by Cliff Rold

It must have been horrible in the days before the internet.

Hardcore fight fans for years read about fights overseas.  They only saw bits of the action.  Fighters like Roberto Duran and Carlos Monzon were easy enough to find.  Much of the rest of the world…well, there was always Ring Magazine.  Tape trading in the 1980s helped to close the gap.

Today, the world is always a click away.  On short notice, fans can find out an intriguing card they didn’t expect to see will be a click away on a Saturday afternoon.  Online outlet WatchESPN.com (1 PM EST/10 AM PST) will be providing access to just such a card from Monaco this weekend.

Two particular contests set to air stand out.  One builds perfectly on the momentum of last weekend’s HBO main event.  Another sets up mere possibility.  In both, we are likely to get some answers about the direction of two different weight classes.

The former takes place at Middleweight and dovetails perfectly with last Saturday’s latest Gennady Golovkin walkover.  Golovkin, after losing critical time in his early years stuck in the tornado that was the undoing of Universum Promotions, is finally fulfilling his professional promise.  He’s putting butts in seats, his TV numbers are good (relative to what passes for good in the US), and he’s knocking out contenders.

It might not say much for the current depth at Middleweight that Marco Antonio Rubio still counted as a contender, but he did.  In three of his last five starts, the WBA titlist Golovkin has walked through Rubio, Matthew Macklin, and former unified titlist Daniel Geale.  The credentials are starting to catch up to the eye test.

That doesn’t make a crack at lineal World Champion Miguel Cotto an immediate option.  In the absence of a chance to place history’s crown on his mantle, Golovkin has to keep finding contenders to build his case.  He’ll have his eyes on the main event here.

The UK’s Martin Murray (28-1-1, 12 KO) is heavily believed to be next in line for Golovkin with a February date in Monaco making the news rounds.  Murray is a credible opponent.  There are those who believe each of his two career blemishes could have been a win. 

Murray was unlucky in getting a draw in a WBA title crack at Felix Sturm in 2011.  In 2013, he traveled to Argentina and dropped then-lineal Middleweight king Sergio Martinez in the eighth round only to let the title slip away in the closing rounds.  There were plenty of close rounds.  With a little better luck, or location, Murray could have had his hand raised. 

Murray is matched this weekend with Italy’s professional but unspectacular Domenico Spada (39-5, 19 KO). Two fights ago, Rubio stopped Spada in ten.  Murray should be able to handle the affair.  Will he really want to try to handle Golovkin?  He’s had chances to do it before but went in another direction.  This time, with likely more money on the table, a showdown appears brewing. 

Murray has proven sturdy throughout his career and might have the stuff to force some rounds out of Golovkin even if few would expect him to win. While the Golovkin knockout show can be fun, it’s more fun when the man across the ring has proved sturdy enough to at least have a fighting chance.  Murray fits the bill.  A slip up here would be a disappointment.

In the card’s other bout worthy of a raised eyebrow, the question is less about a slip up and more about a move up.  Specifically, if WBA/IBO 105 lb. titlist Hekkie Budler (26-1, 9 KO) wins this Saturday, does he continue to toil in boxing’s smallest division?

Before the question matters, Budler has to win first.  He should.  China’s former WBC 105 lb. titlist Xiong Zhao Zhong (24-5-1, 15 KO) should make a fight of it.  While two fights removed from a knockout title fight loss to Oswaldo Novoa, he’s proven capable over the years.  He came within a few points of winning the lineal Flyweight crown from Daisuke Naito in 2009 and the Novoa loss is the only stoppage of his career.

Budler’s recent form suggests a superior prizefighter but what is there left for him at Strawweight after this?  He’s only had the WBA title for a short time but is regarded as no worse than the second best fighter in the class.  Wins over former titlists Florante Condes and Nkosinathi Joyi speak to his ability.

While geography and markets would have made it difficult to make the fight, a showdown with unified titlist Francisco Rodriguez was the best fight that could have been made at 105. After Rodriguez unified the IBF and WBO titles against Katsunari Takayama in what remains the best fight of 2014, Rodriguez-Budler was at least worth thinking about.

Earlier this month, Rodriguez vacated the IBF belt and stated his intentions to move up to 108 lbs.  With long reigning WBO 108 lb. titlist Donnie Nietes stating his intention to move to Flyweight in 2015, Jr. Flyweight will be wide open.  Budler might want to look up for better opportunities to share his talents with the world.

For now, he’s a noteworthy part of Saturday’s show that many fans may not have seen yet.  He’s worth a look.

There was a time when this Saturday’s card from Monaco would have been something to read about.  We don’t live in that time.  Be thankful for that.     

Cliff’s Notes…

So the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron is on the web.  That looks just awesome…Maybe not so awesome: why is DC running an excellent Flash program and casting someone to play Flash separately in their movies?  Trying to be different than Marvel just to be different isn’t necessarily smart…So Luis Ortiz got popped for PEDs?  Man, what will the WBA do without three guys paying them sanctioning fees at Heavyweight?  Does this mean we won’t get Ortiz-Ruslan Chagaev fighting so someone will call them champ without beating the only champ that matters (Wladimir Klitschko)?  Let’s try not to all collapse in grief right away…Also on the ESPN card this weekend, Randy Caballero and Stuart Hall fight for the vacant IBF Bantamweight belt.  It’s not the strongest division these days outside of its top two or three fighters, but this should be a fun scrap…It’s hard not to root for the Kansas City Royals.                    

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com