double date after abruptly splitting from promoter Gary Shaw earlier this summer. Nevertheless, boxing fans are still treated to the next step in the careers of Alfredo Angulo and Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Angulo (13-0, 10KO) and Kirkland have been playing “see you, raise you” ever since appearing on the same card last June. The two scored impressive first round knockouts on separate legs of a Shobox doubleheader last November. Kirkland climbed off of the canvas seconds into the fight to rally back and stop Allen Conyers later in the opening round, one of the best rounds of 2007. Angulo had a far less difficult night, one that lasted only half as long, tearing through Archak TerMeliksetian in just over a minute.

Kirkland got the upper hand this past May, getting rid of Eromosele Albert inside of a round to kick off the HBO tripleheader. Angulo was extended past the fourth round for just the second time in his young career, eventually stopping Richar Guttierez in the fifth round of the evening’s co-feature.
 
The show was headlined by the man regarded as perhaps the very best prospect in the sport, former Olympic gold medalist and Cuban defect, undefeated featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa.

His aura of invincibility took a bit of a hit, suffering a knockdown and looking confused and sluggish at times in a rather non-descript decision win over Darling Jimenez. The win ended an eight-fight knockout streak, all within eight months. Gamboa made up for it in his next fight, stopping late sub Al Seeger in the opening round just two months later.

The last time Angulo has been extended the distance came in March 2006, well over a year before Gamboa even turned pro. It’s been nine straight early exits for the free-swinging Mexican heading into this weekend, one where a knockout isn’t quite as guaranteed as he’s paired up against Andrey Tsurkan.

Standing in the opposite corner of Gamboa is the man who was supposed to appear in May, fellow unbeaten featherweight Marcos Ramirez (25-0, 16KO). For whatever reason, the Kansas City native opted to pull out of the fight.

In accepting assignment for this weekend, Ramirez will be coming off of a 16-month layoff. Saturday’s collision with Gamboa marks just his second nationally televised fight, but perhaps more importantly, his first ever appearance outside of the Midwestern circuit.  

For the first time in over a month, boxing appears to think outside of the box. With the rest of the year’s schedule overly dependent on the stars of yesterday, boxing fans get to enjoy a weekend where the sport finally goes back to the future.

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