The Lightweight Division – No Country For Young Men By Jake Donovan (March 25, 2008) Photo © German Villasenor Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Everyone had it all figured out for the lightweight division. Juan Diaz was going to beat up every other Diaz in the division, and collect their alphabet hardware in the process. Michael Katsidis, rapidly emerging as the object of HBO’s affection, was to expand on his breakthrough year in 2007 and collect real scalps in 2008. By year’s end, who knows? Perhaps we’re even treated to a Diaz-Katsidis clash for all of the lightweight marbles. By then, the next breed – Anthony Peterson and Amir Khan among others - will be ready for prime time, leading to plenty to look forward to in 2009. Joel Casamayor? His first loss would coincide with his first fight in 2008. Nate Campbell was just a pesky mandatory Juan Diaz was to clear from his schedule before moving on to bigger game. Erik Morales’ career ended last year following a close points loss to 31-year old David Diaz, whose only task for ’08 was to keep his alphabet belt warm for Juan Diaz or Manny Pacquiao, whoever offered a contract first. After all, this was the lightweight division, where careers are supposed to wind down, not begin, once you hit 30 years old. Unlike the heavyweight division – or even light heavyweight for the time being, 135 and below is no country for old men. Anton Chigurh, meet today’s remaining top lightweights. Juan Diaz could’ve used a slaughterhouse stun gun (or whatever the hell it was that Chigurh carried throughout rural Texas) earlier this month when desperately trying (and failing miserably) to fend off Nate Campbell in Mexico. Perhaps the night just wasn’t meant to be for Diaz, who was overrun by Murphy’s Law leading up to and during the 12-round bout. Fight week began with Don King publicly declaring that he was no longer in the Juan Diaz business. Normally King waits until after a fight is over to sever ties with the losing fighter – go in with the champ, leave with the champ. But this split was due to the outspoken promoter and his legal team growing tired of months-long squabbling with manager Willie Savannah, though the timing certainly sucked. Later in the week, trainer Ronnie Shields slipped and fell in the lobby of a Cancun hotel, limiting his fight night involvement in Diaz’ corner to shouting instructions from a wheelchair. Then, of course, fight night came. Youth certainly didn’t prevail, nor did the Baby Bull in the Mexican bullring. Instead it was 36-year old Nate Campbell turning back the clock, offering the best performance of his career in dominating the man said to be the best lightweight on the planet. Gone were talks of Diaz taking on the winner of Casamayor-Katsidis to once and for all end the “best-vs.-linear” confusion atop the lightweight division. The unspoken hopes behind scheduling the bouts two weeks apart were to produce a winner vs. winner scenario later in the year, though those who brokered the fights were of the belief that Diaz and Katsidis would be the last two men standing. That Diaz wasn’t the winner wasn’t a marketing killer. Campbell has proven for years that he can hold court with the best of them, making any pre-fight buildup an entertaining one. And so what if Katsidis had to get past one old man to face another? All that matters is that Katsidis appear in front of a television camera once the opening bell rings, and bring his newly claimed linear and magazine title to the dance. After all, his beating the badly faded – some would even say, shot – Casamayor was a foregone conclusion. Only someone forgot to remind the old man, who started and finished strong against the challenger nine years his junior. The in-between was the part that comforted the minds of all of those who picked Katsidis to steamroll the Cuban, but not before watching their guy twice hit the deck before the end of the first round. But what better way to showcase to the boxing world their “new Arturo Gatti” than to have the free-swinging – and bleeding – Aussie overcome a little drama. So it was a marketer’s dream come true when Katsidis – bloody, battered and five points down after three rounds – began to violently claim control of the fight in the fourth round. Casamayor was knocked out of the ring in round six, which ended with Katsidis now within one point on the scorecards. Heading into the double-digit rounds, Katsidis clawed all the way back to claim a one-point lead on two of three scorecards (and, unsurprisingly enough, up by 3 points on HBO’s unofficial card). Three more rounds and the lightweight division would once again have a young man to turn to in its search of a future leader. Only an old man’s fist came crashing through a young man’s world, with a Casamayor left hand shot sending Katsidis to the canvas early in the 10th for the third time in the bout. The fight was functionally over at that point, only referee Jon Schorle (Steve Kim’s favorite official) opted to give Katsidis the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was playing up to the Arturo Gatti theme. Maybe Armando Garcia was to play Larry Hazzard Sr. to Schorle’s Randy Neumann, and dive into the ring to save the battered fighter from further unnecessary punishment when the referee proved to be unwilling. Whatever the case, Katsidis ate a few more shots before Schorle realized what everyone else already knew - the young man wasn’t rallying back, nor was the old man backing down. Dashed were anyone’s hopes of youngest in charge playing out in the division. As it stands now, the fight to end all lightweight debates is now a rematch between a pair of 36-year-old pugs in Casamayor-Campbell II. Even that isn’t guaranteed to happen anytime soon. Nate was emphatic in his willingness to make it or any other fight happen in the immediate future. Casamayor? Not so much. Not that the thought of a rematch was rejected, but it remains more of a Plan B at the moment. Plan A calls for more old men to enter the fold – Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, assuming they can be properly persuaded (read, HBO putting up enough money) to come out of retirement. There’s also the thought of waiting in line along with everyone else for the arrival of Manny Pacquiao. Though not quite an old man – a mere 29 and considered among the world’s best two or three best fighters, depending on whom you ask – the Filipino phenom runs the risk of attempting to conquer one division too many. It happens to the best