By Jake Donovan
It’s put up or shut up time.
Not that Joan Guzman has been doing that much talking in recent time, mind you. The undefeated Dominican has been all business in recent weeks, preparing for his rematch with Al Funeka at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas (Saturday, HBO 10:30PM ET/PT).
The rematch comes about due to the controversial nature of their first fight, last November in Quebec City, Canada. Most who viewed the bout (which also aired on HBO) had Funeka winning the bout, some scoring it close, others by a landslide.
Only one of the three judges agreed with masses, with the other two officials seeing it even. Their questionable scorecards proved to be the difference between Guzman remaining unbeaten (29-0-1, 17KO) and coming home with his first loss and very little remaining upside.
How his record reads is no longer of relevance. This weekend will make or break his career.
Some fighters are defined by their record, or so caught up in protecting it that they nibble around the edges rather than seek the toughest challenges.
Guzman has never fallen into the latter category. Challenges have been sought, but for some reason or another failed to materialize.
Some have been his own undoing, such as the weight debacle that led to the cancellation of his scheduled September 2008 lightweight title challenge against Nate Campbell. Little sympathy was to be found after weighing in considerably over the limit, considered by some to be the last straw in a career that has been long on potential but short on delivery.
The instance came on the heels of his oft-postponed and ultimately canceled super featherweight title defense against Alex Arthur earlier in the year. Injuries, site changes and visa issues were all part of a series of events that caused this proposed overseas matchup to never truly get off of the ground.
It wasn’t the first time Guzman found himself in the middle of what became an aborted trip to the United Kingdom.
Two years prior, the plan was to challenge for an alphabet featherweight title which at the time was in the possession of Scott Harrison. It was another instance where the date changed several times before Team Guzman grew fed up and moved in another direction.
Guzman’s instincts to move on proved correct. Harrison would never again step foot in the ring. The troubled Scot instead battled alcoholism and the law, finding himself in and out of rehab, jail and various courtrooms, while forced to pull out of two more fights along the way.
Still, it did nothing for Guzman’s career, other than offer temporary validation. A brief co-promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions led to pay-per-view undercard appearances in 2006 – including an alphabet super featherweight title win over Jorge Barrios - and an HBO Boxing After Dark headliner in late 2007.
The latter bout was a 12-round showdown with Humberto Soto. The matchup was met with praise in that two fighters who were often viewed as high-risk, low reward agreed to face one another, but its live action left a lot to be desired.
On display was Guzman’s superior boxing ability, which proved to be more effective than Soto’s determination and attempts to force the action. It was enough to score the win, but came considerably short in the area of enhancing his marketability.
It was also his only fight of 2007, a rate of activity that would be matched in the two subsequent years. Remaining active has been an issue as far as back as when his old management spent more time burning bridges throughout the industry than they did acting in Guzman’s best interests.
Great strides were made in his rebuilding relationships, thanks to the efforts of Jose Nunez, a close friend who took over the managerial reins late in 2004. It was Nunez’ efforts that led to Guzman fighting under the Golden Boy banner midway through the decade, even if only under a co-promotional deal.
The New York-based business man also managed to give Guzman a true homecoming, bringing him to his native Dominican Republic for the first defense of his super featherweight title late in 2006, a year that saw him fight three times.
This weekend marks the quickest ring return Guzman has enjoyed since then, coming back four months after his first fight with Funeka. It’s been one-and-done for each of the past three years, though fighting in the first quarter of 2010 could help change all of that.
Of course, he still has to win this weekend, something he never came close to doing last time out, no matter how much assistance was offered by the judges.
Guzman, who was fighting his first fight exclusively under the Golden Boy banner, came dangerously close to never crossing the finish line in their HBO-televised co-feature. The Dominican sprinted out to an early lead, but quickly found himself in a fight against the lanky South African puncher.
The tide took a dramatic turn for the worse in the 10th round, at which point Guzman came closer than ever before to being taken off of his feet and being stopped. He somehow survived the round, but was badly busted up and seemingly two rounds away from watching his “0” go.
Suspect scoring instead saved the day, affording with the opportunity for redemption as he once again faces Funeka this weekend, with the same vacant title at stake.
There is a hint of redemption and last chance on Funeka’s side, this being his third straight shot at the same title that has been vacant since last February. The top-rated lightweight came up just short in a February ’09 bout that saw Campbell lose the title on the scales, but score knockdowns early and late to escape with a hard-fought majority decision.
Nine months later came the Guzman fight, in which Funeka, his handlers and the majority of the boxing world believed he did enough to win the belt on his second try.
Instead, he hopes the third time will be the charm.
For Joan Guzman, there’s no more hoping and no more depending on what’s written on paper to help offset what has come of his career in reality. The lofty amateur career and industry-wide accolades as one of the best pure boxers in the sport no longer matter.
All that matters at this point is changing public perception by night’s end this weekend. Because once the opening bell rings, Joan Guzman will have officially begun his last chance at leaving a lasting impression on the sport.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
