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 The First Quarter of 2003
By Steve Kim (January 6, 2003) Photos © Tom Casino
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Now raise your hands if you thought that the hastily put together fight of Luis Perez against Felix Machado would have been the fight of the weekend and clearly overshadow the disappointment that was DeMarcus Corley's taming of the hard-punching Randall Bailey.
Perez's upset victory over Machado for the IBF jr. bantamweight crown was made on about a weeks notice when Rosendo Alvarez had to pull out of his rematch with Beibis Mendoza with a hand injury. Perez's persistence and doggedness would overwhelm the defending champion, entertaining the crowed at the DC Armory in the nations capital. On the flip side, the main event, which was televised by Showtime, had the boo-birds out despite the presence of the hometown Corley.
 Maybe in 2003, we should expect, the unexpected. Looking at the early schedule for this year we see fights that on paper look like easy calls, but then so did Perez-Machado coming in.
January 18th (Showtime): Kostya Tszyu vs. Jesse James Leija -- Tszyu looks to be the heavy favorite here and it doesn't get any easier for Leija as he has to travel 'Down Under' to take on the unified jr. welterweight champion of the world. Tsyzu, is on top of his game, while the gutty and game Leija has been in the twilight of his career for awhile. And you have to wonder if Leija's skin, which is prone to cuts, can handle the sharp punching of Tszyu.
Leija will be well prepared and professional as always, but you wonder at this point if he has enough to make it competitve against Tszyu at this stage of his career.
RATING (Scale 1-10): 6.5
January 25th (HB0): Vernon Forrest vs. Ricardo Mayorga and Joel Casamayor vs. Nate Campbell -- A decent doubleheader, especially in light of the fact that Vasilliy Jirov just recently dropped out of his bout against James Toney. Campbell is an undefeated guy who's been making waves the past year going against Casamayor, a seasoned professional who's a master
boxer. 'The Galaxxy Warrior' though, has the confidence and punching power to make things interesting.
Forrest is several notches above Mayorga in boxing ability but Mayorga is just wild enough, strong enough and unorthodox to keep you interested.
RATING - 8
January 25th (Showtime): Sharmba Mitchell vs. Carlos Vilches -- Vilches can punch a bit, but this figures to be a distance fight controlled by the quickness and savvy of the southpaw Mitchell. I think like most other boxing fans, I'd rather see Mitchell against a Zab Judah or Hector Camacho Jr. at this point in time.
RATING - 4
February 1st (Showtime): Rocky Juarez/ Julio Diaz/ Francisco Bojado -- While HBO made a big stink about it's now defunct 'KO Nation', it's Showtime that continues to showcase it's Olympic haul from 2000 -- even without it's 'ShoBox' series. A trio of Main Events prospects, managed by Shelly Finkel, go at it again with Juarez scheduled to face veteran Jason Pires and Bojado returning to the scene of the crime -- where he lost last year to Juan Carlos Rubio last February at the Mohegan Sun- when he takes on the 15-1, Frankie Santos.
RATING - 6
February 1st (HBO PPV): Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Medina, David Santos vs. Carlos Hernandez and Miguel Cotto vs. Cesar Bazan -- With cable dates and budgets dwindling, promoters like Bob Arum have decided to remedy the situation by putting up their own money and putting on their own smaller scale pay-per-view shows.
And for Arum, his formula is simple: put on fights featuring Latinos in competitive bouts. On this card you have two well-matched title fights and a hot prospect taking a step up in class.
RATING - 7.5
February 8th (HBO): Shane Mosley vs. Raul Marquez and Antonio Margarito vs. Andrew Lewis -- This should be an entertaining duo of slugfests, although not necessarily competitive ones. Mosley, despite giving up the advantage in size to Marquez, has an even bigger disparity in his favor when it comes to speed and quickness.
Margarito is a tough and heavy-handed fighter with a good chin, which doesn't add up for the soft-chinned 'Six-Head's Lewis.
