Featherweight

On Friday night, we'll find out if interim WBA featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar (23-1, 18 KO) or Rico "Suavecito" Ramos (23-3, 12 KO) are ready to take the next step in their careers.

The two will face off at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cuellar out-pointed Claudio Marrero in Aug. 2013 to win the title. This will be his first defense.

The fight is part of a card that will also feature former IBF light middleweight champion Ishe "Sugar Shay" Smith. 

Here's how you can catch the action:

When: Friday, May 2 at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: Fox Sports 1

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

The Book on Cuellar

The slugging Argentine established quite a reputation for himself in his homeland as a power-punching prospect.

His win over Marrero was just his second fight outside of his country and his first in the United States. With that experience under his belt, he's looking to continue to improve his standing in the featherweight division.

Cuellar is now being trained by Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California. He's hoping that will aid in advancing his career. Cuellar told Francisco Salazar of The Ring Magazine:

I came here (to Oxnard) to demonstrate that I’m a champion. I’ve been working well with Robert Garcia. I’ve great sparring and Robert’s improved my style. I’m going to keep my title and win at all costs.

A win over Ramos would put him on a path to remove the interim tag from his title. 

The current WBA super world champion is Simpiwe Vetyeka. He handed Indonesian legend Chris John the first official loss of his career in December.

Vetyeka will face Nonito Donaire in May. The winner of the Cuellar-Ramos bout might be a logical opponent for the winner of Vetyeka-Donaire.

The Book on Ramos

Back in 2010, Doug Fischer of The Ring Magazine described Ramos as a "flashy speed demon" who "looked like the real deal in dropping fellow prospect Alejandro Perez en route to a ShoBox-televised eight-round decision."

Back then, Ramos was one of the top young prospects in the sport. He won his next six fights, all convincingly. He captured the WBA super bantamweight title by stopping Akifumi Shimoda on a spectacular one-punch KO.

Ramos didn't look good in this fight before the definitive blow. In fact, per BoxRec, Ramos was behind on all three scorecards.

Still, he won and was a world champion.

But in Jan. 2012, he ran into Guillermo Rigondeaux and everything changed.

The Cuban boxing genius gave Ramos a pugilistic lesson and stopped him in the sixth round with a body shot.

As Jay-Z once said in an aptly titled track, "It was all good just a week ago." At that time, Ramos could certainly relate.

With his confidence seemingly shaken, Ramos lost two of his next three bouts. He's now on a two-fight winning streak and beating Cuellar would represent a landmark accomplishment in his recovery from the Rigondeaux setback.

Can he beat Cuellar?

Prediction

Ramos is the more skilled boxer, and he does have some pop, but his defense has been an issue for a while. Against a proven puncher like Cuellar, that's a concern.

Because Ramos has shown a vulnerability to body punches, Cuellar will almost certainly try to attack his opponent's midsection.

Ramos' best strategy is to box and counter the wide power punches from Cuellar. If he does that, he could win a decision.

Unfortunately, it's hard to trust that Ramos will be able to execute that plan. He seems to have lapses in concentration and has fallen in love with his power. Cuellar was stopped in his lone defeat, but he appears to have at least a decent chin. 

His pressure and work rate will wear Ramos down. Look for Cuellar to win a split decision or to stop Ramos in the late rounds.

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IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich (18-0, 9 KO) again proved he was better than Billy Dib. The 27-year-old Russian stopped Dib in the ninth round of their bout on Saturday night in Macao, China. It was the second time he’s beaten Dib this year. In March, Gradovich was a late replacement for Luis Franco when he dethroned Dib in Mashantucket, Conn.

This time he was the defending champion, and he fought like one. After the first few rounds were a bit close, Gradovich took control in the middle frames. He floored Dib in the sixth, and the challenger’s corner threw in the towel in the ninth. The first fight ended in a split decision, but Gradovich seemed determined for his fist to be the judges on Saturday.

Here’s a breakdown of the fight round-by-round.

Round 1

Gradovich’s pressure in the first round helped him take control much like he did in their first meeting. He just doesn’t have a reverse gear. Gradovich just comes forward and makes you fight him in a phone booth. The brawling style helped get him a win for the round on my scorecard and wear Dib down. overall.

