Wayne McCullough - Sky Sports Expert

Little guys, big reputations

Posted: 24th August 2007 09:10

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ivan calderon

Calderon: fast combinations

I haven't seen much of Cazares but his record shows how good he is. I've watched Calderon on numerous occasions and he has showed me that without a big punch, you can still win fights.

Quotes of the week

Ivan Calderon's record
28(KO6)-0-0
Hugo Cazares' record
25(KO19)3-1

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Hugo Cazares and Ivan Calderon hope to give the small fighters of the sport some recognition when they square off this weekend in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Both of these fighters are champions but in different weight classes and are rated at the top in their respective divisions amongst the four belt holders, which shows how good these little men really are.

Calderon is the WBO strawweight (7st 7lbs) champ and, following 11 defences of the belt he won back in May 2003, he is stepping up three pounds to the next weight class.

Cazares won his WBO light flyweight belt (7st 10lbs) in April 2005 when he defeated Nelson Dieppa in his opponent's home country of Puerto Rico.

Cazares will be making the sixth defence of his belt this weekend but his opponent will have the home advantage. This shouldn't worry Cazares since he beat Dieppa there twice.

Calderon is undefeated, whereas Cazares has lost three times. Calderon has six KOs in 28 fights while Cazares has 19 KOs in 29 fights. This statistic shows that Cazares can punch hard but Calderon wins typically by boxing.

A strong southpaw boxer, Cazares at 5ft 6in is tall for the weight. He has won 16 straight since his last loss in December 1999.

He lost two bouts in a row and then turned his career around. He had to pick himself off the canvas to beat Thai Kaichon Sor Vorapin in October 2005 in his second title defence.

Trouble

He had Vorapin down twice and was then put down in the sixth but got up, in the same round, to knock his opponent out.

Calderon is also a southpaw but only 5ft tall. He has defeated some good fighters in his title defences, surprisingly easily beating former champion Daniel Reyes in December 2005.

However, in his bout with Gerardo Verde, six months earlier, he had to get out of trouble to win when Verde came on strong in the final rounds. After that fight Calderon said it was one of the hardest of his career.

Against Cazares, Calderon will have to use his best weapons which will be to get in and out with fast combinations, good right jabs and footwork.

Cazares needs to use his size and reach advantage to keep the fight at long range throwing right jabs and straight lefts to Calderon's head.

I haven't seen much of Cazares but his record shows how good he is. I've watched Calderon on numerous occasions and he has showed me that without a big punch, you can still win fights.

Has Calderon stepped up too early against Cazares or will his boxing skills confuse his foe? If Cazares can catch Calderon it could be a short night but if Calderon can avoid trouble he will give his rival nightmares and win on points.

It's a hard fight to call but it should be exciting!

Now to this week's questions...

Hi Wayne, I just wondered if you could give me any info on who IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron's next fight could be against. I saw his last fight in which he knocked out Matthyse and I was very impressed by his power and speed. Also is it true he is being lined up for a possible fight in the UFC? Joey Jones, Burnley
WAYNE SAYS: Hi Joey, Cintron is fighting Jesse Feliciano in September. Feliciano doesn't have a great record but he's a tough, durable fighter who throws a lot of punches. There was talk about Cintron fighting the WBO Champion, Paul Williams, but that fight didn't materialise. Cintron also talked about fighting in the UFC, because he was a wrestler in high school, but I doubt that will ever happen now.

Roy Jones Jnr is probably the greatest fighter - at his prime - I've ever really seen. I watched a lot of his fights at the time and have seen the rest on DVD; maybe on that basis I'm a little biased but I still see a future for him the way the divisions are panning out at the moment. In his last fight I was actually pleasantly surprised - the lightning reflexes have gone obviously and he hugged the ropes but he still coasted through - his boxing skills are still as good as anyone's. I get the impression that he's from that same strand of fighter as Robinson and Duran and Chavez who'll just keep fighting through sheer love of the game. As someone who has also been advised before to hang up the gloves - and I'm delighted to say hasn't - what do you see for Jones in carrying on, and who would you expect him to fight after he beats Tito? Would Hopkins be interested? A victory over RJJ would still look good on his record. I think Jermain Taylor will beat Pavlik, and if he fought RJJ after that it would be a very interesting bout. What do you think? Remo
WAYNE SAYS: Remo, I agree. I thought Jones was the best pound-for-pound fighter in his prime. He's back with two wins now and he's fighting Trinidad who I think he'll have no trouble with, since Jones is the naturally bigger guy. If he beats Tito then all the top fighters around the light-heavyweight division should fight him. After all, he still has a big name in the sport.

Wayne, I met you at my school, Hazelwood College - I'm from the Tiger's Bay area in Belfast. I just want to say we miss you in the boxing world. We don't hear much from you anymore, what are you doing with your life, Wayne McCullough superstar? N Haddock
WAYNE SAYS: I was supposed to fight in Dublin in June but the promoter couldn't get me a suitable opponent. I'm still planning to fight and we're working on it. I write for RING magazine, I write for Sky Sports (as you can see!) and I'm also working as a PR Associate for the UFC. It's not my fault that the press back home don't take an interest in the things I do outside of boxing - I'd love for you all to know what goes on in my life!