BoxingScene.com's Television Picks of the Week
by Cliff Rold
One week after the latest chapter in the Hopkins saga, and oh what a chapter, we get another of recent history’s significant statistical achievers. Omar Narvaez was a Flyweight titlist with double-digit consecutive defenses.
He was no Hopkins.
Narvaez never engaged in a unification fight and only faced a handful of serious top ten contenders. It’s clear the Argentine can fight. What is not clear is where his ceiling is set. He’s going to find out this weekend. In a bit of irony, the man he’s facing is one of his former, fellow, Flyweight champs. They will be joined in action this weekend, a continent or so away, by another of their 112 lb. brethren, one who never left the field.
These are the picks of the week.
Pick It: #1 at 118 Nonito Donaire vs. #3 at 115 Omar Narvaez (Saturday, HBO, 10 PM EST/7 PM PST)
Put aside all the accomplishment blah blah blah. There are fighters that have a greater volume of quality wins for sure. Still, here’s the question: if everyone in boxing were the same size, what fighter would be the most likely to beat any other. The answer might be in the main event this weekend on HBO. Donaire (26-1, 18 KO) is a damn beast, blessed with speed, technique, and power that, at age 28, and closer to absolute prime than almost any of his championship peers. He is the leader of arguably the best division in boxing right now, bantamweight and some business beef is behind him. He returns from February’s nuclear shelling of veteran three-division titlist Fernando Montiel, where he won the WBC and WBO belts at 118 lbs., to face a Narvaez (35-0-2, 19 KO) who enters bearing a WBO belt at 115 lb. after his tenture at 112. Standing four inches shorter than the 5’6 Donaire, this is a tall order for Narvaez (pun clearly intended) but he’s had a career of waiting for the big stage. Who knows what could happen? The only shame here is that it might be Donaire’s end at 118 lbs. It’s a deep class and, beyond Toshiaki Nishioka, there is little to find at 122 lbs. that surpasses what is now at bantamweight.
Pick Fly: World Champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam vs. #5 Edgar Sosa (Friday, Thailand, ?)
A YouTube find for Saturday morning, this lineal Flyweight title clash has been brewing since Sosa (43-6, 26 KO) controversially lost a WBC 108 lb. belt he’d defended ten times. Wonjongkam (82-3-1, 45 KO) is in his second run as WBC and lineal king at 112 lbs. During his first reign, he posted a division record 17 consecutive title defenses. Sosa would make number three in this reign. Both men are getting up in age for Flyweights, the champion 34 and Sosa 32, and both have faced a solid cross section of competition in their tenures. For Wonjongkam, it’s a chance, after last year’s title upset of undefeated Koki Kameda, to add another notable name to a career once short on them but growing in esteem through his longevity. While Sosa may have six losses, it’s important to remember he started his career 12-5. That’s a mark of 31-1 since 2003. Yeah, this is a hell of a match.
Pick Other: Three Other T.V. Shows in the U.S.; Fun Abroad
For those looking for more on the U.S. tube than Donaire, ShoBox (11 PM EST) is up on Friday with Super Middleweight banger Edwin Rodriguez (19-0, 14 KO) facing Will Rosinsky (14-0, 8 KO) while Telefutura (11:30 PM EST) goes with a showcase for Lightweight Omar Figueroa (13-0, 8 KO) against Willie Fall (a.k.a 12-7 Eric Cruz). On Saturday, keep an eye out for results from Germany. #3 Cruiserweight Marco Huck (33-1, 24 KO) attempts defense number 8 of his WBO reign against Rogelio Rossi (17-2-1, 11 KO). That is a likely Sunday YouTube hunt.
It’s an altogether solid week in the ring
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
