Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?

Kirkland-Angulo: As hot as it is going to get?
Mark E. Ortega
Freelance
March 12, 2009


Also eight other matchups and whether they would come off better now or later

There are fights out there that quickly grasp the attention of the boxing public, sometimes a bit too early in time for it to be a realistic possibility based on where in their careers those two fighters are. That is one of the many things that make our sport intriguing, it is all in the timing. It isn’t like football or baseball, where they play basically the same set schedule with a few differences here and there. In boxing, you never can guess where you will be eight months from now; let alone two to five years from now.

With that said, in boxing, many times a fight will start building up heat and excitement even if it doesn’t make sense at that exact moment for that fight to come off. Promoters are always trying to build a fight up so much until both guys are at similar stages in their career, near their projected primes, so that it makes the most money. A lot of times, this has worked and many fights have come together that took years of build-up to produce. It seems that fights like Hagler-Hearns and Tyson-Holyfield, despite their numerous setbacks, were always meant to come together the way they did, and it served the winners in both of those fights much better based on the timing.



On the opposing side of things, let’s go to the end of 2005. Jermain Taylor had just dethroned long-reigning middleweight kingpin Bernard Hopkins and then successfully defended his newly-gained unified 160-pound titles in a rematch shortly following. His stock would not be any higher, as in his subsequent title defenses he would fight three junior middleweights coming up and look unspectacular in each instance. Taylor would finally defend his titles against Kelly Pavlik, who had never fought more than a few pounds below the 160-pound middleweight limit. Two losses had Taylor out of the top-tier and his future in question.

Jeff Lacy, former Olympic teammate to Taylor, was also on top of the mountain at the end of 2005. He was coming off of his fourth straight title defense of his IBF super middleweight title in which he knocked out Scott Pemberton inside of two rounds. Lacy would also never reach a higher point in his career, soon after losing terribly to Joe Calzaghe in a 168-pound unification bout. Lacy has since not found his way back to the top, and it doesn’t look likely with how tough both 168 and 175 have become.

Now, at this point most people said that a fight between the two needed a little more time to develop. Hindsight is 20/20, but when this fight finally came off late last year it did not pose quite the level of excitement that it would have circa early 2006. Both guys were at a crossroads in their career rather than jockeying for position amongst the top of everybody’s pound-for-pound lists.

A fight such as that took place just a few weeks back, a lightweight battle between Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz, arguably the best 135-pounders in the world. There is unquestionably no other time in either fighter’s career that this fight would have had as much heat as it did a little more than two weeks ago. It was that perfect situation where the winner gains quite a bunch in victory while the loser deteriorates very little in the eyes of the public.

There is a fight currently brewing at 154-pounds that is generating a high level of excitement that has people starting to wonder if its too soon to take place. It’s a fight that guarantees a Fight of the Year caliber performance, one between James Kirkland and Alfredo Angulo. Many are pressing for it, but is it too soon?

Neither fighter is a belt holder at this point in their careers, but how important is that? We already have gotten to a point where the titles don’t really carry much significance to the general public so why risk a big fight like this over trying to grab a belt? Getting a belt at 154 might be tough, and there aren’t very many faded fighters with names at junior middleweight for these guys to add to their ledger in the meantime. Both guys have glaring weaknesses in their defense and can be beaten by a slick boxer such as Sergio Gabriel Martinez. Both of these guys run the risk of being exposed like Lacy was by Calzaghe, so a fight between these two might not get any hotter than it is already.

There are quite a few other fights that sit in this exact situation. Let’s take a look at each one and weigh the options on which would be a better choice, if this fight happened immediately or if we gave it some time to marinate.

David Haye vs. Chris Arreola – heavyweight
Now or Later? Now. Haye is having trouble locking down a fight with Wladimir Klitschko currently, mainly due to the ridiculous demands coming from the Klitschko side of things. Arreola has a bout with Jameel McCline, his first real test, for the April undercard of Paul Williams against Winky Wright. If Arreola gets by McCline, these guys should just go straight at each other rather than wait for Wlad. Wlad would then likely be forced into a fight with mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin, who at this stage in his career has more of the tools necessary for beating Wladimir Klitschko than either Haye or Arreola. Nobody can deny that a Haye-Arreola fight has a lot more excitement behind it than either guy going against Wlad. Haye’s shortcomings are his chin and stamina, Arreola’s are his defense and conditioning. Both fighters’ weaknesses play into each other’s strengths, and it would likely be a battle of who lands the first big punch. If these guys stick to the current path, there is a high risk of being beaten very badly by Wladimir and never recovering from that.

Tavoris Cloud vs. Yusaf Mack – light heavyweight
Now or Later? Later. Boxing fans are just starting to realize how good these two young fighters are, there is no sense in spoiling that by pitting the two of them against each other right away. Especially when you consider the fact that 175 is stacked at the top with veteran fighters who are on their last legs, some being tougher than they look with others being prime for the pickings. At some point, the group of fighters that includes Roy Jones, Jr., Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Clinton Woods, and Julio Gonzalez have to hang them up and make room for the young talent that crowds light heavyweight. Cloud is currently the mandatory to the IBF title that Chad Dawson will likely have to vacate, meaning Cloud could be fighting for a vacant title in his next fight. Mack has just started to erase his two embarrassing losses at super middleweight with his most recent win over Chris Henry being his biggest win to date. A fight between these two would make much more sense once they tidy up their resume a little bit. Neither guy is seemingly afraid of anyone, and Cloud is one of the best young American fighters coming up. Cloud against Glen Johnson would be a fantastic battle that could give him the kind of publicity needed to gain the attention of the big money fighters at the top.