Round 2

Dib’s best strategy was to box and create space. Obviously against a guy like Gradovich, that is easier said than done. Dib appeared to establish himself well in this round, and he earned the advantage. Still it appeared it would be hard for him to maintain the pace.

Round 3

This round was so sloppy it was almost impossible to give either man the edge. No one really landed enough hard pushes to gain an edge. There was so much wrestling that the term ring generalmanship simply never applied. 

Round 4

With more pressure, Gradovich was again able to bully his way into an advantage in the fourth round. He began to seize control of the fight in this round. Hard body shots and whacking right hands were moving Dib from post to post.

Round 5

Just when it looked like Dib was ready to give in, he came back with a solid effort in the fifth round. He was able to create more space to work and use his jab to do better work. Lateral movement was the key, but Gradovich forces his opponents to work very hard to keep him away. As it turns out, this was Dib’s last stand.

Round 6

The up-and-down nature of the fight was gone for good in this round. Gradovich scored a knockdown on a right hand to the neck and chin. Dib wasn’t hurt as much as he was tired, but fatigue would be just as detrimental to Dib’s chances of winning.

Round 7

Dib’s decline continued in this round. Gradovich’s conditioning and constant pursuit had worn him down. It was just a matter of time before the end was coming. Heart and resolve can carry a man only so far.

Round 8

Dib took a titanic left hook from Gradovich in this round. Remarkably, he stayed on his feet. Dib wanted this rematch as it represented a chance for him to redeem himself and regain his title. Unfortunately for him, he found this fight was even tougher than the first.

It was clear that either the referee or Dib’s corner was going to have to end this fight. The challenger had more heart than brains on this night.

Round 9

Mercifully, Dib’s corner threw in the towel. He was being beaten up and broken and no longer had a realistic chance to win. This was the type of bout that can change a fighter’s career. 

We’ll see what Dib has left after this, but he was physically and emotionally spent when the fight was called to an end.

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From the beginning, it was clear WBA featherweight champion Nicholas "Axe Man" Walters (23-0, 19 KO) would have his way with Alberto "Kichis" Garza (25-6-1). Walters scored a dominant fourth-round KO victory over Garza on Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas. The fight was an explosive precursor to HBO Boxing After Dark's exciting triple-header.

Later on Saturday, Nonito Donaire will rematch Vic Darchinyan, Demetrius Andrade will take on Vanes Martirosyan for the WBO junior middleweight title, and Mikey Garcia will battle Rocky Martinez for the latter's WBO super featherweight title.

Walters didn't want to hold up the feature bouts, so he made quick work of Garza.

Coming into the fight, Walters was ranked just eighth among featherweights by Ring Magazine. At the very least, he solidified his place as a Top 10 featherweight in the world.

In the first round, he stunned Garza with a two-punch combination. Garza survived but only prolonged the inevitable. The Axe Man's speed and power were on a different level. The 27-year-old Jamaican grabbed the attention of any American boxing fans who hadn't heard of him before Saturday night.

Garza showed good toughness, but it was just a matter of time before the Axe Man claimed another victim. The official Top Rank Boxing Twitter account had an accurate assessment of the early action.

ESPN's Dan Rafael summed up Walters' night.

Walters raised his impressive KO percentage to 86 percent with the win. While he isn't yet a household name in the featherweight division, this impressive performance on the undercard of a major HBO event will help push him to the next level.

The KO artist has stopped nine of his last 10 opponents. It is unlikely he'll be at the top of the wish list of any of his fellow featherweight champions. 

It would be great to see him take on WBC champion Jhonny Gonzalez, who dethroned Abner Mares in August. Also, a bout with newly crowned WBO champion Orlando Salido could also be interesting. Salido just regained a share of the featherweight crown when he stopped Orlando Cruz in the seventh round of their October meeting.

Walters has explosive power and fights a crowd-pleasing style. The boxing community should warm up to him with more exposure.

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Nonito Donaire is beginning a new chapter of his boxing career on Saturday night, and he will start it with a big win over Vic Darchinyan.

After winning 30 consecutive fights, Donaire lost his second bout ever in April, losing to Guillermo Rigondeaux by unanimous decision.  "The Filipino Flash" dropped to 31-2 in his career and lost his WBO and Ring super bantamweight titles.

