BAY AREA TRIPLEHEADER TONIGHT!
By Jason Aniel
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Mar 2009
San Jose, CA ? HBO Boxing After Dark returns to the Bay Area tonight as they go back to their roots by providing the fight fans three match-ups featuring 6 young and hungry fighters. This television program gave fans some of the greatest fights of the past 20 years like Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Kennedy McKinney, Barrera vs. Erik Morales, and Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward; just to name a few. However, in recent years, Boxing After Dark has been a vehicle to promote up and comers against over matched opponents past their prime.
HBO had a card that featured Daniel Ponce De Leon vs. Rey Bautista back in 2007 in Sacramento, CA, which gave fans what they expected from HBO. Tonight?s main event features an intriguing match-up between Super Welterweights James Kirkland and Joel Julio. Kirkland, 24-0 (21 KO?s), is a knock out machine and is quickly rising the 154lbs ranks. Julio, 34-2 (31 KO?s), is a pure puncher and his only two defeats were against excellent boxers Carlos Quintana and Sergiy Dzinziruk (both were undefeated at the time Julio fought them). Kirkland has proven that he can box a bit in his last fight against Brain Vera. When Kirkland could not finish his opponent in the early rounds, he started to jab more and finally finished in the 8th round. Both fighters try to go for the knockout early which means there will be plenty of fireworks in the first couple of rounds. If neither fighter can score the knockout early in the fight, then the better boxer will win the fight. While both are very young at 24, the winner will clearly move on to bigger title fights. The loser may end up being stuck in a ?gatekeeper? role for the immediate future.
Golden Boy Promotions, who seems to have every young fighter in their stable, is promoting the card in San Jose. Golden Boy has been very vocal in proclaiming Victor Ortiz as their number one prospect of 2009. Ortiz, 23-1-1 (18 KO?s), has been numerous the undercards of major fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, and Miguel Cotto. Ortiz has the biggest potential to be a superstar money maker because of his style in the ring and personality outside the ring. The Mexican-American is based in the same city (Oxnard, CA) as fan favorite Fernando Vargas, who sold out a few arenas during his heyday. Ortiz will be taking on a tough opponent in Mike Arnaoutis. Arnaoutis, 21-2 (10 KO?s), is a slick southpaw who has been in there with top fighters at the Jr. Welterweight division. His only two defeats were against WBO titlist Kendal Holt and former WBO titlist Ricardo Torres. Arnaoutis was ahead early in that bout against Torres before letting the lead slip in the late rounds and losing a controversial split decision. Arnaoutis is not an easy opponent to look good against and will be a good barometer to Ortiz?s potential. If he is the first man to knock out Arnaoutis then the sky?s the limit for the 22-year-old. However, Oritz has shown vulnerability and has hit the deck in the past.
A large crowd is expected to be the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Most of the fans will be there to see their hometown fighter, Robert Guerrero. Guerrero is from the ?Garlic Capital of the World? Gilory, CA, which is about 30 minutes from San Jose. Throughout Guerrero?s entire career, he had been involved with many sporting events in Bay Area. One of his biggest wins took place in Oakland, CA, when he knocked out Gamaliel Diaz in 2006, the only man to have officially defeated Guerrero (Orlando Salido won on points in 2006, but the result was changed to a ?no contest? when Salido tested positive for performance enhancing drugs). Golden Boy Promotions hopes to build Guerrero into a ticket seller in the Bay Area like Juan Diaz was to Houston, TX. Exposure on HBO will be the first step. Guerrero has looked very impressive in his last several fights. He has finally become comfortable with his style and strengths. Early in his career, he struggled when he fought a small man?s fight when he was the much bigger fighter. Recently, he has been using his height and reach advantage to dominate his opponents. Guerrero will take on little known Baud Cino Yordan. Yordan, 23-0 (17 KO?s), has not fought anyone worth mentioning. Almost all of his fights have taken place in his home country of Indonesia. While Yordan may have the skill to back up an undefeated record, it?s more likely that Yordan is the classic club fighter with an inflated record. Guerrero will be making his second fight at 130lbs. He won the IBF featherweight title back in 2006.
QUICK JABS
The other fighters from the Bay Area will see action on tonight?s non-televised bouts. Heavyweight Ashanti Jordan, 7-0 (6 KO?s) from San Francisco, CA, will make his Bay Area debut in a six round bout. Welterweight Karim Mayfield, 7-0 (5 KO?s), from Daly City, CA, has been featured in San Jose for the past couple of fights and will fight in a six round bout. Finally, Super Featherweight Eloy Perez, 12-0 (2 KO?s), from Salinas, CA, will be in a 6 round bout. Stay tuned to PhilBoxing.com for full results of tonight?s card?Juan Manuel Marquez proved last Saturday that he was better than Juan Diaz. Throughout Marquez?s great career, he has pretty much gotten the better of all his opponents. Only Manny Pacquiao has proven to be on the same level as Marquez, which should not diminish Pacquiao?s legacy as a fighter. Manny?s greatest only increases as Marquez continues to prove what many people have known for many years that he is one of the toughest fighters to defeat. It will be interesting to see if Marquez will get a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. While it will likely be a boring fight because the two are counter punchers, I would like to see who the better boxer is. While everyone is clamoring for a third fight between Marquez and Pacquiao, with so many options for both fighters, that fight can wait. In fact, a third fight can be both Marquez?s and Pacquiao?s last fight of their hall of fame careers because the fight will sell no matter what. In a perfect world, Pacquiao would defeat Ricky Hatton and move on to fight Mayweather. Then, Marquez would fight Hatton. Whatever the result of those fights, Pacquiao and Marquez can finally meet to determine who really is the best...Speaking of Pacquiao, it?s nice to see him back in the Wild Card Gym preparing for another fight. Manny has celebrated the birth of his fourth child, his 30th birthday, and an unforgettable trip to England over the past couple of months. Now it?s time get back to what he does best and that?s train for another big fight.
Top photo: Former Two-Time World Champion Robert Guerrero (Left), Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar de la Hoya (Center) and undefeated contender Daud Yordan (Right) of Indonesia pose on March 5, 2009 in San Jose, California at the final press conference for Guerrero and Yordan?s March 7, 2009 bout for the vacant NABO Junior Lightweight Championship at HP Pavilion in San Jose which will be televised on HBO Boxing After Dark as part of a triple-header also featuring NABO Junior Welterweight Champion Victor Ortiz vs. USBA Junior Welterweight Champion Mike Arnaoutis and undefeated junior middleweight contender James Kirkland vs. Joel Julio. Photo by Laura de la Torre / Hoganphotos.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jason Aniel.
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