By Cliff Rold

For the second week in a row, three major titles in a single weight class will be on the line in a single fight.  Unlike last week, most can’t be sure just what the danger to the titlist will be.  Darchinyan-Arce featured two men well known to the bulk of the U.S. Boxing public.  The best fight of this week features one well known name and another only recently heard of and not much seen. 

These are picks of the week.

Pick It: Nate Campbell-Ali Funeka (HBO, Saturday 10 PM EST/PST)

Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KO) is the known commodity.  His dramatic upset of Juan Diaz in March 2008 was the banner moment of the 36-year old warrior’s career so far.  It allowed him to grab the WBA, IBF and WBO Lightweight titles (the WBA belt has since been vacated) and create a dramatic argument against the notion of Ring Magazine’s title truly representing the division’s best man.  Funeka (30-1-2, 25 KO) is the unknown.  He earned this IBF mandatory with a stunning and controversial knockout of America’s Zahir Raheem (available on YouTube) and has a loss to former Jr. Lightweight titlist Mzonke Fana.  There’s not much else to go on.  We know this much: both guys can crack.  The winner, particularly if it’s Campbell, will have narrowed eyes on the Lightweight calendar set for the end of this month.  Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz will resolve Ring’s claim to the throne.  The winners of each bout would, in a perfect world, move next towards each other.  Also on this excellent HBO show, revelatory Jr. Middleweight Sergio Martinez follows up in his 2008 destruction of Alex Bunema with a showdown against former Welterweight titlist Kermit Cintron and, who knows, hot prospect Alfredo Angulo might even find an opponent.  This is a serious fight fan’s show and certain must-see TV.

Pick Deuce: Alexis Camacho-Carlos Molina (ESPN2, Friday 9 PM EST/6 PM PST)

It’s hard to say whether the Welterweight Camacho is truly a comer or just fun TV.  The 27-year old lost two fights ago to badly faded former Olympian Terrence Cauthen; not the best sign.  Still, at 17-1 with 16 KO’s, his bout with Molina (14-4-1, 5 KO) should provide ample opportunity for entertainment.  Molina has never been stopped.  There’s another Welterweight who might get some TV time worth tuning in for.  His name is Ray Robinson (9-0, 3 KO).  Only 23, Robinson is a Philadelphia product currently slated to appear against Darnell Jiles (8-0-1, 3 KO).  Anyone named Ray Robinson (and we’d assume not even originally named Walker Smith) is worth a look just in case.

Pick Classic: The Ross-McLarnin Trilogy (ESPN Classic, Wednesday 2 AM EST/Tuesday 11 PM PST)

There’s a lot of talk these days about the Welterweights.  There should be.  In the late hours of mid-week, ESPN Classic re-airs a program which reminds all fight fans that it is nothing new; it has in fact almost always been this way.  From May 28, 1934 to May 28, 1935, a pair of future Hall of Famers in Barney Ross and Jimmy McLarnin would meet three times, all of them classics, and trade a lone World title twice.  If you’ve never had the chance to get a look at these two warriors against each other, this clipped hour highlighting the trilogy comes highly recommended.

Back in seven.

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