By Jake Donovan
A rare twist is offered in this week's installment of Telefutura's Solo Boxeo Tecate series, as the co-feature battle beats greater future significance than its main event. Whatever the case, both bouts figure to be competitive and entertaining, with the doubleheader airing live from Juncos, Puerto Rico (Friday, 8PM ET).
It's the return of an old friend in the main event, as Henry "El Nitro" Bruseles returns to the Telefutura circuit for the 4th time in his past five bouts when he faces Robert Frankel in a welterweight bout scheduled for ten rounds or less.
This weekend's bout will be Bruseles' fifth straight in his homeland of Puerto Rico, but his first fight in over a year. The last time we saw Bruseles (25-3-1, 14KO) was January 2007, when he went through the motions in an otherwise lopsided decision against old nemesis and countryman Wilfredo Negron. The bout was nowhere near on the level of their first match in February 2004, also on Telefutura, featuring multiple knockdowns and momentum shifts before Bruseles took over for good midway through and closed the deal in the 7th round.
Bruseles' performance that night was good enough to have promoter Top Rank sell HBO on the prospect of a match-up with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in January 2005. The speculation heading in was that the bout was merely means for Miguel Cotto, who at the time employed Bruseles as his chief sparring partner, to scout Mayweather for a potential future fight. Whatever the case, Bruseles received a career-high payday and the chance to appear on HBO, though thoroughly dominated in eight one-sided rounds against the pound-for-pound king.
Though not expected to win or even figure to be competitive, the bout appeared to take its toll on Bruseles, who hasn't since fought with the same intensity. He is 4-0 post-Mayweather, but against opponents severely on the slide. An intended April showcase against Cesar Bazan turned out to be much tougher than expected, with Bruseles dropped early in the fight and forced to dig deep to pull out a close win.
Nine months later came the Negron rematch, followed by an inactive period of a little over a year heading into this weekend.
Conversely, Frankel (21-7-1, 4KO) appears to be at the pinnacle of his career, and remaining as active as he was in his rookie days.
The past formula for the Denver-based journeyman was commonplace for the club circuit – have your manager or promoter build up your record against stiffs before pimping you out against the sport's upper echelon of fighters. But things changed for the better in December 2005 when, even in defeat, Frankel proved he was no gimme. Dmitriy Salita learned this lesson the hard way, as he hit the deck early before fighting back enough to steal a hometown decision in a fight most ringside observers scored for the away team.
Frankel is 9-2-1 (3KO) since then, with both losses coming in close contests, including his giving undefeated David Torres all he could handle before once again falling short in an opponent's backyard. He enters this fight unbeaten through his last four, including upset wins over former Contender contestant Michael Stewart and previously unbeaten Mike Gonzalez, easily the two biggest wins of his career.
It was a perfect ending to a busy 2007 campaign, where Frankel fought six times. It's also enough to sell a once-perceived tune-up as a pick-'em bout, with a strong chance of an upset. Bruseles will need to shake free the mindset that a win is guaranteed so long as he shows up on time. While the fight is Frankel's first in Puerto Rico (and outside of the U.S.), he's well versed in the role of road warrior – and one who now knows what it's like to stand in the winner's circle at night's end.
One fighter looking to return to having his hand raised in victory is Mario Santiago, who appears in the televised opener against featherweight trialhorse Edel Ruiz.
Santiago (18-1, 13KO) is coming off of the first loss of his professional career, a 10th round technical decision against Hector Velasquez last summer. The loss perfectly accentuates the difficulties Santiago has been forced to overcome as a professional, despite being well connected early and presently in his career.
A former amateur standout, Santiago turned pro early in 2001, after falling short in the Olympic Trials a year prior. He signed a promotional deal with Don King while serving under the tutelage of Felix Trinidad, Sr - a solid enough support system, only the well ran dry after Felix "Tito" Trinidad Jr decided to call it a career in mid-2002. In one fell swoop, Santiago was left without a manager, trainer or promoter – and for well over a year, a scheduled next fight.
Things changed in 2004, when the Puerto Rican southpaw signed with Gary Shaw Productions. Santiago made up for lost time, fighting seven times that year, before signing a managerial pact with Evangelista Cotto the following year.
Santiago has received play on Telefutura, and Showtime's ShoBox series, but at age 28 and seven years as a pro remains an extended prospect. Coupled with his upset loss to Velasquez six months, Santiago now finds himself in a situation where he needs to make something happen sooner than later. Not exactly riding a wave of momentum, he could stand to have received a safer comeback assignment than Edel Ruiz (29-18-4, 20KO), who's much tougher than his unspectacular record would suggest.
Ruiz doesn't win much, but rare is the occasion where he is overwhelmed. The durable Mexican gave Jason Litzau all that he could handle before falling short on the scorecards. The loss was Ruiz' 6th in his last nine fights, though in that mix is an upset 5th round KO win over previously unbeaten Marcos Jimenez in Ruiz' lone other trip to La Isla de Encanta last summer.
A win Friday night goes a long way for Santiago, who makes his run at a time when the featherweight division has once again come to life. The weight class took a tremendous hit following the departure of Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in recent years, but has been resuscitated thanks to new blood finding their way to the top. But before Santiago can even think of competing with the likes of Robert Guerrero, Jorge Linares and now elder statesmen Chris John, he needs to return to his winning ways.
Both bouts top a nine-fight card presented by Top Rank, Inc, Promociones Miguel Cotto and H2 Entertainment.
Weights from Juncos, PR (courtesy of Lee Samuels and Ricardo Jimenez, Top Rank):
Main Event – 10 rounds, welterweights:
Henry Bruseles, 144 vs. Robert Frankel, 146
Co-Feature – 10 rounds, featherweights:
Mario Santiago, 125 ¼ vs. Edel Ruiz, 126 ¼
Preliminary bouts:
Carlos Silva, 131¼ vs. Albert Cruz, 128 – 4 rounds, Super Featherweight
Christian Reyes, 134 ½ vs. Javier Garcia, 135 - 6 Rounds, Lightweight
Luis Rodriguez, 128 vs. Esteban Rodriguez, 128 - 4 Rounds, Super Featherweight
Victor Bisbal, 250 vs. William Cook, 278 – 6 rounds, Heavyweight
Jesus Rojas, 124 ½ vs. TBA – 6 rounds, Featherweight
Jason Velez, 123 ¼ vs. Edwin Torres, 125 ¼ – 4 Rounds Super Bantamweights 124lb
Luis Cruz, 125 vs. Javier Ortiz, 123 ½ – 6 Rounds, Featherweight
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His feature column runs every Tuesday, and his Prospect of the Week series runs every Thursday. Jake is also BoxingScene's official Telefutura correspondent.
Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