RATING - 7
February 15th (HBO): Tim Austin vs. Rafael Marquez and Ricardo Williams vs. Juan Carlos Rubio -- A pair of Cincy boxers take the center stage, both slick, well-schooled southpaws, one an established champion, the other a highly touted prospect.
The rap on Austin has been that he has taken on soft opposition but that won't be the case when he faces the hard punching Marquez, the younger brother of world class featherweight Juan Manuel. Williams will take on Rubio, whose claim to fame is upsetting Bojado last February.
RATING - 7
February 22nd (Showtime): Mike Tyson vs. Clifford Etienne -- He's back and the job of rebuilding his image starts with what looks to be the perfect foil. 'The Black Rhino' is a recognizable name, who will be in front of Tyson all night and doesn't exactly have the chin of George Chuvalo.
If Fres Oquendo can repeatedly pound Etienne to the canvas, just think what Tyson -- who can still punch, if anything -- will do on this night. Also on the telecast is super middleweight prospect Jeff Lacy.
RATING - 6
March 1st (HBO PPV): Roy Jones vs. John Ruiz -- This fight is on. The fight is on. The fight is on. Just keep saying it and believing it and it will happen,
trust me. We will see Jones in that ring at the Thomas and Mack against Ruiz in March.
RATING - 6
March 8th (Tentative-HBO): Wladimir Klitschko vs. Danny Williams -- Well, if big Wlad can't get Lennox Lewis into the ring, he might as well beat up another British big man in Williams. It looks to be another showcase fight for Klitschko whom HBO looks upon as their heavyweight heir apparent.
I'm also guessing that HBO will air the replay of the Jones-Ruiz bout on this telecast.
RATING -5
March 15th (Showtime): Acelino Freitas vs. Gabe Ruelas -- OK, what really can be said here? I thought televised executions were illegal. I'm wondering what Ruelas, who was last a world class fighter in 1997 has done to warrant a shot at this title? I'd hate to see him get hurt, as for 'Popo', the rumor is that he will take on Tony Canzoneri if he should slip past Ruelas.
RATING - 2
March 22nd (Tentative-HBO): David Tua-Hasim Rahman and Bernard Hopkins vs. Morrade Hakkar -- My sources tell me that Don King basically held HBO for ransom here in making them show 'the mandatory nobody wanted' i Hopkins-Hakkar in exchange for Tua-Rahman. Only in America, huh?
Hopkins should execute Hakkar with ease and hopefully he can get his career jump-started again in 2003. Tua should continue his run of knocking out familiar, yet vulnerable heavyweights on his way back to prominence.
RATING - 6
March 22nd (Showtime): Scott Harrison vs. Wayne McCullough -- Harrison has rekindled the tradition of Scottish fighters with his title winning performance against Julio Pablo Chacon. Now, he takes on 'the Pocket Rocket' Wayne McCullough, who doesn't now how to be in a bad fight. This figures to be an action packed, featherweight scrap.
RATING - 7.5
FINAL FLURRIES
Corley easily dispatched Bailey this past weekend, but I hardly think he did anything to really distinguish himself in the Tszyu sweepstakes... Bailey, on the other hand, got exposed again as being a one-dimensional banger, but he can punch, so I guess you can't completely write him off yet... Interesting move by Main Events to sign an exclusive deal with trainer Buddy McGirt. Many in the industry believe that McGirt is one of the premiere trainers in the sport and that Main Events has never really filled the void of George Benton... Finally, I just got back from the Fiesta Bowl, and although my Canes went down, I feel like I just witnessed the college football version of 'the Thrilla in Manila'. I'm still drained of energy and emotion. What a ballgame... I just hope to attend one prizefight like that every couple of years. So far, only Barrera-Morales I is in that class.
For Questions or Comments
E-Mail Steve Kim at k9kim@maxboxing.com
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