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By Thomas Gerbasi - After 34 wins and no losses, and a reign as champion over two divisions for over seven years, Ivan Calderon shouldn’t have been surprised by the reception he got in his native Puerto Rico after he finally suffered the first defeat of his career against Giovani Segura last August.
“Everybody in the streets still tells me ‘you’re still our champ, you gave your best for us,’ and ‘you lost to another champ. You didn’t lose to a nobody,’” recalled Calderon. “They said ‘You got your loss, but it was the best fight you did in all your fights.’”
He chuckles.
“I always wanted to have that Fight of the Year, but I didn’t imagine that I was gonna have the Fight of the Year in my loss.”
Some figured he wasn’t going to lose. He was that good for that long, coming out of the 2000 Olympics and turning into perhaps the best defensive boxer we’ve seen since Pernell Whitaker. For purists, there was nothing better than an Ivan Calderon fight, and even as he approached his mid-30’s (a danger zone for fighters in the lighter weight classes), his two fight series with Hugo Cazares proved that he still had it.
Then came Segura, a Mexican bull with the type of pressure that not only busts pipes, but tears the whole house down in the process. In their August bout in Guaynabo for the WBO and WBA junior flyweight titles, Segura and Calderon went to war in a Fight of the Year candidate that probably would have clinched the honor if it were contested above 135 pounds. But regardless, the two 108 pounders delivered the kind of effort you want to see in all championship bouts, and the contrasting styles added even more drama to the proceedings. [Click Here To Read More]
“Everybody in the streets still tells me ‘you’re still our champ, you gave your best for us,’ and ‘you lost to another champ. You didn’t lose to a nobody,’” recalled Calderon. “They said ‘You got your loss, but it was the best fight you did in all your fights.’”
He chuckles.
“I always wanted to have that Fight of the Year, but I didn’t imagine that I was gonna have the Fight of the Year in my loss.”
Some figured he wasn’t going to lose. He was that good for that long, coming out of the 2000 Olympics and turning into perhaps the best defensive boxer we’ve seen since Pernell Whitaker. For purists, there was nothing better than an Ivan Calderon fight, and even as he approached his mid-30’s (a danger zone for fighters in the lighter weight classes), his two fight series with Hugo Cazares proved that he still had it.
Then came Segura, a Mexican bull with the type of pressure that not only busts pipes, but tears the whole house down in the process. In their August bout in Guaynabo for the WBO and WBA junior flyweight titles, Segura and Calderon went to war in a Fight of the Year candidate that probably would have clinched the honor if it were contested above 135 pounds. But regardless, the two 108 pounders delivered the kind of effort you want to see in all championship bouts, and the contrasting styles added even more drama to the proceedings. [Click Here To Read More]
and LMAO at calderon even going the distance let alone winning
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