By Cliff Rold
On Thursday, the results of a fascinating fistic doubleheader will be compiled a world away from here. That the fighters in question weigh 118 lbs. does nothing to detract from what could be occurring.
The Thursday doubleheader could be urgent; it may not be urgent at all. Bantamweight has been a wasteland for much of a generation, yielding the occasional good bout, but never any real clarity about who the best fighter in the division has been. Remember that fantastic bout between Tim Austin and Paulie Ayala? Junior Jones and Orlando Canizales?
I don’t remember them either.
Thursday’s doubleheader, taking place at the Prefectural Gym in Osaka, Japan, features the two fighters ranked 1st and 2nd in last week’s Boxing Scene ratings; they are ranked 1st and 3rd by Ring Magazine. Number one in both is Japan’s Hozumi Hasegawa (22-2, 7 KO, WBC titlist), and that seems a fair assessment. Hasegawa emerged behind then division titlist Rafael Marquez as its next best thing when he defeated a long reigning Thai warrior Verapol Sahaprom in April 2005. It was Sahaprom’s first loss in almost a decade and Hasegawa gave him a second loss, by stoppage, a year later.
Hasegawa has added three other defenses of his title along the way against solid fare; he faces more of the same Thursday in Italy’s Simone Maludrottu (26-1, 10 KO). With Hasegawa expected to win though, his real opponent may not be in the ring with him. That man may be the other titlist sharing this twinbill in the land of the rising sun.
31-year old WBA titlist Wladimir Sidorenko (20-0, 7 KO), born of the Ukraine and fighting out of Germany, is much like Hasegawa. He’s been a titlist since 2005 and since picked up five defenses, all against solid fare (particularly one Ricardo Cordoba whom he barely survived twice). He too faces another solid foe in Japan’s Noubuto Ikehara (27-1, 19 KO), also 31. A sixth successful title defense and paycheck security is a great motivator for victory.
There could be another.
Whispers spread when this doubleheader was signed that it could be a precursor to something more; something bigger. That bigger thing could be, hopefully will be, a showdown between Hasegawa and Sidorenko should both add another victory to their pile.
It’s been a long time since boxing has even appeared close to a bantamweight showdown between two fighters rated this highly. That it could occur between two fighters that would almost guarantee a twelve round affair; in a bout that would certainly lack the fireworks that Canizales-Jones bout could have produced in the 90s, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a hell of a fight. Hasegawa-Sidorenko, which probably would struggle to find U.S. television, would certainly be worth all of the fan trading it could engender.
It would be a shame if the story doesn’t close. Thursday in Japan should be very interesting indeed.
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
