By Cliff Rold
When it comes to the best of raw action fighters, American fans can count themselves blessed. We had Danny Lopez, Bobby Chacon, and boy did we have Arturo Gatti.
We didn’t have Mahyar Monshipour.
Not really anyways.
It would have been hard to know in the States that anything was being missed. Jr. Featherweight has never been short on action here. From the division’s trailblazing Wilfredo Gomez era, it was always a reliable source of blood and guts. In the 2000s, the U.S. market has played host to Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar Larios, and the recent Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez trilogy.
Monshipour would have fit in just fine with any of them. He would have made their pool deeper, better. It wasn’t known by the masses then but hindsight…well, anyone can finish such the old canard.
There was a brief flicker of recognition in 2006.
From 2003 until that year, Monshipour had made five defenses of the WBA Jr. Featherweight title. Born in Iran, he made his fistic home, and all of those defenses, in France. His title winning effort against Salim Medjkoune was joined by a rematch victory and a fantastic battle with Julio Zarate to define Monshipour as a man at ring center as a series of classics.
None were ever televised live in the U.S.
Monshipour found a way here anyways.
In the fight which truly defined how small the fistic world can be via YouTube and similar sites, Monshipour’s reign ended at the hands of Thailand’s Somsak Sithchatchawal on March 18, 2006. It was a fight which could not be hidden in the modern age. Word seeped from France of an epic with members of the U.S. boxing press slowly spreading the gospel. By year’s end, thousands had watched the fight online and it wound up the Ring Magazine and Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) choice for Fight of the Year.
Even as the defeated party, it was a victory for a warrior who proved that when all is left in the ring, winning and losing are not the only things which matter. Monshipour traveled across the Atlantic for the BWAA dinner in 2007. Standing just more than 5’4, he received an earned round of applause and smiled humbly. It was enough to have been a part of something truly special and accept the rewards for his place in a genuine piece of history.
The world, for at least a moment, finally knew what it had been missing just as he was walking away from the game.
So few stay gone though and after three comeback wins beginning in December of last year, Monshipour (31-3-2, 21 KO) is set for a crack at the WBA Bantamweight title this Saturday night at the Parc des expositions, in Vienne, France. He is 34-years old now and given old scars will not be favored. His opponent, 24-year old Anselmo Moreno (25-1-1, 8 KO) has looked like a solid entrant in an increasingly interesting Bantamweight division. He captured his belt last year from the solid Wladimir Sidorenko and has made three successful defenses. Behind a schooled jab, the Panamanian southpaw looks like as good a candidate as any to emerge as the top of his class.
There are reasons to have doubt about how strong this match will be. Monshipour, though never a large Jr. Featherweight, weighed over 124 lbs. for his last bout and has not come in anywhere near the Bantamweight limit of 118 lbs. since his own early championship days. According to boxrec.com, he weighed in at that line only once in his entire career in 1999. Middle aged men rarely find the waists of their prime and so the weight alone is a challenge.
And yet there are reasons to believe Monshipour can find his old spark once more. A windmill of a fighter in his prime, Monshipour was all pressure from start to finish and should be expected to still carry heavier hands than Moreno.
These elements combine for a style clash.
In Moreno’s only other outing of 2009, a May rematch with Sidorenko, he found a much closer encounter than their first had been. Sidorenko was more aggressive and less thoughtful in his attack. Moreno, whose knockout percentage is negligible, still managed to outfight his man but the increased pressure got to him in spots. Even if the weight does bother Monshipour, it’s likely to take a few rounds before it truly registers in his legs. If the challenger can mount a serious early assault, it could force enough doubt on Moreno to even the terms as the rounds go by.
It’s a fascinating crossroads battle with an added point of interest.
As has always been the case, the bout will not be televised live in the U.S. However, if Monshipour, the almost missed warrior, can summon one last great war, should we not all rest on the edge of our seats anyways?
Ignorance could be excused before the Sithchatchawal war but the name alone opposite Moreno’s on the marquee should be ingrained now with those who truly love boxing. In a week where the fistic cupboard is bare, this could be the reddest of meat.
Late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, with Fourth of July buzzes or hangovers firmly established, there can be hope for a weekend highlight. Gatti remained must viewing long past his best days, whether in a hopeless tussle with Floyd Mayweather, a final compelling win against Thomas Damgaard, or career ending knockout losses to Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez.
Monshipour has given enough to deserve the same.
French fans must know so.
The rest of the world should as well.
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