Inside the Ropes 03.11.09: Young Guns on Display
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 03.11.2009
A look at some young fighters to keep an eye on and some random thoughts on last week's HBO Boxing After Dark card in San Jose, CA.
Photo by Laura De La Torre / 411mania.com
Last week I talked about how the changing of the guard isn't quite upon us yet with old veterans such as Bernard Hopkins, Glen Johnson, Nate Campbell and Juan Manuel Marquez still fighting at a championship caliber level. Though that may be the case, that shouldn't stop us from looking at the younger batch of fighters that have the potential to become stars. We had a chance to see three of those fighters last Saturday night in San Jose when the HBO Boxing After Dark series invaded the HP Pavilion with James Kirkland, Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero as the co-featured attractions. Unfortunately for the fans in attendance, the hometown favorite Guerrero only managed to go two rounds due to a bad cut over his right eye thus leaving those watching dissatisfied. Hopefully he'll heal quickly and give us another chance to watch him perform.
As for his stablemates, well it was all good and dandy starting off with Victor Ortiz. Some have compared him to fighters such as De La Hoya and Vargas to name a few and either way, we have an exciting fighter on our hands. Ortiz made quick work of Mike Arnaoutis using speed and power to take out his foe. Afterward, you could see a glimpse of Ortiz' personality which shines through in interviews and press conferences. The kid is extremely personable, down to earth and has a happy-go-lucky attitude that's refreshing. Assuming he can keep winning and against higher quality opposition (Arnaoutis was certainly no slouch btw), he's a star in the making. As far as Kirkland goes, he's not being compared to a young Mike Tyson for no reason. Speed, power, chin, ferocity – he seems to have a helluva package of tools and he's never in a dull fight. He was at war with Joel Julio and the two provided a fun fight to watch. Kirkland of course won by TKO and put himself in a position for another main event in the future.
Oscar De La Hoya told us at the post-fight press conference that he plans to bring them back in June with one of them possibly fighting on the Hatton-Pacquiao undercard in May. He's got a great trio of young and exciting fighters and he tells us that he's thinking of putting them together on the same show again. That would be good Oscar, good for everyone!
Keep An Eye Out For: Luis Ramos. Remember that name. I saw him on the undercard for the Boxing After Dark card last weekend and I came away pretty damn impressed. He's 10-0 and only 20 years old but he was fighting with such polish, that you'd think he was already a contender. This Santa Ana resident put on a surgical beatdown on Anthony Martinez over four rounds but by the looks of things, he may very well be fighting 8-rounders soon enough. Ramos is handled by Frank Espinoza who also manages Israel Vazquez and Espinoza says he'd like to have him back in the ring by May or June – also a good thing! Salinas-native Eloy Perez also remained unbeaten on that same undercard and he's someone I've covered on more than one occasion during the yearly boxing season for the HP Pavilion titled ‘American Iron & Eagle Fight Night at the Tank' which has been showcasing younger talent. Perez has some swift movement with quick hands. Sure he only has 2 knockouts on his resume but the kid can throw combos like nobody's business.
Why Kirkland-Angulo Should Wait - Though I'm a fan of both James Kirkland and Alfredo Angulo's work; and although I think a matchup between these two hard-hitting junior middleweights would be a fan's wet dream, I do think that this is a fight that shouldn't be made – for a little while anyways. Here's why: We have arguably two of the hottest 154-prospects aiming for each other and both possess the same kind of exciting, balls to the wall fighting style that makes us pencil in their fight dates. Both fighters are undefeated and I'm sure that most junior middleweights want to steer clear of them for the foreseeable future. You may be thinking, "well damn, Ramon, those sound like pretty damn good reasons for them to fight each other asap!" Yes, yes they are BUT think about this for a minute. Wouldn't the fight mean more, and most importantly wouldn't you savor it more if both fighters were titleholders and at the top of the division?
I mean what if Manny Pacquiao would have fought Juan Manuel Marquez when they were both 23 for instance? Yeah, it probably would've been a pretty good fight but not nearly as good as their two fights were after plenty of seasoning and elite statuses amongst their peers. Don't get me wrong, Kirkland and Angulo are not Marquez and Pacquiao but the point is that fights sometimes turn out better when we let the two fighters develop from prospects or contenders to world champions. I know it's a bit of a gamble to keep them away from each other because any of them can lose at any given time, but if things work out like we think they will, these two could put on a PPV main event if given enough time.
Some Random Thoughts
- Some of the referees last Saturday night in San Jose did a piss poor job. We saw three different fighters take massive abuse in the ring and they didn't even blink when it came to stopping the fights. I'd rather see a fighter get waved off early than too late.
- Anyone else think Daud Yordan has a future at featherweight? He's not half bad, not half bad at all.
- Something tells me the April 11th fight between Paul Williams and Winky Wright won't be boring whatsoever. They both have something to prove.
- I hinted this to De La Hoya last week and I'll say it again. Golden Boy Promotions should just tour around with Ortiz, Kirkland and Guerrero. They're fun to watch and they're future champions (Guerrero actually already held two featherweight belts).
- Kudos to GBP and the HP Pavilion for putting on a great night of boxing for fans this past Saturday. The turnout was great even with minimal marketing and it showed that San Jose can provide a great venue for fights.
- I laughed when Victor Ortiz told Max Kellerman on HBO that he was ready to go eat Taco Bell after his win over Mike Arnaoutis. You just don't see that kind of honesty nowadays during post-fight interviews.
- I'll be visiting King's Gym in Oakland, CA within the next two weeks. We'll have some updates on Andre Ward as well as a feature article looking at the gym itself soon enough.
- I'll be playing Fight Night Round 4 this Thursday in San Francisco. I'll have a preview of it available as soon as I can so look out for it.
Keep An Eye Out For: Luis Ramos. Remember that name. I saw him on the undercard for the Boxing After Dark card last weekend and I came away pretty damn impressed. He's 10-0 and only 20 years old but he was fighting with such polish, that you'd think he was already a contender. This Santa Ana resident put on a surgical beatdown on Anthony Martinez over four rounds but by the looks of things, he may very well be fighting 8-rounders soon enough. Ramos is handled by Frank Espinoza who also manages Israel Vazquez and Espinoza says he'd like to have him back in the ring by May or June – also a good thing! Salinas-native Eloy Perez also remained unbeaten on that same undercard and he's someone I've covered on more than one occasion during the yearly boxing season for the HP Pavilion titled ‘American Iron & Eagle Fight Night at the Tank' which has been showcasing younger talent. Perez has some swift movement with quick hands. Sure he only has 2 knockouts on his resume but the kid can throw combos like nobody's business.
- Some of the referees last Saturday night in San Jose did a piss poor job. We saw three different fighters take massive abuse in the ring and they didn't even blink when it came to stopping the fights. I'd rather see a fighter get waved off early than too late. 
