3,425 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Cliff Rold byline.
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When any version of Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez ends up being a walk out bout, something good must have been going on in the ring. Something good was definitely going on in the ring on Saturday night.
By Cliff Rold - The sequel is never better than the original? Whoever said that never saw Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez II (or III), never saw the World Jr. Featherweight title traded twice as this pair of warriors pounded their way into likely Hall of Fame enshrinement. It’s one of the rare trilogies in fistic history, the only one which pops to mind in recent vintage, which managed to improve with each successive contest. If all they’d ever had was the first bout, a Marquez stoppage win where he came off the floor, these two men would be well remembered together.
23-year old South Korean Lightweight Ji-Hoon Kim (21-5, 18 KO) lost every second of the fight on Friday night at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas until the one second which counted, a right hand blast setting up a stoppage win with one second left in the opening round to secure victory over 26-year Panamanian Ameth Diaz (27-10, 19 KO).
By Cliff Rold - For a fighter looking to make their mark, to really stand out, there’s been no better place in recent years than the undercard of an Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez fight. Who can forget… Um. Exactly. With 2007 and 2008 Fights of the Year contested in their second and third encounters, and a runner-up classic in the 2007 rivalry premiere, the Vasquez-Marquez rivalry has overshadowed whole years, much less the supporting casts of their individual encounters. Fights like Vic Darchinyan’s near tragic outing against Victor Burgos and Celestino Caballero-Jorge Lacierva, for better or worse, were left to be little more than line items in the record book, swallowed by the vivid memories left behind by the two Mexican greats.
Is there enough money to make it all worth it? That will likely be the question some of the audience is asking when the main event of the week is over. It’s a question some are asking already. Why? Because, both past the age of 30 and notably slowed in the sparse action they’ve seen since their epic trilogy, Mexican greats Israel Vasquez and Rafael Marquez are going to do it for a fourth time. By “it,” anyone who saw even one of the first three wars knows what that means. These two will beat the hell out of each other.
It turned out to be what it looked like on paper: the easiest notable fights to pick so far in 2010. In a battle between two guys of comparable speed and boxing ability, pick the bigger, younger, more powerful guys when he’s in with someone who has a knockout percentage that looks like Tim Lincecum’s E.R.A…especially when the guy with the offensive advantages is a former Olympic Medalist with superstar hopes making a much hyped Madison Square Garden (and U.S. in general) debut.
Amir Khan has almost all of the ingredients for superstardom. The ethnic Pakistani won a Silver Medal in 2004 for the Brits, building on the feat towards a voracious local fan base. He’s shown speed, power, tremendous heart, and now the willingness to cross the pond. Almost all of the ingredients are there.
Largely unknown outside Europe, 34-year old Ukrainian WBO 154-lb. titlist Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KO) of Hamburg, Germany showed why he has been held in high regard by avid fight followers for the last few years at Jr. Middleweight, winning every round on Friday night at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California, en route to a tenth round stoppage of a game but sorely overmatched 32-year old Daniel Dawson (34-2, 24 KO) of Perth, Australia.
It was a crossroads Jr. Welterweight battle between a former titlist and challenger, the difference in those accomplishments showing in the ring. 30-year old former two-time IBF Lightweight beltholder Julio Diaz (37-6, 26 KO) of Coachella, California, halted a losing streak with a unanimous nod in ten rounds over 30-year old Herman Ngoudjo (18-4, 10 KO) at the Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada, on Friday night.
By Cliff Rold - Beginning his eleventh year as a professional, former unified Lightweight titlist Nate Campbell (33-5-1, 25 KO) can look back on a career which, in the best sense of the word, has been professional. The beginning of his narrative is well told. Campbell came late to the sport, turning pro in his later 20s without a lengthy amateur run. He fought in nightclubs and deep on undercards, into contention, and ultimately through the highs and lows of world title losses and wins. It’s not been the path of a superstar, but it’s been an honest run worthy of envy from the hundreds of fighters who started in similar places and never made it as far. Nate Campbell holds his fate in his own hands this weekend as he tries to extend that run.