By Cliff Rold
It’s a fight worth looking forward to which will ask a simple question: will one or both of the competitors do enough on Saturday night to make them worth looking forward to going forward?
Anyone who has had the chance to see 19-year old former WBO 115 lb. titlist Marvin Sonsona (14-0-1, 12 KO) or 25-year old Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (17-0-1, 14 KO) so far in their careers might find the question silly. Both young fighters have shown spark; have shown potential. Sonsona’s position as a former titlist already suggests he might already have done more than that.
However, with just more than 30 fights logged between the two of them, there is more proving to do. At center ring in the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, they’ll get a chance. The winner will exit with the WBO’s 122 lb. belt.
It’s not unfair to hope for more.
While attention in boxing is always most focused on the established stars, it is the fighter still looking to ascend which is the true lifeblood of the game. Mayweather’s, Pacquiao’s, and Super Six’s give us a healthy today.
Tomorrow is never far away.
Boxing has a pretty good youth movement going right now. A hot crop of prospects at Jr. Middleweight and Middleweight, some new faces at Heavyweight, and emergent titlists like Timothy Bradley at Jr. Welterweight give boxing a feeling of security. And then there is the stop on the scale this weekend. Sonsona-Vazquez happening at Jr. Featherweight isn’t missed, because healthy tomorrows at Jr. Featherweight are welcome.
During the late 90s and 2000s, fighters like Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Pacquiao all emerged at Jr. Featherweight in positions similar to where Sonsona and Vazquez will find themselves Saturday. They’d shown some spark but needed other rivals to bring those sparks to full flame. Morales had veteran Daniel Zaragoza and Junior Jones before he got Barrera; Barrera had Kennedy McKinney to life him from Forum darling to HBO standard. Pacquiao was just another Asian Flyweight until he blew through Lehlo Ledwaba.
It would be too much to ask, or expect, such futures to begin to be told Saturday. It’s never too much to hope for.
Distributed through an independent pay-per-view this weekend, the audience for the bout in the U.S. might not be substantial, certainly not the HBO outlets the above mentioned had to emerge on, but the action could hit that level.
Vazquez, attempting his first major belt, certainly has the bloodlines for it.
With his father already a fixture on the International Boxing Hall of Fame ballot for a few years, the challenge to live up to his namesake will be daunting. A titlist at Bantamweight and Jr. Featherweight, and a former lineal World Champion at Featherweight, Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. made his biggest mark right where his son’s title aspirations begin, making nine defenses of the WBA 122 lb. title from 1992-95.
Junior can point to having one up on the old man, having earned his first title shot without a defeat. Can he avoid his father’s loss in his first title opportunity? Senior had to take a decision defeat Miguel Lora in 1986 before making good in attempt number two.
Sonsona doesn’t have to worry about the shadow of a borderline Hall of Fame Poppa. As part of the massive talent wave coming out of the Philippines, his contemporary shadows may loom larger anyways. Pacquiao’s stature in their shared native land is massive. For the general boxing business it’s a good thing. The halo of superstar fighters is always good for those who share the market with them.
It also adds the pressure of comparison. Fair or unfair, many Filipino fans, among others, will inherently measure all against Manny. Manny is the zenith any sane fighter would aspire to even if they would find happiness a step shy.
Sonsona may suffer more from the comparisons than others. A tall, for the smaller division’s, southpaw with pop and snaking speed (sound familiar?), Sonsona has the ingredients of a star. He has the youth to make fans think about what, who, might be there to replace the thrills of Pacquiao when the current pound-for-pound king begins the inevitable slide away from his peak.
And that’s what this weekend really boils down to. In boxing, there’s always room for the next guy to look forward to. The time is certainly right at 122. Recent warriors kings Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez are gone; Juan Manuel Lopez followed; Celestino Caballero is another step behind them.
Vazquez or Sonsona, with a dominant performance, can emerge stronger than they already are as a new name on the tongues of hardcore boxing fans. The buzz can begin as more and more wonder if, maybe, they really do have “it.”
Vazquez and Sonsona? If positive chatter is there for both on Sunday morning, these two young men will have combined for one hell of a show and given themselves, and the fans, that next something.
However, with just more than 30 fights logged between the two of them, there is more proving to do. At center ring in the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, they’ll get a chance. The winner will exit with the WBO’s 122 lb. belt.
It’s not unfair to hope for more.
While attention in boxing is always most focused on the established stars, it is the fighter still looking to ascend which is the true lifeblood of the game. Mayweather’s, Pacquiao’s, and Super Six’s give us a healthy today.
Weekly Ledger
But wait, there’s more…
ESPN2 Coverage: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=25495
Top 25 Heavies Pt. 1: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=25446
Picks of the Week: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=25565
Cliff’s Notes…
For wondering readers, the second half of the Top 25 Heavyweights is on its way soon…Vivian Harris’s stoppage loss last weekend was a joke. Some major body, any of them, should step in immediately and reverse the result to a “No Contest” unless we’re to believe that simply getting hit is enough to draw a stop these days. Atrocious…Buddy McGirt training Cory Spinks? That’s an odd marriage considering the type of fighter Buddy was and the type of heavier handed veterans he’s had the most success with…Why do Carl Froch and Joe Calzaghe constantly bark at each other? Is a fight going to come out of this? When? In 2012? Whatever…So Wladimir Klitschko-Eddie Chambers won’t be anywhere on U.S. TV. Is it still true that as go the Heavyweights, so goes boxing? The answer appears no, but for shaky reasons. Boxing’s place as a niche sport in the U.S. is actually raising the quality of overall fighters demanded for TV but it caps where the sport can go.
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
