By Cliff Rold

It wasn’t that long ago, but sometimes it feels like it.

The excitement around Flyweight right now among hardcore followers of the sport was happening at Bantamweight. Both HBO and Showtime were investing in the division. There were big fights being made on both networks. Organic talents inside the division like Hozumi Hasegawa, Abner Mares, Anselmo Moreno, Joseph Agbeko, and Yonnhy Perez were mixing with names from lower on the scale like Nonito Donaire, Fernando Montiel and Vic Darchinyan.

It was fair to say then, let’s say between 2009-11, that Bantamweight was one of the best in-ring divisions in the game.

Then what happens happened.

Guys moved up. 

Guys got old.

The sweet science kept rolling.

Bantamweight has continued to have its share of talent but that moment of electricity, of consistent anticipation, seemed to pass.

One thing about the rolling tide of this sport is that, eventually, it all comes back around again. In 2015, Bantamweight appears to be heating up once again. It might not be quite the depth of talent we saw a few years back. That’s okay. There’s enough going on. The feel of a destination division fans can count on for good fights among its top guys is growing.

This Sunday afternoon on CBS (4 PM EST/1 PM PST), one of the better undercard fights of the year will get its sequel. Again, it will play a supporting role. There are plenty who might not be all that interested in a main event featuring former Super Middleweight titlist Anthony Dirrell and former Middleweight title challenger Marco Antonio Rubio. That’s what remote controls were made for.

There’s no reason to take that out on the televised opener.

Squaring off for the not-Super version of the WBA 118 lb. belt (and really, when everyone is a WBA titlist, is anyone really a champion…thanks Incredibles and Ayn Rand), Jamie McDonnell (26-2-1, 12 KO) will defend against former beltholder Tomoki Kameda (31-1, 19 KO). If the second fight is as good as the first, or even almost as good, it will be time well spent.

Before last weekend’s quality ESPN outing headlined by Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares, the PBC’s most compelling televised card was on May 9th. That was the day Omar Figueroa and Ricky Burns had a surprising war in the main event hot on the heels of the first McDonnell-Kameda bout. McDonnell, a former IBF titlist, came off the floor in the third, and from behind on the cards, to outhustle Kameda and capture his second version of a world title in the class.

It was not without debate. There were plenty who thought Kameda had done enough to retain and keep his unbeaten mark intact. Enough doubt was there to make this a justifiable and desirable return.

It is the latest in a series of intriguing matches the division has provided this year. The mini-revival culminates later this month in a showdown between the two men who largely kept the division relevant in the last few years as the talent drained around them. If there is a higher quality match on paper this month than Moreno (35-3-1, 12 KO) challenging longtime WBC titlist Shinsuke Yamanaka (23-0-2, 17 KO)...well, there isn’t.

That’s September 22nd. We’ll get back to it.   

In between the two McDonnell-Kameda battles, we’ve had two other entertaining nights in the domain of Jofre and Zarate.

On June 13th, Lee Haskins (32-3, 14 KO) scored a rousing stoppage of Ryosuke Iwasa to capture the interim IBF title in the division and set himself up for a possible showdown with the reigning IBF champ Randy Caballero (22-0, 13 KO). On August 9th, WBA “Super” champ Juan Carlos Payano (17-0, 8 KO) survived a final round knockdown to earn a split decision over three time US Olympian Rau’Shee Warren (13-1, 4 KO) in an entertaining if alley worthy brawl.

There’s been some chatter about a Payano-Warren rematch. Payano-Warren being under the PBC banner creates at least the possibility for either man to be a potential foe for the winner of McDonnell-Kameda II. 

Add it all together and that’s a pulse representing a healthy turnaround for the division. Consider that last year, this author put together a comprehensive look at the amount of clash between top ten contenders in each of boxing’s seventeen weight divisions. Bantamweight rated dead last. Writing at the time, it was noted :

Just a few years ago, this division might well have been in the top five.  A Showtime tournament of four top talents at 118, Nonito Donaire’s visit to the division, unification between Fernando Montiel and Hozumi Hasegawa…it was a bustle of activity.  Now, it is a division finding itself again.  The talent is clearly better than last place.  Titlists Anselmo Moreno and Shinsuke Yamanaka are high quality professionals.  Tomoki Kameda is a promising young beltholder showing willingness to unify (a fight with Jamie McDonnell is being discussed).  For now, the present state of the top ten exhibits only two men with wins over their peers and not enough on the schedule to suggest Bantamweight is living up to the talent it has.  The potential is there but potential, and actual fights, are two different things.

Since then, Moreno lost to Payano and Yamanaka kept winning. Now we’re getting the sort of fights that lead to other fights, attracting interest on their own merits and for what they might lead to next.

Yamanaka-Moreno is the cherry on the sundae. A strong argument can be made that it pits the two best fighters in the division even with Moreno’s loss to Payano. Not all losses are equal. Debate can be had about who should have been leading, if anyone, at the end of Payano-Moreno. That it ended before we could really find out whom the better man was isn’t really debatable.

Payano suffered a cut from an accidental headbutt in the second round and was ahead at the end. Against a technician like Moreno whose fights almost always go twelve rounds, six more rounds were critical real estate. Payano won fair and square and should be rated ahead of Moreno in any sort of wins-based equation.

Taking all of the accomplishments of Yamanaka and Moreno into account, and considering the context of the Payano loss, produces more than a formulaic result. Moreno defended his title 12 times prior to the Payano fight, going on the road for impressive wins over Darchinyan, Wladimir Sidorenko, and Mahyar Monshipour. His lone loss during his reign came in a fantastic fight at 122 lbs. challenging Mares. Moreno came off the floor in the first half of the fight and battled Mares in a dramatic second half stretch.

Moreno’s inactivity since the Payano loss will raise questions about rust. Still only 30, the Panamanian still stands as the toughest test to date for Yamanaka. He also stands on the verge of reestablishing his place in the class and maybe even creating a lure for a Payano rematch.

Japan’s Yamanaka has been on a roll since winning his belt in 2011. Wins over Darchinyan, Malcolm Tunacao, Suriyan Sor Rungvisai stand out among eight defenses with six knockouts. At 32, this is Yamanaka’s chance to imprint himself on boxing fans outside Japan and perhaps even open up new market possibilities.

That’s September 22nd.

McDonnell-Kameda II is this Sunday. It was a good fight once. There’s no reason to think it won’t be a good fight again.

There’s no reason to think Bantamweight isn’t going to stay good again for the foreseeable future.    

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