By Sammy Rozenberg

 

The next generation of Mexican fighters were showcased at the Home Depot Center, located in Carson City, California. Jhonny Gonzalez (33-4, 28 KOs) retained his WBO bantamweight title by way of close split-decision over WBO junior bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (32-2-1, 24 KOs).

 

In the early rounds, Montiel used his quick hand speed and rapid foot movement to frustrate Gonzalez. As the fight progressed, Gonzalez began to press the action by closing the distance and cutting off the ring to land big punches.

 

The fight was close, but the judges went with the aggressor. The scores were 115-113 for Montiel, 116-112 for Gonzalez and 118-111 for Gonzalez.

 

The Mexican fighter frenzy started in February of 2000, when Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera met for first of their three meetings. Morales and Barrera fought such a furious fight that it set the standard for exciting bouts in the lower weight divisions. They raised the bar for Mexican fighters and the higher powers in the boxing business took notice.

 

Following the first war between Barrera and Morales, every major promoter and manager in the business was looking for great fighters coming out of Mexico. During the frantic search for Mexican talent, promoters were gambling on hopeful fighters and crapping out on the table. Since their first meeting, Barrera and Morales have stayed at the top of the food chain in their respective divisions and are still the most marketable Mexican fighters in the lower weight divisions.

 

All a person has to do is take a look at pay-per-view statistics in the last six years, to see that the only Mexican fighters in the lower weight divisions to be constantly used as main event material are Barrera and Morales. Regardless of their opponents, the pay-per-view events made money, which also made both fighters multi-millionaires. The networks loved them, but more importantly the fans loved them.

 

The ring wars of both men made them household names not only in Mexico, but in the homes of casual boxing fans that love to see exciting fights.

 

Although Morales and Barrera are both relatively young, their bodies have paid the price for always facing top level opposition. Morales has lost his last two fights, stopped for the first time in his last bout against Manny Pacquiao. In the other corner, Barrera has been winning, but showed very obvious signs of aging in his recent split-decision win over Rocky Juarez.

 

Most experts forecast retirements for both men within the next two years.

 

The lower weight divisions have kept the sport of boxing alive, as most of the boxing public has become disinterested with the heavyweights. Promotional companies like Top Rank, Main Events and Golden Boy Promotions have focused their efforts on signing the next big star in the lower weight divisions.

 

Golden Boy Promotions more than any other promotional company has been signing talented fighters from Mexico. They took a chance by throwing two of their best talents in Montiel and Gonzalez against each other. The promoter for both fighters and the experts, thought the battle between Montiel and Gonzalez would equal to a fight of the year battle. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that did not happen.

 

There were qualities missing in the bout to make either fighter more marketable because neither man was hurt, beaten up, bleeding or knocked down, and the bout was more of a boxing match than an actual fight. The fans wanted to see a war and had to settle for a boxing match, which resulted in plenty of boos throughout the encounter. The sport of boxing needs a young injection of Mexican warriors, but the styles of Montiel and Gonzalez did not match up to make the necessary fireworks to cause that injection.

 

Montiel will likely move back down to 115 pounds, where he is the top man of the weight class and the reigning WBO junior bantamweight champion. Gonzalez is heading towards a possible showdown with Rafael Marquez, a pound for pound fighter that is recognized by far as the best bantamweight in the world. A bout between Gonzalez and Marquez is a very good match up of styles because both of them like to fight at close range by throwing power punches.

 

Marquez has a fight scheduled against Silence Mabuza in August, Gonzalez will have to sit back and wait for the winner. Should Marquez win, Gonzalez is hoping to meet his Mexican counterpart in the final quarter of the year. Marquez, more so than Gonzalez or Montiel, is on the brink of becoming the next Mexican star in the sport. The current status of Marquez makes it a career necessity for Gonzalez to make that fight in the near future to raise his status level in the sport.

 

On the undercard

 

In a very exciting battle of undefeated welterweights, Paul "The Punisher" Williams (30-0, 22KOs) kept his win streak alive by stopping Walter Dario Matthysse (25-1, 24KOs) in the tenth round.

 

WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (28-1, 26KOs) stopped Gerson Guerrero (31-7, 23 KOs) in the second round.

 

Z Gorres (24-1-1, 12KOs) won a dominating ten-round decision over Pedro Rincon Miranda (31-11-2, 25KOs). Miranda hit the deck in rounds one, five and ten. All three judges scored the bout 100-87.

 

Enrique Ornelas (24-2, 14KOs) scored an eight-round decision over Sergio Rios (18-4, 16KOs). All three judges scored the bout 80-72.