BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of the Week
by Cliff Rold
This scribe has been accused of his biases over the years. Among the most prevalent is affection for action in the smallest divisions. That affection has root moments, the most memorable of which took place on March 13, 1993.
On that night, with Oscar De la Hoya on the undercard scoring his fifth win and knockout against Jeff Mayweather, 1988 U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist and IBF Jr. Flyweight titlist Michael Carbajal stepped in for the fight which seemed to have been building since the day he turned pro. Across the ring was Mexico’s Humberto Gonzalez, 36-1 and holding the WBC crown.
It didn’t matter that they weighed only 108 lbs. They fought like Heavyweights, Carbajal coming off the deck twice to score a brutal seventh round knockout. It would be honored as the Fight of the Year and ingrained in this mind an important point.
Great fights, and fighters, are not determined by size and it’s worth the extra effort to make sure the little men have eyes. It shouldn’t take much to figure out what leads this picks of the week.
Pick It: World Champion Ivan Calderon vs. #1 Giovanni Segura (Saturday, PPV, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST)
This isn’t the first unification contest at 108 lbs. since Carbajal-Gonzalez I. Rosendo Alvarez and Victor Burgos fought to an entertaining but forgotten draw in 2003. Let’s hope this Saturday is more of the former than the latter. On paper, it could go a lot of ways. Styles make fights, and this is a style clash.
Calderon (34-0-1, 6 KO), 35, was a 2000 Olympian and has been a master at both 105 and now 108 lbs. Holding the WBO and Ring titles, there are indications he is slowing down and that makes the 28-year old WBA titlist Segura (24-1, 20 KO) as live as he could ever be. With a four inch height advantage, Segura is going to be pursuing from on high.
Was the whole Puerto Rico-Mexico angle mentioned? Calderon will have the home court in Puerto Rico and Segura brings a fighter-trainer connection to the same Javier Capetillo who was caught trying to load the gloves of Antonio Margarito. This was but one fight after Margarito battered Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto. The crowd will make their awareness known.
It may turn out Calderon is still too slick when he brings his A-game. It could also turn into a longer version of his late round fight for survival against Mexico’s Hugo Cazares a few years ago. It’s worth every penny to find out.
Pick UFC: James Toney-Randy Couture (Saturday, PPV, 9 PM EST/6 PM PST)
Worth every penny may or may not apply to a UFC card going off at the same time. Personally, this is a result better left read in this corner but it would be unfair to ignore it altogether.
Boxing’s former Middleweight, Super Middleweight and Cruiserweight king James Toney (72-6-3, 44 KO) was a Hall of Famer in the sweet science. “Was” is the operative word. Now 41, Toney’s days as a world class boxer are fairly believed to be behind him. Now he’ll follow some fellow pugilists also past their sell-by date and test the waters of other fighting disciplines. Frans Botha, Shannon Briggs, and Ray Mercer are among those who have tried before him.
Briggs won a single Kickboxing match. Botha won only four of fifteen kickboxing contests and was submitted in a mixed martial arts affair (MMA). Mercer had a mixed bag, losing twice in kickboxing affairs but posting a win which can give Toney hope.
Toney isn’t stepping into the world of UFC with a softie after all. Toney will go heads up with UFC and MMA legend (and member of “The Expendables”) Randy Couture (18-10, 7 KO, 3 Sub). While 47 now, Couture has won two in a row and remains among the best in his field. Toney should lose, but…
Mercer, at near 50 years of age, stepped in with a Tim Sylvia only three fights removed from losing the UFC Heavyweight title and iced him in nine seconds in 2009. Toney was always a capable puncher and, in four ounce gloves, what happens if he connects before Couture can get hands on him? Toney-Couture carries the whiff of a sideshow, but there is also at least an aroma of intrigue behind it. Boxing fans caught up in memories of what Toney was in the ring may not be able to resist the lure of the cage.
Pick Club: Fight Night Club (Thursday, Fox/RingTV.com, 11:00 PM EST)
Back in the land of pugilism, Golden Boy’s latest prospect spotlight show kicks of Thursday with the best of the 2008 Olympians back in action. 22-year old Featherweight Gary Russell Jr. (11-0, 8 KO) is only a month removed from his first round walk of faded former titlist Mauricio Pastrana and will be featured. That’s reason enough to tune in.
Back in seven.
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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