By Cliff Rold
As rebound outings go, it’s unusually stiff.
After speculation about difficulty making the Bantamweight limit, Hozumi Hasegawa has made the choice to go up not one but two weight classes. It might be fair to say he had some help. Diet didn’t look like the problem in April. The fists of Fernando Montiel were.
This could have been a triumphant rise for a fighter on the rise in pound-for-pound esteem. Instead, it’s a risky chance at some redemption and resurrection. There is a vacant WBC Featherweight belt on the line too, meaning the winner can add their name to an increasingly intriguing field at 126 lbs.
Beats the hell out of most comeback fights.
Let’s go the report card.
The Ledgers
Hozumi Hasegawa
Age: 29
Titles: None
Previous Titles: WBC Bantamweight (2005-10, 10 Defenses)
Height: 5’6
Weight: 125.75 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 117.75 lbs.
Hails from: Kobe, Japan
Record: 28-3, 12 KO, 1 KOBY
BoxingScene Rank: #4 at Bantamweight
Record in Championship Fights: 11-1, 7 KO, 1 KOBY
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Defeated: 1 (Veraphol Sahaprom)
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced in Defeat: 1 (Fernando Montiel)
Vs.
Juan Carlos Burgos
Age: 22
Title/Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’8
Weight: 156 lbs.
Average Weight – Last Five Fights: 125.45 lbs.
Hails from: Tijuana, Mexico
Record: 25-0, 18 KO
BoxingScene Rank: Unrated
Record in Major Title Fights: 1st Title Opportunity
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 0
Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Hasegawa A; Burgos B-
Pre-Fight: Power – Hasegawa B+; Burgos B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Hasegawa B; Burgos C
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Hasegawa B+; Burgos B
Watching both fighters and examining their resumes, two distinct advantages emerge for Hasegawa: speed and experience. Both advantages are pronounced. Hasegawa, from the southpaw stance, gets off quick and is likely to maintain his razor sharp and accurate left hand. It’s a weapon refined through a lengthy title reign that saw him, at least until April, emerge as the leader of what has arguably become the sports best weight class. Opponents like Sahaprom, Genaro Garcia, and Simone Maludrottu, even Montiel in defeat, represent a far superior caliber to anything Burgos has seen.
Size and power are, if not equally pronounced, at least notable edges for Burgos. The Mexican stands taller and can crack. Pedigree also counts for a little as well for the nephew of former Jr. Flyweight titlist Victor Burgos. While this Burgos has yet to face more than mid-level foes at Featherweight, he’s shown the ability to dispense with foes at any time in a fight and doesn’t seem uncomfortable in the late rounds. Against a fighter coming off the sort of (literally) jaw breaking loss Hasegawa suffered last time out, the threat of late power could be a mental weapon down the stretch. Will Hasegawa have the mental toughness to put the Montiel fight out of mind?
Some fighters get stopped and bounce back professionally, as if nothing happened. Others can never quite get back to where they were. In the smaller weight classes, age and big losses are rarely a positive combination generally. Could Hasegawa be finding himself peaked against a younger man hungry to be where he has been?
The Pick
The guess here is no.
Montiel certainly knocked Hasegawa loopy, but it wasn’t a prolonged beating. Hasegawa had a case for winning the first three rounds before, boom, the right shot caught him. Against Burgos, a little caution will serve Hasegawa well. His recent knockout streak (five in a row inside four rounds before Montiel) may have made him bolder than he should have been. Hasegawa is capable of boxing smart and, with his speed, should be able to play keep away from Burgos all night.
The added weight will be a bonus for Hasegawa, his legs fresh to keep him moving when Burgos attempts to come on. For Burgos, it will be a valuable learning experience, on the road no less, and he’ll have some moments where he brings excitement through pressure. Ultimately, the lesson will be he’s not quite ready for upper echelon wins just yet.
Hasegawa by comfortable decision.
Report Card Picks 2010: 30-12
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