By Jake Donovan
Photo © Natasha Chornesky/FightWireImages.com
It seems like old times, or at least 2005, as all eyes are on the junior welterweight division for the second time in as many weekends. World linear junior welterweight champ Ricky Hatton defends his crown against former lightweight king Jose Luis Castillo (Saturday, HBO 10PM ET/7PM PT, live from Las Vegas, NV) in one of the years more anticipated matchups.
There was a time when such a matchup would highlight an active discussion regarding the 140 lb. weight class. Today, the only talk is whether or not this bout can help resuscitated it.
It was June 2005 when the division witnessed a major changing of the guard. Hatton kicked things off by kicking out longtime king Kostya Tszyu. Miguel Cotto would play the main room of Madison Square Garden one week later, on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade, a tradition that carried over two weeks ago for the third consecutive year.
Two weeks later, Floyd Mayweather Jr. emerged as the greatest threat to the crown in bludgeoning shopworn and hopelessly overmatched Arturo Gatti less than an hour after potential darkhorse Vivian Harris was derailed by unorthodox Colombian Carlos Maussa.
Perhaps it was too much all at once for the division, for years long on talent but short on quality head-to-head matches amongst the top players. Very little came of the division following Junior Welterweight June. Hatton went on to defend against Maussa in capping his Fighter of the Year campaign. Cotto survived the lone knockdown of his career to take out Ricardo Torres in one of the year’s best fights.
That was it.
Mayweather bolted for the welterweight division. Gatti sat out the rest of the year before himself preparing for a move 7 lb. north. Harris sat out while changing promoters, managers and trainers, though still keeping his boxing address, in fact to this day.
There was very little worth discussing regarding the division following Cotto’s Garden party win over Paul Malignaggi last June. Hatton barely survived in his welterweight debut in creating a monster out of ordinary Luis Collazo, and spent the rest of the year deciding whether or not he should stay where the money is or drop back down and become the bank. While Hatton was pondering a move back down, Cotto decided to no longer starve himself to make weight, embarking on a career at welterweight, where he is now a major player after his brutal stoppage over Zab Judah earlier this month.
Fans of the division would get something to talk about after Hatton decided to drop down, at the same time that Castillo elected – or more specifically, was ordered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission – to move up from lightweight. Not only was there once again life in the division, but talks of a potential Fight of the Year candidate.
Such classification warrants the question, are expectations of this bout set too high?
If their showcase earlier this year is any indication, the answer is a resounding and disappointing “yes.”
Rather than fast-forwarding straight to the fight and kicking the year off with a bang, the powers that be in the two camps and at HBO felt all would be better served to take in a showcase doubleheader. Hatton wanted one fight to get re-acclimated to the weight. Castillo’s handlers wanted to see where he was after an eleven-month layoff following the aftermath of 2006’s Weightgate, having served a suspension for the remainder of 2006 after failing to make weight for his subsequently aborted rubber match with Diego Corrales last June.
Showcases are intended to whet the appetite for a future bout, but this card had the opposite effect. Hatton (42-0, 30KO) employed a hit-and-hold offense that ultimately stunk out the joint against previously unbeaten Juan Urango. The purpose of the bout was to reclaim his old alphabet title that he had vacated the year prior. The strategy proved to be more meaningless than the belt itself; Hatton decided to give it up less than a month later.
Equally as meaningless was classifying Castillo’s co-feature bout with then-unbeaten Herman Ngoudjo as an eliminator for another sanctioning body. Castillo (55-7-1, 47KO) struggled from beginning to end, barely outlasting Ngoudjo en route to a split decision that many felt should’ve went the other way. The bout was intended to set up a future date with Hatton, with the sanctioned eliminator part serving as insurance.
In between then and this weekend, some familiar faces resurfaced in attempts to breathe life back into a near-lifeless division. Vivian Harris outlasted Juan Lazcano in a bout where the latter dominated when sticking to boxing, but struggled when allowing Lazcano to brawl and offer an assortment of questionable tactics, making the fight a lot closer than many expected. 53 weeks following the lone defeat of his career, Malignaggi followed his conqueror’s big win with a career-defining performance of his own, pitching a shutout against longtime divisional gatekeeper Lovemore Ndou.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that there isn’t much left to look forward to beyond Harris and Malignaggi, in terms of bankable options, not that the latter two necessarily provide a retirement fund-type payday on their own.
While Malignaggi remains a possibility to face the winner of this weekend’s bout, Harris can’t even plan his next move until securing a date with, and defeating, England’s Junior Witter, who hasn’t fought since outpointing DeMarcus Corley in a stinker last September. The camps for Harris and Witter agreed to terms for a future bout, but have been unable to come up with a date or venue.
There’s Kendall Holt, who is gearing up to face Ricardo Torres later this summer. Like Hatton, both Holt and Torres give the impression of potential to become action fighters. It just hasn’t translated in recent ring appearances, including separate wins in stinkers against former prospect Mike Arnaoutis, whose once-promising career has gone nowhere fast.
Unbeaten Demetrius Hopkins has managed to shake the stinker label in recent fights. However, his last outing exposed his limitations, having been declared the winner of his bout against former titlist and Contender finalist Stevie Forbes in what many felt was the year’s worst robbery.
Supporters of Andreas Kotelnik will not only argue that the Germany-based Ukranian should still be undefeated, but also in possession of two alphabet titles. Close-but-no-cigar performances against present beltholders Witter (UD loss in 2005) and Souleyman M’Baye (SD loss in ’04, controversial draw earlier this year) are the lone blemishes on his ledger (25-2-1, 12KO), though it’s highly doubtful that anyone else at or near the top of the division will go out of their way to face him unless otherwise directly ordered.
In addition to the chockfull of talent that formerly resided at 140, the division also remained locked and loaded at the prospect level. Panchito Bojado might’ve never fully panned out, but provided some fun moments along the way. Cotto’s emergence was perfectly timed, as he began to make his run shortly after Judah moved up to welterweight.
The well has begun to run dry in that regard. There’s undefeated Lamont Peterson, who can box like a dream, but soft matchmaking has the slickster stuck on the Friday Night Fights circuit for the time being. There’s also undefeated Tim Bradley, who for the moment appears to be ShoBox what Peterson is to ESPN2. Ngoudjo is still stuck between levels, too good for prospects, but barely outlasting faded gatekeepers Emanuel Augustus and Randall Bailey.
Even with a mere 5 lb. separating the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions, it’s highly unlikely that any promising talent elects to travel North. Joel Casamayor and the Diaz trifecta (Juan, Julio and David) occupy the top slots; all appear maxed out at the weight, not to mention that Casamayor and Julio Diaz already own losses against Castillo.
All of this brings us back to the importance of this bout living up to the already high demands. It may not come with the tagline of “the bout to save boxing” like Mayweather-de la Hoya (which certainly did not), but Hatton-Castillo is possibly the bout looked upon to not only rescue an otherwise faceless junior welterweight division, but carry it for years to come.