Before that fight, he was on top of the world and considered by many to be the best fighter of 2012.  He was arguably one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, but now he's just on the undercard for Saturday as the co-main event.

While some seem to be doubting him, he will prove everyone wrong on Saturday with a big win over Darchinyan.

In 2012, Donaire couldn't be stopped, going 4-0 for the year with wins by knockout, technical knockout, split decision and unanimous decision.  His only other loss besides the one in April happened all the way back in March 2001, but he then went on a tear.

The fight on Saturday against Darchinyan is actually a rematch from 2007.  Donaire won the bout without much effort, taking down Darchinyan by fifth-round TKO.

Since losing to Donaire, Darchinyan's career has gone downhill.  That fight was his first loss, but he now has five of them after losing three of his last seven bouts.  At 37 years old, he is on the tail end of his career.

Donaire understands this.  He also knows that if he loses this fight, his career in boxing may be over. The hype surrounding him has faded since the Rigondeaux loss, and another loss now would officially kill it.

Fortunately, he's still a terrific fighter.  At 30 years old, he's taken down some tough competition and has shown some impressive power over his career with 20 knockouts.

The only real knock on him is that he doesn't always stick with the fundamentals. Sometimes he goes for style points instead of staying technically sound.  We saw this weakness exposed in April, but Darchinyan isn't as technical as Rigondeaux, so that shouldn't be an issue in this fight.

This is an ideal opportunity for Donaire to get back on track with a win.  In 2007, he dominated Darchinyan, who is well past his prime now in 2013.  

After losing just his second career fight, Donaire is beginning a new chapter in his boxing career.  With what we've seen from him and his opponent, he will win on Saturday and set a positive tone for the next chapter.

Featherweight boxer Orlando "El Fenomeno" Cruz is heading into the biggest fight of his career, and it'll take a perfect performance to top Orlando "Siri" Salido and raise the WBO featherweight title belt. 

The 32-year-old faces off for the vacant title in the final undercard bout before Saturday night's main event of Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez.

It's shaping up to be a closely followed showdown for more than just the in-ring implications. Cruz became boxing's first openly gay athlete after coming out a little more than a year ago, per ESPN.

In honor of both breast cancer awareness and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement, Cruz will sport pink gloves and rainbow-colored shorts for the contest, according to Yahoo! Sports. 

But what will it take for him to pull off the upset against Salido inside the ring?

Simply put, it will take a lot. Both boxers are the same age at 32, but Salido has a massive experience advantage. He has notched 351 career rounds to Cruz's 126 and has 27 knockouts—more than Cruz has wins (20).

At 5'4", El Fenomeno is two inches shorter than Salido and also has a two-inch deficit in total reach. 

However, the Puerto Rican looks to be riding a hot streak of four straight victories. Plus, his southpaw style could pose problems for the bigger Salido.

But Siri has proved to be a world-class boxer in the ring, going up against notable boxers such as Juan Manuel Marquez and Mikey Garcia.

Salido possessed the WBO featherweight title from March 2012 until early on this year, so he's no stranger to the spotlight and playing for the belt. Meanwhile, Cruz's only title-fight experience came in two losses and a short-lived tenure as the IBA featherweight champion. 

Needless to say, the cards are stacked against El Fenomeno on the biggest stage of his professional career. He'll have to overcome all of that with a perfect fight.

Cruz will have to neutralize his size disadvantage by being the more energetic fighter. Not only that, but he needs to use that energy to be effective, landing shots on Siri's chin early and often and getting him off his confident game plan.

If he doesn't do that early on, it could be a long 12 rounds—or fewer—for Cruz.

Tonight's pay-per-view bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley will be at the forefront of the boxing world. This is a prizefight that is intriguing to fight fans, but the undercard match for the WBO featherweight title between Orlando Cruz (20-2-1, 10 KOs) and Orlando Salido (39-12-2, 27 KOs) is the fight that is going to make history.

Orlando Cruz is fighting for more than a title belt—he's fighting for gay rights. 

Despite the strides that the United States has made in the area of gay rights, there are still very few gay professional athletes who feel comfortable enough to reveal their sexuality. This fear and anxiety gay pro athletes are made to feel over their sexual orientation shows that our country is still far away from where it needs to be in the realm of gay rights.

