By Cliff Rold

They won’t be the headline event of this boxing weekend.  It will struggle for attention on Saturday in the shadow of a separate card, the anticipated Lightweight title rematch between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz.

Heck, they won’t even be the headline event on their own card.

Regardless, it’s hard to see the names on the marquee and not get a little excited, a little curious.

Five years ago, it would have been a big deal, or at least as big a deal as could be had at 115 lbs.  Jorge Arce was, still is, one of Mexico’s biggest fistic stars.  Martin Castillo at his peak had the respect of hardcore fight followers and was regarded as one of the very best at Jr. Bantamweight.  They weren’t in the same division long, Castillo usually at least a division above, but it was one of those matches that could have been when it mattered.   

Both men were bleeders, they clashed stylistically…it was a shame it was missed in their primes.  Still, one can suppose that both those factors may still be in play even if they’ve aged.  Saturday, now fighting around Bantamweight, Castillo-Arce might only play a chief support role on the undercard but to the men in the ring, it will still matter.  It happens this Saturday night in Mexico.

Arce (54-6-1, 41 KO), 31, having finally found a sanctioning body belt to win at 115, is chasing the chance at another divisional strap.  It might even be promoted it would be his fourth divisional strap if he can get there.  It wouldn’t really; the belt he wore at 112 lbs. was of the ‘interim’ sort and those sorts are a joke.  That likely wouldn’t stop the hype machines.

Castillo (35-3, 18 KO), 33 years old and two fights into a comeback after over a year out of the ring, has the opportunity to start working towards contention in the loaded 118 lb. division.  It seems an unlikely road for a Castillo who was so devastatingly stopped in 2008 by Fernando Montiel, but the recent comeback of former Castillo foe Eric Morel provides some hope.  Perhaps rest was in order, though Father Time’s demands rarely work out that way.

For at least a weekend, the slick and schooled Castillo can hope that having less wear than the all-action Arce weighs in his favor.

Whether it does or does not, this fight will serve as both a contemporary crossroads occasion for a pair of notable veterans and, due largely to the participation of Castillo, as homage to the often unheralded but consistently solid decade at 115 lbs. which just ended.

As good as Bantamweight appears to be right now, Jr. Bantamweight spent much of the 00’s as one of the best divisions in boxing.  That it rarely got such credit was understandable.  Easily overlooked in a U.S. market where bigger men are more appealing to fans and thus programmers, smaller divisions also contend with sprawl.

It is not uncommon for, say, the three best fighters in the smallest weight divisions to come from Mexico, Thailand, and Japan.  With multiple belts around, regional draws can be built but the economic incentives for those draws to square off can be hard to generate.  When one of the smaller divisions stand out in the modern era, it’s usually a sign that there is more than a few guys around.

There is a depth that is forcing clash and, by extension, excitement over an extended period of time.  The lengthy WBC title reign of the near-great Masamori Tokuyama in Japan; the Mark Johnson upset of Fernando Montiel; the late decade round robin which unified three sanctioning body titles for the first time in the division’s history; 115 lbs. had all of the above.  Joining the action were Cristian Mijares, Jose Navarro, Gerry Penalosa, Dmitri Kirilov, Felix Machado, Luis Perez, and Katsushige Kawashima.  All held belts during the decade and produced a slew of memorable contests along with the aforementioned…and Arce…and Castillo.    

It wasn’t the only time in the split title era that a smaller division caught such fire.  It happened in the 1990s at 108 lbs; it’s happening now at 118.  Ironically, Arce was a significant bridge figure in the former and is likely playing one in the latter.

Arce was the last man to face (and be defeated by) the great Michael Carbajal before eventually winning the lineal World title at Jr. Flyweight among other honors.  At 115, he lost to Mijares, Darchinyan, and to Saturday’s main event lead (IBF titlist Simphiwe Nongqayi who will defend Juan Rosas in what should be a heck of a fight), but his economic clout and name value was enough to make him a stand out win and desirable payday for all.

Castillo may just have missed the late wave of his 115 lb. era which now is part of the strength of Bantamweight present.

After an unfortunate cut sent him to the cards early against Felix Machado in 2002 for the IBF belt, Castillo had to win five straight to get a second title shot.  He lasted the distance that night and left with the WBA belt, brilliant in outboxing the dangerous and undefeated Alexander Munoz.  While only managing three title defenses, Castillo was memorable in battering Morel and surviving a rematch war with Munoz.

Cuts hampered him in losing his belt to novice Nobuo Nashiro.  The sting of the Montiel loss may be softened by watching Montiel continue to add to his resume, currently the consensus number one guy at Bantamweight.

As noted, five years ago a Castillo-Arce bout would have been bigger business.  It also would have seen Castillo heavily favored.  Today it might be closer, might even favor an Arce who has been more active and been steadily in with some of the best in the world.   

Regardless, this is a fight which can be seen as being as much about yesterday as tomorrow, and in a good way.  While remnants of the 115 lb. division of the 00’s remain, it isn’t what it was, transitioning to new faces and a new identity.  Arce and Castillo will trade leather and symbolically tip their caps to one hell of a run that wouldn’t have been the same without them.

Fight fans who remember should tip their caps right back.

Weekly Ledger

Cliff’s Notes… I was going to write something on Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito but Jake Donovan and Lyle Fitzsimmons hit all the necessary beats.  If it happens, winning a vacant belt at a higher class, where Pacquiao has never fought, at a catchweight, against a guy whose rating in the class is unexplainable on merit, is absolutely ridiculous.  It’s an invitation for deserved ridicule…In case anyone missed it, this scribe is super psyched for Ivan Calderon-Giovanni Segura…Miguel Cotto-Vanes Martirosyan isn’t a bad fight at all....The minutes are ticking by to the rematch of 2009’s Fight of the Year.  Report card to come later this week.

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