BERNSTEIN ON BOXING
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Castano’s tough luck in decisions dogged him in another draw he could easily have won when he battled Lara over 12 grueling rounds. Williams won two titles in a war with Hurd in the latter’s first defense in his home area, only to lose them to Rosario in a major upset in Williams’ homecoming title fight in Philadelphia. Perhaps the signature fight of that period was the astonishing thriller between Hurd and Lara, which Hurd won by a nose. It remains one of the best fights I’ve ever announced.
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A matchup between Boots Ennis and Vergil Ortiz could ignite a new golden era.
coming saga of the division. The other titleholder, Sebastian Fundora, has provided several wildly exciting fights in the last few years. Barring an upset loss to Keith Thurman (a fight that happened after this magazine went to press), he will be a candidate for future title unification matches or, just as good, an exciting fight with one of the many excellent contenders. Beyond the former titleholders already mentioned, the depth of the division is apparent by all the contenders lurking and waiting for a moment in the sun, like Yoenis Tellez, Brandon Adams and Andreas Katzourakis, to name a few. There is a large amount of mouthwatering matches available, and based on recent history, the odds of many being made are pretty good. Just as that previous 154-pound period gained more traction due to Charlo’s high profile, the hub of this wheel revolves around the Ennis-Ortiz matchup. The arduous and contentious process of making the fight with all the attendant soap operas has made this match more mainstream than many others. Inside the ring, there is a strong likelihood it will deliver the goods, and that would further fuel interest in the division. Just as we saw all those earlier
If all of this sends you running to YouTube to either revisit these fights or discover them, then I have done my job. Yes, I loved the division during that period. Everyone fought everyone else and the talent pool was deep. What a concept. We all lauded it as one of the best classes in the sport. Well, to quote my favorite Peter Allen song, “Everything old is new again.” Today, the 154-pound division is looking just like it did in that period. We are watching a division become truly special. With the impending Jaron Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz fight as the poster child, this division has become a destination for dramatic and compelling matches again. Consider that Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou fought a unification match in each man’s first title defense. The risk paid off for Zayas with a hard-fought win that included an epic, crowd-pleasing 12th round. Hopefully Baraou will be rewarded with other big fights. Ortiz has more than done his part for this divisional surge with entertaining brawls against Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov. Josh Kelly jolted the division with an upset victory over titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev, and both men remain central figures for the
junior middleweights in matchups that occurred while fighters were still at peak powers, so too is this Ennis- Ortiz clash. It should not go down the road of Mayweather-Pacquiao – made far too late. This fight will feature two men who can still fight their styles to the hilt. At his best, Ennis is that rare combination of master boxer and lethal puncher who can throw dazzling combinations but sometimes gets hit with big shots because he is offense- minded. None of those shots have hurt him – so far. Enter Ortiz, a powerful attacker who will wear you down with body punches and pressure and walk through what you give him in return. It is a wonderful style matchup with more than enough drama outside the ring to satisfy today’s social media-hungry boxing fan. The nice thing is that any love affair with this division is hardly a one-night stand. The many potentially great matchups suggest a longer relationship – even if, as in my case, it includes frequent dalliances with those great 140-pounders as well.
REKINDLED ROMANCE By Al Bernstein
Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano mixed it up in two high-quality fights at 154.
talented blue-collar contender Erickson Lubin, who never won a title but also never turned down a fight and gave fans some exciting matches. Consider some of the amazing fights of that period as titles switched hands almost as often as they currently do in the 140-pound division.
I am about to be a fickle lover. For several years, I have been hopelessly infatuated with the 140-pound division in boxing. You have seen that bromance flower in my writings, podcasts and broadcasts. I have always spoken of that division with fondness and described it as the deepest and most fascinating weight class in all of boxing. I am still fully enamored with it, but now a former paramour has also taken hold of my heart. I am being drawn into the alluring orbit of the 154-pounders. If this were a movie, we would be dissolving into a flashback of a five-
year period between 2017 and 2022, when I spoke of junior middleweights with the same fondness I now show for the 140-pounders. The leading man in this film would certainly be Jermell Charlo, who held various world titles in the division during that time frame and was briefly the undisputed champ. The remainder of the cast of characters would hardly be bit players. Fighters like Jarrett Hurd, Brian Castano, Julian Williams, Jeison Rosario, Erislandy Lara and Tony Harrison won titles, fought in pitched battles and carved out their own niches in boxing lore. Then there was
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Charlo had two great rivalries. Twice he fought Castano in bouts to decide the undisputed champion, battling to a draw the first time in a classic fight and then stopping him in another exciting bout the second time around. He also traded wins with Harrison, who upset Charlo the first time by decision and was stopped in the rematch.
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