One year ago, Orlando Cruz made waves when he announced to the world that he is gay. Not only is he one of the few athletes to come out of the metaphorical closet, but he is the only one who has come out in a sport with as much machismo as boxing where homophobia is rampant.

Several former professional athletes have stated they are gay, but very few have had the courage to come out during the pinnacle of their careers.

Orlando Cruz did just that.

During the 1960s and '70s, boxing Hall of Famer Emile Griffith hid his sexuality because he feared how his sport and society would react.

In 1992 while leaving a gay bar, Griffith fell victim to a hate crime and was beaten by a group of men. He almost lost his life in this attack. This event showed that even though we view our country as progressive in terms of gay rights, that anti-gay prejudice is still unfortunately prevalent.

When Orlando Cruz steps into the ring tonight, he is fighting for the legacy of Emile Griffith and many other professional athletes who have felt the need to hide their sexual orientation due to the ignorant intolerance of others. 

It isn't important if Orlando Cruz walks away with the featherweight title or not. He's already a champion and is making a bigger impact on the world than most boxers ever have.

WBC featherweight champion Abner Mares (26-0-1, 14 KO) doesn’t believe in fighting easy opponents. It is almost as if he’s still trying to prove to himself that he’s elite. Boxing fans appreciate his willingness to tangle with tough fighters, and that trend continues on Saturday, Aug. 24 when he takes on Jhonny Gonzalez (54-8-0, 46 KO) at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

The latter is a tough veteran who will give Mares yet another stiff challenge. Here’s how you can watch:

Tale of the Tape

Record:	Abner Mares 26-0-1, 14 KO	Jhonny Gonzalez 54-8, 46 KO
Height:	5'4 1/2"	5'7"
Reach:	66"	69.5"
Stance:	Orthodox	Orthodox
Hometown:	Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico	Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico
Rounds:	202	302

Information via BoxRec.

The Book on Mares

The Warrior

After taking down tough WBC featherweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon, Mares is facing another power puncher in Gonzalez. Prior to the Ponce De Leon fight, Mares handed super bantamweight champion Anselmo Moreno the only defeat of his career.

Mares deserves credit for fighting top competition every time he gets in the ring.

He’s climbing most pound-for-pound lists, despite lacking all of the big-time physical gifts.  

In the Ring

Mares is a battler with deceptive power. He has only 14 KOs in his career, but as Ponce De Leon found out, Mares can punch a little harder than his KO total would indicate.

The 27-year-old has also displayed a solid chin in his career. He’s rugged and sometimes described as dirty.

It all fits together to make Mares one of the toughest outs in the sport today. Against Gonzalez, Mares must go to the body early and often. As usual, he’ll likely have the edge in conditioning over his opponent. That’s just one of the many underrated characteristics the champion brings into the ring.

If he pounds Gonzalez’s body early, he’ll wear him down and have a chance to stop him late, just as he did against Ponce De Leon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PazcE_rWLk

The Book on Gonzalez

Gonzalez had his own meeting with Ponce De Leon in September 2012. The latter dethroned Gonzalez to capture the title Mares took from him in May 2013.

Gonzalez has a chance to win his title back, but Mares is an even stiffer challenge. Despite being just 31 years old, Gonzalez has been fighting professionally for 14 years. He’s been a workhorse in his career and especially active the last two years.

In 2011, he fought four times. The clash with Mares will be his third fight of 2013. Most will likely favor Mares in this fight, but Gonzalez has a chance to pull the upset.

In the Ring

Gonzalez’s power is substantial. His 46 KOs in 62 fights gives him a 74.19 percent KO percentage in his career. For a fighter in a smaller weight class, that is pretty high.

He too has the ability to bang the body. This is a strategy that few Mares’ opponents attempt to incorporate. The worst idea Gonzalez can have is to make himself a headhunter early. Without mixing up his punches, Mares will time him and counter with power and regularity.

Gonzalez will have a significant reach advantage, so the jab could be a major weapon. He used it effectively early against Israel Vazquez in 2006, but he ultimately tired late and his defense began to lapse.

Vazquez stopped him in the 10th round. This fight is worth referencing because Vazquez is the exact same height and employs the counterpunching, come-forward style Mares uses.

Obviously, Mares is a better fighter, but as boxing fans know—styles make fights.

