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By Cliff Rold - I almost titled this piece “short end of the stick because they’re short” but decided that wouldn’t be fair. It would point out things that are no fault of two fighters who this weekend may combine for a classic. Looking around the last few weeks at the fights getting all the bulk of the attention, one might have assumed boxing was on hiatus until September. I assure you it is not.
Not if you have access to Dish Network anyways.
No, rather than a hiatus boxing provides this Saturday night one of the best matches it can offer in any weight division: Hugo Cazares versus Ivan Calderon. Yet even those who consider themselves hardcore fans can be forgiven if they didn’t realize it was so soon or even that it was. After all, the fighters in the ring will weigh 216 lbs.
Combined.
That shouldn’t be an issue of course but being honest I know that, for too many fans, it probably is. If that’s the case, those fans are likely to miss one hell of a fight, an example of boxing done right.
If you, and yes I’m talking right to you invisible reader, have ever lamented or heard it said that the best don’t fight the best in boxing anymore, this is your fight. Hell, this is your year. 2007 has produced a steady flow of fights, from 112 to 200 lbs., that have featured prime elite fighters in every weight class against each other…with more of the same on tap from now to **** Clark’s Rocking’ New Years 2008.
Calderon challenging Cazares for the World junior flyweight championship is a fight in that vein. It’s a fight as good as any that can be made in the sport. Once the gloves are donned and the clang of the opening bell echoes throughout the 13,000 seat Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, it will have a chance to be better.
Allow me introduce the unfamiliar masses to the combatants.
The ostensible star of the show is Calderon (28-0, 6 KO), a 5’0 foot tall master of his craft who at age 32 has his greatest challenge in front of him. Hailing from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Ring Magazine’s #1 contender to the long vacant World title at 105 lbs. was a teammate of burgeoning 147 lb. superstar Miguel Cotto in the 2000 Olympics and has had every bit the exceptional professional career. The lack of equal accolade is a direct corollary to the forty pounds between them. [details]
Not if you have access to Dish Network anyways.
No, rather than a hiatus boxing provides this Saturday night one of the best matches it can offer in any weight division: Hugo Cazares versus Ivan Calderon. Yet even those who consider themselves hardcore fans can be forgiven if they didn’t realize it was so soon or even that it was. After all, the fighters in the ring will weigh 216 lbs.
Combined.
That shouldn’t be an issue of course but being honest I know that, for too many fans, it probably is. If that’s the case, those fans are likely to miss one hell of a fight, an example of boxing done right.
If you, and yes I’m talking right to you invisible reader, have ever lamented or heard it said that the best don’t fight the best in boxing anymore, this is your fight. Hell, this is your year. 2007 has produced a steady flow of fights, from 112 to 200 lbs., that have featured prime elite fighters in every weight class against each other…with more of the same on tap from now to **** Clark’s Rocking’ New Years 2008.
Calderon challenging Cazares for the World junior flyweight championship is a fight in that vein. It’s a fight as good as any that can be made in the sport. Once the gloves are donned and the clang of the opening bell echoes throughout the 13,000 seat Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, it will have a chance to be better.
Allow me introduce the unfamiliar masses to the combatants.
The ostensible star of the show is Calderon (28-0, 6 KO), a 5’0 foot tall master of his craft who at age 32 has his greatest challenge in front of him. Hailing from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Ring Magazine’s #1 contender to the long vacant World title at 105 lbs. was a teammate of burgeoning 147 lb. superstar Miguel Cotto in the 2000 Olympics and has had every bit the exceptional professional career. The lack of equal accolade is a direct corollary to the forty pounds between them. [details]
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