Andre Ward vs. Andre Dirrell – super middleweight 
Now or later? Now. This is a very similar situation to that of Taylor and Lacy. Both guys were on the same United States Olympic team. Unlike Taylor and Lacy, though, these two have been brought along rather slowly and carefully, so it is unlikely that these two fight each other anytime soon. 168 is a difficult division without very many big names along the way for either fighter to try and add to their resume without much risk. Both guys have fallen out of favor with the casual boxing fan before, but are creeping up on everyone’s watch lists again. Dirrell looked unimpressive in his fight against Curtis Stevens but has grabbed our attention again after thoroughly dominating Anthony Hanshaw en route to a fifth-round stoppage. Ward has looked great in his last few fights but has lacked that spectacular finish to his fights that people tend to notice. A win against an opponent the level of Dirrell would do wonders for Ward’s career.

Victor Ortiz vs. Mike Alvarado – junior welterweight 
Now or Later? Later. Ortiz has busted onto the scene with spectacular wins on HBO programming, but Alvarado is not known outside of die-hard boxing circles. Both guys would be better suited adding another recognizable name or two to their resume, or even trying to pick up one of the many available titles at 140. I would like to see either guy fight Juan Lazcano, who still carries a name and a good enough test to get an idea of how good these two fighters are. Juan Urango is a world champion that many would favor both Ortiz and Alvarado over, so he remains a good possibility. Andriy Kotelnik, the WBA champion, hasn’t fought outside of Europe so unless Ortiz or Alvarado are willing to travel overseas, coming by a belt might be hard at 140 in the immediate future. Still, this fight needs a little time to sizzle before it gets put together.

Vicente Escobedo vs. Antonio DeMarco – lightweight 
Now or Later? Now. Neither of these guys are very big names at all yet, but both have potential to be serious threats. Escobedo was one of Golden Boy Promotions’ first young fighters, and they received a lot of harsh criticism for moving him along very quickly at the beginning of his career. Following his decision loss to Daniel Jimenez, Golden Boy has gone the opposite way with Escobedo, moving him along at a snail’s pace. His win over Dominic Salcido was the biggest of his career, and it’s hard to say he looked fantastic in that one. DeMarco is coming off of a huge win against Kid Diamond, which many considered a mild upset. If these guys were to meet now, the winner would immediately be put in line for a shot at one of the many belts while the other would take a step back to where they just were. Waiting on this fight leaves a lot of potential for one of these guys to suffer another loss and be out of the discussion entirely.

Robert Guerrero vs. Jorge Linares – super featherweight 
Now or Later? Later. This may surprisingly be the fight I wish to see the most. Guerrero, 25, just got his first shot on prime HBO television and suffered a cut and some bad luck against Daud Yordan. Linares, 23, only fought once in 2008 and has fought just once inside of the United States. Linares has many die-hard followers that have had the luck to see him in action very excited and expect to see him get more in the mix in 2009. His bout with Oscar Larios on the Hopkins-Wright undercard had lots of people talking, but a lot of that buzz wore off after he was laid off with an injury for most of 2008.

Nonito Donaire vs. Brian Viloria – flyweight 
Now or Later? That all depends on how Viloria’s title shot against junior flyweight champion Ulises Solis shakes out on the undercard of Donaire’s title defense against Raul Martinez. Donaire could also easily lose to Martinez, so there is a lot to consider come April. But what makes this fight very interesting is the history between the two fighters. Viloria beat both Donaire brothers during the Olympic Trials and the Donaire clan has long felt that they were robbed against Viloria in both fights. Neither brother have made positive comments about Viloria in the past, so you could guess there may be some bad blood there. If Viloria were to become victorious against Solis (a very slim possibility), a fight between two Philippinos with world titles would be a rather big fight for a couple of undersized guys.

Ivan Calderon vs. Roman Gonzalez – junior flyweight 
Now or Later? Now. Not many people have seen Gonzalez in action, but they probably have heard a thing or two. I have had the luck of seeing footage of Gonzalez, and he has a very good set of skills. This might not be a bout featuring two young fighters, as Calderon is 34, but it is a bout that has a small window of being very meaningful. Calderon is getting closer to the end of his career while Gonzalez, at 21, is just beginning what looks to be a very long one. Gonzalez looked fantastic in disposing of former minimumweight champion Yutaka Niida in four one-sided rounds. He didn’t look stellar in a recent title defense but still carries a lot of momentum behind him. Calderon is the undisputed king of boxing south of about 120 pounds, having gone undefeated through 32 professional bouts. The only other fight that poses as much interest would be seeing Calderon fight Ulises Solis in a battle of 108-pound kingpins.