By Jake Donovan
Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages
The welterweight division enjoyed a revival in 2007, with many of the top players not only in action, but also against one another. Unfortunately, 2008 doesn't appear to be a year that will follow suit.
At least not at the top level.
Fortunately for the division, there's Jesus Soto-Karass, a rugged Mexican who just loves to fight, regardless of who's standing in the other corner or how many zeroes and commas are included on his paycheck. He continues that trend Friday night, when he squares off against resurging veteran Germaine Sanders in this week's edition of Solo Boxeo Tecate (Telefutura, Friday, 8PM ET/10PM PT, Brownsville, TX).
Soto-Karass (18-3-3, 14KO) is no stranger to television, having played the Telefutura circuit in four straight bouts prior to his last fight, a 10-round decision over Juan Buendia on Versus network. The bout with Buendia was a non-stop punch-a-thon, with Soto-Karass landed a blistering 523 punches, most ever in a 10-round fight, and 4 th on the all-time list. The two combined to land 854 punches, also a Compubox record for 10-round affairs, while throwing over 2100 punches.
It's Soto-Karass' relentless and high volume punching that makes him an instant attraction. Of course, winning helps, something that hasn't been the norm for him until late 2005.
Having sprinted out to a 12-0-1 start, the Mexican, now based out of Los Angeles, hit a rough patch in 2004 and 2005. Stepping up the competition level after feasting on no-hopers, Soto Soto-Karass found himself stuck in a four-fight funk, going 0-3-1 in that stretch. All three losses came against undefeated competition before holding then-welterweight contender Manuel Gomez to a draw in their May 2005 battle on Telefutura.
It's been mostly smooth sailing since then, and certainly not due to soft opposition. Dating back to the Gomez fight, Soto-Karass is 7-0-2 (4KO) over his last nine. The biggest win, to date, came in October 2006, when he outlasted previously unbeaten Michel Rosales en route to an 11 th round stoppage of a fantastic Telefutura main event. The most recognizable win on his ledger came one fight prior, against former junior welterweight champ Vince Phillips, who was on his last legs when Soto-Karass unmercifully beat him before forcing a stoppage in the 9 th round of their scheduled twelve.
In Sanders (27-4, 17KO), Soto-Karass finds himself matched against a 37-year old veteran who knows a thing or two about overcoming adversity. It was almost five years ago when most had the Chicago native all but written off. He suffered a devastating knockout loss to Teddy Reid on ESPN2, but an even more embarrassing defeat 10 months later in nearby Rosemont, IL against sub .500 punching bag Anthony Ivory.
Believing he still had something left to prove, Sanders stormed back just four months later. He proved his doubters wrong, six times over, including notable distance wins over Luciano Perez (the lone common opponent between Sanders and Soto-Karass, who stopped him in 7 rounds) and Emmanuel Clottey. It was enough to lead to a shot at a fringe title against then-unbeaten welterweight Shamone Alvarez. Sanders fell short, dropping a unanimous decision in Alvarez' hometown of Atlantic City, NJ, but proved to be a much tougher challenge than expected.
While Sanders enters the fight coming off of the aforementioned loss, he's proven enough over the course of the past four years that he still has enough to give any respectable welterweight a tough night. Having been held to a draw against Gilberto Venegas last May, Soto-Karass appears to have since learned his lesson about overlooking tough opposition. It's a lesson he needs to adhere to tonight, if he is to remain in the hunt for a long-awaited showdown against any of the top welterweights.
The co-feature should prove to be entertaining, with promising 20-year old James de la Rosa, from nearby Harlingen, taking on Abel Perry in a battle of undefeated welterweights.
If the name de la Rosa rings a bell, it's because you remember his older brother (by 15 months), Juan de la Rosa from the first season of The Contender. Juan won his first round bout against Tarick Salmaci, but bowed out of the competition after suffering a cut in the fight.
Despite not boasting as much notoriety, James is the far more talented of the brother act. Dominant wins over David Obregon (TKO3) and Francisco Rincon (UD10) proved his ability and toughness as a professional.
That said, Perry represents his biggest test to date, if only because the Oregon native enters the fight with an unblemished record (9-0, 3KO). The 29-year old has won most of his bouts in lopsided fashion, including the exposing of an absolute fraud in Memphis-based middleweight Skyler Thompson last May. He'll have his work cut out for him against de la Rosa, the far more proven and bigger puncher of the two.
Time permitting, Telefutura fans may also get a glimpse at undefeated San Antonio-based bantamweight Raul Martinez, who makes the four-hour trek to Brownsville to take on rugged journeyman Alex "Ali" Baba in an eight-round scrap.
Martinez (20-0, 13KO) was a two-time national champion as an amateur before turning pro in 2004. The Texan is blessed with two-fisted power and the ability to seamlessly switch between boxer and puncher, but his career has been something of a disappointment to date. His lone step up in class turned out to be an all-out war, before stopping Andres Ledesma in the 8 th and final round of their January 2006 co-feature in a bout aired on Showtime's ShoBox series.
It's been mostly non-descript opposition, as Martinez remains a noted prospect at a point in his career when most had him pegged to begin his run as a Top 10 contender. The 37-year old Baba represents a stern challenge in comparison to his recent level of competition, which is hardly a compliment.
Baba (26-11-1, 19KO) always comes in with a punchers chance, but rarely comes through when asked to step up. His last two televised fights resulted in lopsided losses, including a 10 th round stoppage at the hands of Antonio Escalante in July 2006, his last appearance in Texas or on Telefutura. He enters tonight riding a 3-fight win streak, all coming against the type of fighters a journeyman would normally face in hopes of landing one last televised appearance.
The aforementioned bouts headline an eight-fight card, live from the Jacob Brown Auditorium in Brownsville, TX, presented by Top Rank, Inc.
Jake Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, and the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.com.
Please feel free to submit any comments or questions to Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com
