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April 26, 2006
World champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon just might be the sweetest boxer in the world today, but at 105 pounds he just might have run out of opponents and is looking to 108 pounds to cement his place in boxing history.
"I would like to unify the title at 105. I want to match my skills with some other champions, but if that's not possible, going after a second world title at 108, later this year is not out of the question for me," said Calderon.
Calderon (25-0, 5 KOs) will be making the tenth world title defense of his WBO 105-pound belt on Saturday night in his hometown of Guaynabo against Miguel Tellez (17-5, 6 KOs) of Managua, Nicaragua in the main event of a DirecTV pay-per-view show that will be available to customers of that satellite network in the United States.
"Calderon is the best pure boxer in the world today, even greater then Mayweather. It's amazing to me that Calderon has accomplished so much without a real big punch," said Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc.
Waiting at 108 is a very interesting opponent for Calderon and that is Brian Viloria, the WBC Mini Flyweight champion and old rival from the amateur days.
"Fighting Viloria would be nice. We fought a few times in the amateurs, he beat me twice, but I beat him to classified to the 2000 Olympics Games and he had to go to another qualifying tournament to get into those same games," recalled Calderon.
Calderon and Viloria where both part of a pay-per-view card as world champions back in February of this year in Las Vegas and got to see for themselves how far they have come along since those amateur days long ago.
"Viloria, still is a strong puncher with fast hands, but he still gets hit a lot. And you know what they say, you can't hit what you can't see," said Calderon.
"We want to make that fight (Calderon-Viloria), because we think is a natural and because we know these guys wanted. This fight Saturday is very important for Calderon, because he will be a step closer to Viloria," said Arum.
Also on the pay-per-view card from Puerto Rico is a very interesting bout between former world champion Cesar Bazan (45-7-1, 29 KOs) of Mexico City who will take on Henry Bruseles (23-3-1, 12 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico and in an IBF bantamweight eliminator Irene Pacheco (31-1, 24 KO's) of Colombia will take on Heriberto Ruiz (34-4-2, 19 KO's) of Mexico.
World champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon just might be the sweetest boxer in the world today, but at 105 pounds he just might have run out of opponents and is looking to 108 pounds to cement his place in boxing history.
"I would like to unify the title at 105. I want to match my skills with some other champions, but if that's not possible, going after a second world title at 108, later this year is not out of the question for me," said Calderon.
Calderon (25-0, 5 KOs) will be making the tenth world title defense of his WBO 105-pound belt on Saturday night in his hometown of Guaynabo against Miguel Tellez (17-5, 6 KOs) of Managua, Nicaragua in the main event of a DirecTV pay-per-view show that will be available to customers of that satellite network in the United States.
"Calderon is the best pure boxer in the world today, even greater then Mayweather. It's amazing to me that Calderon has accomplished so much without a real big punch," said Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc.
Waiting at 108 is a very interesting opponent for Calderon and that is Brian Viloria, the WBC Mini Flyweight champion and old rival from the amateur days.
"Fighting Viloria would be nice. We fought a few times in the amateurs, he beat me twice, but I beat him to classified to the 2000 Olympics Games and he had to go to another qualifying tournament to get into those same games," recalled Calderon.
Calderon and Viloria where both part of a pay-per-view card as world champions back in February of this year in Las Vegas and got to see for themselves how far they have come along since those amateur days long ago.
"Viloria, still is a strong puncher with fast hands, but he still gets hit a lot. And you know what they say, you can't hit what you can't see," said Calderon.
"We want to make that fight (Calderon-Viloria), because we think is a natural and because we know these guys wanted. This fight Saturday is very important for Calderon, because he will be a step closer to Viloria," said Arum.
Also on the pay-per-view card from Puerto Rico is a very interesting bout between former world champion Cesar Bazan (45-7-1, 29 KOs) of Mexico City who will take on Henry Bruseles (23-3-1, 12 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico and in an IBF bantamweight eliminator Irene Pacheco (31-1, 24 KO's) of Colombia will take on Heriberto Ruiz (34-4-2, 19 KO's) of Mexico.
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