By Cliff Rold

In an era when the best fighters in the world can be considered highly active if they make it to the ring a total of four times, every result is amplified.  A single dominant win and talk turns to where a fighter rates on the pound for pound list; a single loss and HBO can become ESPN2, at least for a while.

Enter one Edison Miranda (29-2, 25 KO), Colombian power puncher residing in Puerto Rico.

A year ago, Miranda was the hottest commodity in the American middleweight market. His lone loss up to then had come in a September 2006 fight that had been heard of by many, if not seen by the same, as a highly controversial affair with German-based Arthur Abraham.  In the fights U.S. viewers were actually seeing, Miranda was steamrolling solid opponents like Howard Eastman, Willie Gibbs and an undefeated Allan Green.

Enter one Kelly Pavlik, one May 2007 knockout defeat and enter one dramatic cooling period.

This Friday night, on ESPN2, Miranda makes his second start since the Pavlik loss in his new domain of Super Middleweight.  He’ll take on Contender Season Three alum David Banks (15-3-1, 2 KO) in a fight he should win.  His handlers are probably looking for even more than that.  They’re going to be looking for a sensational knockout for their charge and they’ll probably get it.  Making a cold fighter hot isn’t rocket science, especially when they can punch.  One highlight reel knockout is the entire spark needed. 

Hit the flint right and a Miranda who got lost in the shuffle quickly after the Pavlik loss will find himself quickly moving back to the top of the deck.  It’s Miranda’s greatest advantage, because while single losses hurt more today than in many previous eras, punchers can always get another chance.  For Edison Miranda, still only 27, losing isn’t everything as long as he can return with thunderous results.

He’s not the first fighter in this boat.  Two decades ago, another fighter caught fire with fans because of the heat he brought in the ring.  English Middleweight Nigel Benn birthed his career with 22 consecutive wins by knockout from January 1987 to May 1989.  As was the case for Miranda, May turned out to be a bad month for big tests as Benn had the knockout tables turned on him by the very professional Michael Watson in six rounds on NBC (the network; yes Virginia, there used to be fights on network TV).

Benn did then what Miranda is doing now.  He took a few fights with game but beatable guys, scored some knockouts, and got back in the money.  An ABC-televised epic in 1990 with Doug DeWitt was followed on the same network by a scintillating one-round war with Iran Barkley before Benn headed back home to defeat against fellow countryman Chris Eubank in a lost classic. 

And so it went for most of the rest of his career.  Benn moved up in weight and won more than he lost, including a victory in perhaps the greatest fight ever waged at 168 lbs. against Gerald McClellan in 1995.  Win or lose, he always thrilled and kept himself viable.  At his best, Benn was loss proof (at least in the British market).

Miranda’s concern won’t be the British market.  Being loss proof in the American market is a bit more parochial and a status that only few attain.  Not surprisingly, the fighters that pull it off provide bang for the buck.

Prior to my own dramatic emergence as a zygote, loss proof was a great way to describe one Earnie Shavers.  The Acorn, as Muhammad Ali referred to him, was more than bang.  When Shavers caught a foe with his right hand, nuclear reactions often occurred.  Shavers overcame a first round defeat to Jerry Quarry in 1973 and a sixth round stoppage loss to Ron Lyle in 1975 to garner a memorable shot at then-Heavyweight champion Ali in 1977.  He would later garner another unforgettable title shot in 1979, dropping Larry Holmes with a rocket in the seventh before succumbing in 11 rounds.

Had Shavers been a cutie, a dancing master as the old fight films often opined, the losses to Quarry and Lyle might have been fatal setbacks.  Instead, his power and the unpredictability of every second of a Shavers fight meant that matchmakers and TV people didn’t shy away from bringing him back. 

More recent vintage brings Arturo Gatti to mind, a fighter so dramatic that the name Gatti will likely be invoked as an adjective to describe action fights for the rest of the 21st century.  Gatti survived three straight losses to Ivan Robinson (twice) and Angel Manfredy and, later in his career, brutal losses to Oscar De la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, all the while remaining one of the great gate attractions of the last decade.  That’s how powerful the impressions of his bouts were. 

Miranda obviously doesn’t keep this sort of company just yet but a spectacular win over Banks could set up the sort of fight that gets him closer.  Sharing the “Deuce” bill with him this week is undefeated, Canadian-based, Haitian Jean Pascal (20-0, 14 KO).  Pascal is beginning to knock on the contender door in the division and will be in with, like Miranda, a presumably beatable foe in Omar Pittman (15-3, 8 KO). 

This doubleheader supposedly serves as a commercial of sorts for a showdown later this year between Miranda and Pascal.  Pascal, a wild swinging all-action sort, doesn’t have the power of his Colombian rival does but he also doesn’t seem shy about taking a few to land a few more.  Miranda-Pascal is can’t miss entertainment.

For Miranda, that factor will be his strongest ally.  Losses to Abraham and Pavlik exposed what was already suspected.  His skill set is limited, making him akin to most power punchers.  Of the previous fighters cited, Mirand’s situation, style and results might be closest to Benn’s.  Miranda has proven he can lose but has also proven, as Benn did, that getting him to the “L” is no easy task. 

In fact, Miranda’s resume says that anyone who writes him off based on the Pavlik loss is a daring man.  Pavlik, off of a powerful 2007 that ended with his capturing the World Middleweight championship, is turning out to be an exceptional fighter with the potential to be an exceptional champion and star.  Losing to Pavlik is not a sin. 

Pundit ratings throughout the sport reflect that Abraham is the most dangerous threat to Pavlik; Miranda was competitive with Abraham throughout the night regardless of how one scored the bout.  The Green win?  Less than a year ago. 

Altogether, Miranda is a DeWitt or Barkley-type fight away from being the talk of the town again.  Begin with hitting Banks in a way people want to remember and Pascal could provide that foil later this year.

Cliff Notes…

Everyday readers of BoxingScene (and that should be everyone in my estimation, even Golf fans) might have noticed that my work load has fattened a little here on the site.  With that in mind, what is usually the notes section is getting spread out and expanded.  Here’s a glance at some of my takes from the last week, with notes on the following fights and potential fights:

Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. 

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