of them – Wilfred Benitez found out the hard way that middleweight was never going to be a good fit; ditto for Alexis Arguello in his efforts to add the junior welterweight crown to his trophy case filled with championships in three other weight classes. Even Morales can tip off his old friendly rival, with the former three-division titlist ending his career 0-3 in bouts that took place above 130 lb. But whether Pacquiao goes on to become a lightweight player or the division’s most lucrative steppingstone, awaiting him won’t be the company of the rising stars, but elder statesmen. At age 31, David Diaz – Pacquiao’s planned next opponent – is among the younger top lightweights who’ve yet to lose a fight in 2008. And for those who still invest stock into alphabet hardware, a bout between Campbell and the winner of Diaz-Pacquiao would be for all four recognized straps. Chief among the awaiting mandatory challengers and interim titlists? Joel Casamayor, thanks to his knockout over former interim champ Katsidis. Still waiting in the wings are the likes of Diaz and Katsidis, once at the top of the queue but have since been pushed down toward the middle of the pack thanks to recent losses. Joining them in the future – near or otherwise - will be Anthony Peterson and Amir Khan, both of whom are long on talent but short on competition level; Khan is starting to come along, while Peterson’s best opponents to date still remain blown up junior lightweight no-hopers. The beauty of youth is that, for Juan Diaz, Katsidis, Peterson, Khan and the rest of the 30-and-under sect, there is plenty of time – and room – for improvement. For that reason, among others, there will always be room for all in the lightweight division now and in the foreseeable future. Just not at the top. SPRING BREAK BEFORE WE SPRING AHEAD It’s been a heck of a March – really a heck of a start to 2008, but the sport at the top level will undergo a hiatus for the next couple of weeks. The formal response that will be offered by networks is that this time of the year generally doesn’t produce favorable ratings, and that it’s wiser to invest more into strengthening its April and May lineups. The truth behind the truth: neither HBO nor Showtime is interested in going head to head with the final stages of college basketball’s March Madness. Even for those who care so little about anything else but boxing that you even dream in three-minute intervals, there’s not much to offer between now and April 12. Chief among this week’s televised action; a loser-leaves-town match of sorts between Kassim Ouma and Cornelius Bundrage, which headlines this week’s ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights telecast. The most significant bout of the week takes place online, with Cory Spinks and Devon Alexander playing to their hometown St. Louis crowd in separate bouts this Thursday at the Scottrade Center. Spinks takes on battle-tested top 10 junior middleweight contender Verno Phillips in the evening’s main event, while his stable mate Alexander, a richly talented unbeaten welterweight prospect takes on Miguel Callist in the chief support. Callist was the original opponent for Alexander’s PPV debut in January, only to suffer a late injury resulting in his being replaced by Demarcus Corley. The show airs live on www.donkingtv.com, except for the St. Louis area, which will be blacked out unless the event is sold out. FoxSports also returns to the boxing fold, offering tape-delayed action from a San Jose card headlined by Andre Ward super middleweight battle with Rubin Williams last Thursday. Also on the card, a six-round welterweight bout between unbeaten newcomers Karim Mayfield and Francisco Santana. Of course, one of them is no longer unbeaten, but out of respect to FoxSports (and those living under a rock), no results will be revealed here prior to the telecast. ENZO CALZAGHE AND THE BWAA CURSE It happens every year. With the Boxing Writers Association of America’s annual awards dinner being scheduled later and later each year, the greater its recipients run the risk of suffering a letdown prior to receiving their award. It’s happened two years in a row with the Trainer of the Year. Dan Birmingham – who won the award back to back in 2004 and 2005 – would watch Jeff Lacy suffer an embarrassingly one-sided loss to Joe Calzaghe two months before accepting his second plaque in as many years. The year didn’t get much better for him, with Winky Wright being held to a controversial draw against Jermain Taylor a month later. With last year’s awards dinner being held in June, Freddie Roach, voted 2006’s best chief second – would watch three of his star pupils suffer defeats before he had a chance to offer an acceptance speech. James Toney suffered his second loss in as many fights against Samuel Peter to start the year. Israel Vazquez is now 2-1 against Rafael Marquez; the lone loss of the series was the only fight with Freddie in his corner. The most notable of them all was Oscar de la Hoya, who lost to Floyd Mayweather in their record-breaking event last May. Roach’s lone A-list win prior to the June dinner came when Manny Pacquio stopped Jorge Solis in their April PPV bout. Perhaps someone should’ve warned 2007’s honoree Enzo Calzaghe before allowing his stable to agree to the biggest fights of their respective careers. Enzo Maccarinelli was the first to hit the L column, suffering a 2nd round knockout loss to David Haye earlier this month. The BWAA curse couldn’t even overcome Andreas Kotelnik’s recent run of bad luck on the road, as the transplanted Ukranian pounded out a 12th round stoppage against previously unbeaten Gavin Rees in Wales this past weekend. On the undercard, stablemate Kerry Hope would also watch his “0” go, suffering an 8th round knockout loss against Matthew Hall, the first fighter with even a faint heartbeat to challenge the Welsh welterweight. Needless to say, this might be the absolute worst time for Joe Calzaghe to leave the super middleweight division and Europe for the first time in his career. The unbeaten linear 168 lb. champion makes his long-awaited stateside – and light heavyweight - debut next month when he travels to Las Vegas to face Bernard Hopkins in a 12-round light heavyweight bout on HBO. Calzaghe is a surprisingly considerable favorite to win the bout, though chances remain slim-to-none that he leaves Papa Enzo behind For Questions or Comments E-mail Jake Donovan Today's Boxing Press Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums