by Cliff Rold

For the second week in a row, the Lightweight division gave boxing a Fight of the Year candidate.  Punch for punch, second for second, this week may have been better.

It probably won’t go down as the better fight in year-end awards.  Last week saw the real Lightweight title defended by a Hall of Famer in Juan Manuel Marquez, the champion coming off the floor to score the stop over Michael Katsidis.  That counts for a lot.  So does the size of the audience.  Having happened on an off-Broadway pay-per-view show, in a sparsely populated arena, means less people saw it, less buzz was to be had.

It is no matter.  Those who saw it know what it was. 

Humberto Soto-Urbano Antillon: instant classic. 

Let’s go to the report cards for the Lightweight war and a big move at Bantamweight.

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Nonito Donaire A; Wladimir Sidorenko B+/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Donaire B+; Sidorenko C-/Post: A; C-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Donaire B; Sidorenko B+/Post: B+; D
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Donaire B+; Sidorenko B+/Post: A; A

Pre-Fight: Speed – Soto B; Antillon B-/Post: B; B
Pre-Fight: Power – Soto B; Antillon B/Post: B+; B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Soto C+; Antillon C-/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Soto B; Antillon B/Post: A for Both

Soto (54-7-2, 32 KO) must not be a tricky fighter to manage if pleasing crowds is the plan.  Keep him away from cuties (like Joan Guzman), stick him with another guy willing to throw, and he’s golden.  It was the case again Saturday and, while Soto earned eight or nine rounds in the scoring, Antillon (28-2, 20 KO) showed himself to be every bit the man Soto was.

It’s hard to describe the action, relentless as it was, though BoxingScene’s Jake Donovan did a yeoman’s job as always.  What must be commended was the recuperative ability shown by Antillon.  Buzzed in the second, he looked all but out on his feet at the end of the tenth and yet dug deep to have an impressive eleventh.  It was the sort of loss that deserves a reward.

From the sound of things, promoter Bob Arum will be giving him one, suggesting a showdown with IBF titlist Miguel Vazquez while Soto deals with the tempestuous challenge of Brandon Rios.  Both are excellent matches and suggest a vicious, crowd-pleasing round robin in what is for now a very segregated Lightweight division.

The Golden Boy-Top Rank rivalry could be a killer at 135 lbs. with both sides having some outstanding warriors that they can run almost exclusively in-house.  Golden Boy has Marquez and can hope to match him with their Robert Guerrero if a bigger fight does not emerge.  Top Rank’s plans are laid out.  The odd man out, sadly, is the first to defeat Antillon, WBA titlist Miguel Acosta.  Acosta keeps winning and he’ll find his place.  The in-house round robins, while they play out, will be worth every second of fight fan attention.  Time will tell if a real, top of the class pay off comes down the line.

There is less promotional sniping to worry about at Bantamweight and, on Saturday, the best division in the game went from “arguably” to decidedly.  Donaire (25-1, 17 KO) picked up his best win since a 2007 stoppage of Vic Darchinyan and looked like a monster doing it.

Despite moving up in weight, officially, Donaire was expected to enter the ring the larger man and was by quite a bit.  Sidorenko (22-3-2, 7 KO) is a Bantamweight by any standard.  Donaire is a great example of the ability of men with the right metabolisms and adaptability to day-before weigh-in's to fight in weight classes well below where they would be if they had to weigh in the day of fights.

The scale on Friday said Donaire and Sidorenko were ounces apart.  Watching Donaire tower over his man in the ring, it looked like a Jr. Lightweight versus a small Bantamweight.  It probably was, though there were no unofficial weights to note. 

Regardless, Donaire beat a one-time Bantamweight titlist in a way some of the best smaller fighters in the world have never come close to.  Sidorenko’s high, tight guard was just open enough to eat every Donaire jab and the right hand behind the stick was an accurate thunderbolt. The fight was over when Sidorenko was dropped at the end of the first. 

Only his champion’s heart kept him on his feet three more rounds.  Sidorenko even managed to show some quickness with his right, and would probably be competitive with many of the rest at 115 and 118.  Donaire was just too much for him.  While the pre-fight report card predicted a close affair, Sidorenko was taken out before he could land anything worthwhile or establish a rhythm.  It was just a night where he was not going to be the better man.

One week before Showtime’s Bantamweight tournament kicks off, and the same week that Japanese superstar Koki Kameda was announced as being up for a vacant belt in the class before month’s end, Bantamweight has found a way to expand on a top ten as deep as any in the game.  Unlike their closest competitor on those terms (Jr. Welterweight), Bantamweight has a depth of experience at the top of class to go with it.

Donaire is expected to move next to the leader of the pack, Fernando Montiel, in February.  It’s not official yet.  It should be after a Montiel tune-up next weekend.  Fans have wondered when Donaire would capitalize fully on the talent he showed in the Darchinyan.

Sidorenko was the beginning of a response.  Montiel is a hell of a follow up.             

Report Card Picks 2010: 37-14

Ratings Impact

Donaire enters the Bantamweight ratings high, at four, behind only the three reigning titlists in class.  That’s how impressive blowing out the accomplished Sidorenko was.  Antillon was impressive enough to enter the Lightweight ratings at number ten, displacing former titlist Paulus Moses.

Exiting along with Moses were former Jr. Middleweight titlist Daniel Santos and former Heavyweight titlist Nicolay Valuev, both of whom have been inactive for over a year.  Could more moves be on tap with the Heavyweight title up for grabs this weekend?

Don’t bet on it.

At Featherweight, Chris John returned form over a year off and, with his 13th defense, maintained a tentative hold on the top slot.  He is supposed to be facing Yuriorkis Gamboa next.  If he does not, he should and likely will drop.  If he fights Gamboa, he is likely to get dropped in more than the ratings.  His longevity merits the respect of waiting until. 

These moves and more are reflected in the latest ratings update.

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