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Bigger is Not Better: A Defense of the Lower Weights
By Tom Luffman-January 12, 2008
(Managing Editor's Note: Tom Luffman is the newest Feature Writer on RSR and brings a lot of experience and boxing knowledge to you the readers of RSR and is a welcomed addition to the team.)
In boxing, in America, many people watch the heavyweight division like it is the premier weight class, while often relegating the lower weights to a secondary status that is neither deserved nor warranted. Given this atmosphere amongst the general sports public and casual boxing fans it may surprise many to learn that last year Oscar De La Hoya passed Mike Tyson to become the largest pay-per-view draw ever.
However, “The Golden Boy” has been a media darling since winning the Gold medal for the USA 1992 Summer Olympics. In doing so, De La Hoya capped a stellar amateur career with a record of 223-5, 163 KO’s. After turning pro he picked up his first title at the age of 20 and his career has been a almost constant climb to ever higher heights ever since. Certainly Oscar earned the right to compete in the rarified air he currently enjoys. Given The Golden Boy’s current status and popularity it would be logical for some to jump to the conclusion that anyone with similar talent could make the same climb to super stardom in America, regardless of weight class.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In America even hardcore fans generally don’t follow divisions lower than lightweight. I know, I can nearly hear your cries of, what about Israel Vazquez, Rafael and Juan Manuel Marquez? But I didn’t claim American fans didn’t know isolated names from below 130 pounds. The fact is most Americans cannot name any of the major belt holders are in the minimumweight/strawweight division. I’ve asked people at ringside what guys in this division must weigh in order to make weight. You’d be surprised by how many do not know it is a maximum of 105 (47.6 kg).
Before I come across as too accusatory, I want to put the blame where it belongs. Myself and sports media at large, as well as promoters whose job it is to “get out the word” on their guys. When it comes to boxing media, in our haste to cover fights that sell and are popular in America we leave behind some very talented folks that ply their trade in other countries and mostly under the radar of a lot of fans and writers. We’re in an era where boxing as a sport has been relegated to the backroom or sports coverage so even talented superstars like Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao fail to garner the coverage they deserve by large sports outlets such as ESPN or your local nightly news sports anchor. Frankly, the few boxing writers who occupy spots with organizations that cover many sports do their best just to get the stars coverage. Whatsmore, they are increasingly expected to cover MMA, which cuts down the time they get to spend on lesser known, but very talented boxers. Also, with four major belts per class we now have literally dozens of champions at any given time. Some guys will inevitably and regretfully fall through the cracks in boxing coverage, even on boxing sites.
To combat the knowledge gap of the sub-130 pounders here is a short list of a few boxers that are absolutely worthy of your attention from those weight classes. By no means is it an exhaustive list. Special attention is paid to a variety and I left off the likes of Steve Molitor, Rafael Marquez and others I was sure most readers would have heard of or even watched before, but since RSR has the best boxing fans I highly doubt you’ll get through the list without recognizing someone.
Ivan Calderon, 30-0, 6 KO’s. The biggest complaint I hear about lower weight fighters is their inability to end the fight in a moment’s notice. This is true of Calderon, he’s not going to knock many people out, but what he does do in the ring is poetry. For someone who didn’t turn pro until he was 26 years old Calderon has the fundamentals of the game down. After successful defending the WBO Minimumweight crown eleven times he went up to light flyweight this past August and won the WBO crown there as well. He has successfully defended it once so far and looks set to challenge the elite in his new division.
While Calderon falls into the stereotype of the “light hitting lower class boxer,” Ulises Solis is the antithesis of it. Solis is 26-1-2, 20 KO’s. He is the current IBF light flyweight titlist and has beaten back five challenges for the belt. He’s 26 years old and has knocked the last three in a row. His lone loss is to Nelson Dieppa. Since the lone loss Solis has gone 8-0-1 with 6 KO’s. I hope the two can get together for a rematch this year.
Florante “Little Pacquiao” Condes, 22-3-1, 20 KO’s. Condes’s record suffers from early career defeats, but he’s riding a nine-fight win streak that he capped with a split decision victory over Muhammad Rachman to win the IBF Minimumweight title on July 7th, last year. His first defense will be against Raul Garcia on February 16th, and should be a barn burner. Garcia is 21-0-1, 15 KO’s, against lesser competition. Both men have power and should either connect solid it could make for a spectacularly short evening. In addition, the match will take place in Mexico. Unfortunately, this is the same night as the Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor rematch, so you’ll likely need to search for a copy or a clip online.
Vic Darchinyan. I nearly left Vic off of the list because he is one of the more popular svelte boxers. He boasts a record of 29-1, 23 KO’s. He is the former IBF Flyweight Champion, winning the title from Irene Pacheco, who was flying high at 30-0 at the time. He defended the title six times before succumbing to Nonito Donaire by fifth round TKO this past July. He’ll take on contender Z Gorres on February 2nd.
Nonito Donaire, 19-1, 12 KO’s, seemed to come out of nowhere when he beat Darchinyan six months ago. He had yet to fight anyone of note and the odds seemed long that he would beat the champion. However, behind a crushing display of power he won the title and then following that performance with an impressive decking of contender Luis Maldonado.
Kiko Martinez is a bit of a dark horse. While other people on this list have won titles, Martinez just crashed the party with a one round destruction of prospect Bernard Dunne in front of Dunne’s hometown crowd in Dublin, Ireland. He’s 17-0, 14 KO’s, and if his pummeling of Dunne is a vision of things to come he’s definitely worthy of your attention.
While many of these men fight outside the reaches of American television, look for replays on the web. These guys work their craft just as hard as their bigger brothers and often display a dazzling array of speed, foot movement, accurate punching, head feints and opportunistic offense that will leave even the most entrenched heavyweight fan begging for more.Comment
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im 5'4, and i'm 190 lbs, and looking to get into boxing.Comment
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I'm the same height as an average featherweight but I weight around flyweight lol.Comment
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