Prediction

Gonzalez will have his moments early, but Mares’ toughness, will and counterpunching will ultimately be the difference. The champion will stop Gonzalez in the eighth round to retain his title.

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IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich (17-0) had almost no problem defeating Mauricio Munoz (26-4) on Saturday night at Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort in Macao, China.

He outpointed Munoz on all three judges' scorecards (Adalaide Byrd 120-108, Michael Ancona 119-109, Jerry Jakubco 119-109, per BoxRec) to earn the unanimous-decision win in his first defense of the title. The fact that this fight didn't end in a stoppage is more a testament to Munoz's toughness than any Gradovich deficiency.

The champion's attack produced swelling over both of Munoz's eyes and left no doubt who the better man was.

Munoz wasn't exactly considered a highly touted featherweight, though. He came into the bout with a solid record, but he hadn't defeated any notable fighters prior to Saturday's loss to Gradovich.

In his only other shot at a world title, Munoz was stopped in the ninth round by Toshiaki Nishioka in 2011. 

Gradovich continues to grab attention after taking Billy Dib's IBF crown in a split decision in his last fight. He'll need to up the ante in regard to level of competition to gain more respect, but the 26-year-old late bloomer continues to win over fans with his exciting style.

Although he holds a championship, this was only his second fight of 10 rounds or more in his career. Trainer Robert Garcia and Top Rank have been forced to fast track him because of his age, but so far, the results have been good.

Top Rank is seemingly all in with their support of Gradovich. Two of the stable's biggest stars, Brandon Rios and Mikey Garcia, were out to support the featherweight champion.

Is Gradovich ready for a top-10 featherweight now? It seems like a peculiar question to ask, considering he's a world champion, but his presence in the sport is a bit of an oxymoron.

He's only had 17 fights and is undefeated, but he's 26 years old and a world champion. Some of the facts suggest things should be taken slow with him, but the rest says he has to be ready to take on the best right now.

One thing is for sure: Gradovich has options.

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Rico Ramos' fight against Oscar Gonzalez was an opportunity for the Los Angeles boxer to prove that his recent losses were a fluke and to put himself in the position for bigger future fights, perhaps against a fighter like Nonito Donaire.  

Instead, Ramos lost to Gonzalez by an overwhelming unanimous decision in a fight in which he looked tired and overly cautious. 

With the exception of a brief flurry of activity in the fifth round, the first six rounds of the fight were largely uneventful until a nice combo ending with a left hook from Gonzalez sent Ramos to the mat late in the sixth.  Ramos, who had been content to let Gonzalez be the aggressor earlier in the fight, began pursuing Gonzalez with greater aggression in the seventh, but was not able to put together enough to slow his opponent.  

The fight came alive in the seventh with a long exchange of punches halfway through the round, and Gonzalez earned a slight edge over Ramos in most of the middle rounds. Ramos failed to capitalize on several counterpunching opportunities, instead darting in for brief combos before jumping back out into his defensive movements.

By the fight's end, Ramos was clearly exhausted and resorted to coming in close and tangling himself with Gonzalez, seemingly focused on avoiding a knockout.  At the final bell, Gonzalez immediately jumped onto the ropes to celebrate, while Ramos walked to his corner frustrated and without even pretending to believe himself victorious.  

Rico Ramos came to tonight's fight after losing his undefeated record in January 2012 with a loss to the emerging Cuban star Guillermo Rigondeaux, his first loss in 21 career professional fights, and taking another loss in January of this year to Ronny Rios. 

The 25-year-old Ramos almost certainly would have faced a higher-ranked opponent than Gonzalez had he defeated Rigondeaux, who will fight Nonito Donaire on April 13.  Ramos is the former WBA super bantamweight champion, a belt he won with his victory over Akifumi Shimoda in Atlantic City. 

Ramos represented the biggest fight yet in Gonzalez's career.  Gonzalez came into the fight with a 20-2 record and had yet to face a fighter of Ramos' caliber.  Like Ramos, Gonzalez had lost his most recent fight, a loss to Raul Hirales by unanimous decision.  His victory over Ramos should earn him consideration for future fights against the premier fighters in the weight class.  

The 10-round fight was held at the Little Creek Casino in Shelton, Wash. and was broadcast on ESPN's Friday Night Fights series.