By Cliff Rold
Every weight class gets its turn under the spotlight.
For some, it’s hard to turn the spotlight off. Try to find a lull period at welterweight that lasted more than a year in the last few decades. It might not always have the best fighters but it does often enough that it is hard to avert one’s gaze. Heavyweight is always one new knockout artist away from being on fire.
Other classes struggle, particularly as we move down the scale. Flyweight is almost as far down as one can get. When Vic Darchinyan and Nonito Donaire were there in the 2000s, it got some attention but it never broke out of being a niche class separated by geography.
This decade has been different. A series of wars in the class, the arrival of notable names like Brian Viloria, Akira Yaegashi, Kazuto Ioka, and Roman Gonzalez, and the emergence of Juan Francisco Estrada and Amnat Ruenroeng might not have changed the face of boxing.
It did make create an appeal for the 112 lb. class not seen in a long-time and helped shrink geographic obstacles.
In September 2014, bouts like Estrada-Giovani Segura, Gonzalez-Yaegashi, and Ruenroeng-McWilliams Arroyo, had even those outside the hardcore bubble finding YouTube links.
It has been, and remains, one of the deepest top tens in boxing’s 21st century teens but it’s hard not to see a bit of a competitive rut. Since the Segura fight, Estrada hasn’t fought a single consensus top ten fighter in the division. Ruenroeng, after some interesting technical outings with Ioka and Arroyo, became almost unwatchable and appeared to be among the dirtiest active fighters in boxing.
The lineal and WBC champion Gonzalez broke out from the pack, arriving on HBO after years of hardcore press and internal lobbying from some significant voices at the network. In three HBO appearances, he has faced three straight consensus top ten challengers in the division and expanded a growing course of accolades as perhaps the best fighter relative to his weights in all of boxing.
What we haven’t had yet as the stage grew, at least on English language television, is a classic on par with Gonzalez’s 108 lb. battle with Estrada, the wild bouts between Segura had with Edgar Sosa and Tyson Marquez, or the thrills found in Marquez-Viloria or Marquez-Luis Concepcion.
Gonzalez-Viloria and Gonzalez-Arroyo were really good fights.
Neither was great.
The division caught fire with hardcore fans because the best fighters in it were fighting each other and producing. It was a willing, talented mix of veterans and prime talent that few classes could point to. It also featured the elasticity to reload. As Marquez faded from a short prime and Segura took one beating too many, there were still fresh matches to get excited about. It’s still the case.
It doesn’t mean it has delivered the way it could.
Since September 2014, Flyweight has in some ways stalled. Aside from the expansion of the Gonzalez brand, and a couple good fights between Ioka and Juan Carlos Reveco, how much memorable action has really happened? We haven’t yet seen Gonzalez-Estrada II. We haven’t seen the WBA force Estrada (who also holds the WBO title) to defend against sub-titlist Ioka. Ruenroeng’s fights got so ugly few really cared if he was going to factor into the equation.
HBO2 aired his bout with China’s Zou Shiming.
It was in no hurry to even bring him up as a possible Gonzalez foe after that. Flyweights on HBO are rare. Potential flyweight stinkers aren’t in high demand.
Something needed to give. Something may have Wednesday in Thailand. In a rematch of a fight rife with questions about its in-ring officiating, the one-time Thai Olympian Ruenroeng (17-1, 5 KO) was stopped in four rounds by former IBF 108 lb. titlist John Riel Casimero of the Philippines. It’s a solid candidate for upset of the year.
Despite his fouling tendencies, Ruenroeng has also shown a refined skill set, deft counter punching ability, and high boxing IQ. Even the highest IQ can be undone with the proper hook to the chin and brutal shot to the body. Casimero (22-3, 14 KO), only 26, landed both.
Before the day was out, Casimero’s management team was already calling out Gonzalez. It’s no surprise. After spending a few years at 108 lbs. and working his way up at 112 being largely avoided by many, Gonzalez has a cache that spells better cash than typically available for boxing’s little men.
There’s no reason Gonzalez-Casimero can’t be a fight to consider right away. Unlike Ruenroeng, who also expressed a willingness to face Gonzalez, this is a fight that could be an easy sell to HBO. Gonzalez probably wins but there is little chance it gets ugly. It’s a unification fight and that could certainly be attractive in getting Gonzalez the HBO main event slot he craves.
The one thing missing in this excellent flyweight era has been a culmination. 115 lbs. had its turn in the last decade and, after years of wars, culminated with a unification showdown between Darchinyan and Cristian Mijares to cap off the era.
Gonzalez-Estrada II is the culminating fight right now. They are considered, far and away, the best in class. Gonzalez says he might be one fight away from a move to 115 and that would be the most anticipated clash possible. Coming off an injury, Estrada might not look there right away (though there was some talk on RingTV.com this week of a fight with leading Jr. flyweight Donnie Nietes).
Casimero could be the best step in that direction and a chance to keep Gonzalez around for possibly two more fights at 112. Since the WBC and WBA titles split at flyweight during the Lyndon Johnson administration, no one has captured all of that major alphabet titles at flyweight. There has been a steady string of lineal kings since Miguel Canto (give or take a Pacquiao missing weight). There has been no ‘undisputed’ champion.
Gonzalez-Casimero is a realistic fight that would put two titles on the line. Estrada holds the other two. If he fought a Nietes and still had those belts, and Gonzalez beat Casimero, it would be a little absurd not to finally have the rematch hardcore types have wanted since Gonzalez-Estrada I in 2012.
Imagine the tagline for the bout already: Gonzalez-Estrada II for Four. It has a nice ring to it.
Casimero’s upset of Ruenroeng might have laid the foundation for the possibility.
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
