So far, boxing’s resumption has had a little bit of everything. Good scraps, prospect walkovers, an upset, and a little questionable officiating.

The latter reared its head on Tuesday night when veteran former lightweight titlist Antonio DeMarco was on the wrong end of a debatable call against welterweight Giovani Santiallan. While all careers are unique, there are familiar stages for many who reach and depart the upper rungs.

On the way down, better luck often belongs to fresher fare.

The space between the way up and the way down varies. There’s no specific marker laid out ahead of time. Most of the time, we think we know it when we see it.

31-year old Jose Pedraza (26-3, 13 KO) appears, for now, to be in the space between. A former beltholder at Jr. lightweight and lightweight, Pedraza is now competing at Jr. welterweight. Pedrzaz had plenty of margin of error after a competitive if clear loss to Vasyl Lomachenko in a lightweight unification showdown in December 2018. It was a respectable loss to one of the elite fighters on the planet.

His previous defeat, while more lopsided and concussive to Gervonta Davis, didn’t hurt enough to knock him out of the title picture.

This Thursday (ESPN, 8 PM EST) is a different matter. While at 31 there is still time to rebound, a loss would leave Pedraza at 0-2 in his new division. Pedraza’s maiden voyage at 140 lbs. ended with a loss to veteran Jose Zepeda. That was by no means a bad loss. Zepeda can scrap. But in a sport always looking for next’s, with most battlers only appearing a few times a year at most, the push to the brink, the abyss, the long way down, can come suddenly.

Pedraza is 1-2 in his last three fights.

1-3 in his last four would be a hell of a setback.

Standing in the way of a course correction is a former title challenger. 35-year old Mikkel LesPierre (22-1-1, 10 KO) came up well short of victory against Maurice Hooker in March 2019 and has been to scratch successfully just once since. Given age, LesPierre’s window is narrower than Pedraza’s.  

While it isn’t as difficult to win titles in multiple divisions as it used to be, there’s still more cache to it then there is to former title challenger. Beating Pedraza still has value and if LesPierre dreams of another chance at one of the sanctioning belt apples, he can afford a loss even less than Pedraza.

One of things missing from many of the fights in the last two weeks are palpable stakes. Sure, every fighter is looking to win, to advance. There is always a stake in that sense but it’s more nebulous.

Until crowds come back, or it becomes clear boxing will have to do without crowds for far longer than hoped, most of the biggest stakes won’t be on display for the fans. Cross promotional dream matches like Terence Crawford-Errol Spence aren’t likely without fans. Quality in-house scraps like Spence-Danny Garcia are being held back until the lay of the land is more certain.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

Other careers can progress just below the title level for now and factor in to title plans down the road. It’s the best of what we’re going to get for the next few weeks at least. 

The main event Tuesday between Joshua Greer and Mike Plania was a good example and worth the time to watch. Anything happening at bantamweight on a Top Rank card has to be considered part of the greater Top Rank/Naoya Inoue marriage right now. Anyone around those weights is part of the mix. Plania put himself in the conversation with two knockdowns to push Greer farther away.

Top Rank’s relationship with unified Jr. welterweight titlists Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez mean anyone competing at Jr. welterweight under their umbrella is potentially within sight of real opportunity. For Pedraza, that means at least a small step closer to the hopes for a third divisional title.

All he has to do is win.

The alternative likely descends another direction.
  
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com