By Cliff Rold

The Other Nine, Pt. 9

Follow the sweet science long enough and even a passing fan will hear, with sounds of awe, about an ‘original eight,’ about a bygone era when the sport’s weight classes were limited to just that number with (usually) just that many World champions.

The era didn’t last very long. 

As early as the 1920s, prizefighting saw extra prizes added by way of Jr. Divisions at Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight.  Over the course of time, the total number has grown to a modern seventeen weight classes.  Sometimes derided as bastard divisions, most didn’t begin with particular esteem.  As the years and indeed decades have passed, all have built their own legacies in blood and all have produced greatness in the ring.

Through the course of “The Other Nine,” the best of each of the in-between classes will be given their due, examining how the champions of each performed against and in comparison to each other.

Strawweight

There could very well be American readers of this piece who have never seen a Strawweight fight.  There are many general sports fans whose faces contort at the name.  “What the hell is a Strawweight?”  If one lives outside of Asia or the Latin world, it can sound like a valid question.

To define: Strawweight is boxing’s youngest of seventeen modern divisions, birthed in 1987 by the IBF and joined by all others shortly thereafter.  Its combatants weigh no more than 105 lbs.

And, yes, some of them have mattered over the years.  In this final look at boxing’ “Jr.” classes, effort is made to come up with twenty of them.  It wasn’t as hard as one would think even with just less than fifty fighters having laid major title claims over the years.
Fighters currently active in the division were not considered with one exception.
The Top Twenty

20) Hiroki Ioka - .24 Points: Japan’s Ioka is best remembered for being the only man to defeat Myung Wuh Yuh one division higher…was also the first ever WBC 105 lb. champ from 1987-88, defending successfully twice…career mark of 33-8-1, 17 KO…in the first defense, he stopped undefeated future titlist Kyung-Yun Lee in twelve before starting a rivalry with the next man on this list. 

19) Napa Kiatwanchai – 1 Point: The Thai brawler was one of the division’s earliest champions…career mark of 16-8-1, 8 KO…WBC titlist 1988-89, 2 defenses…defeated then future titlist Nico Thomas in his fifth fight and drew with Ioka, on Ioka’s turf in Japan, in his seventh…lured Ioka to Thailand two fights later for a majority decision win and then returned to Japan to stop Ioka in their third encounter…he would lose his crown by stoppage in his third attempted defense to Jum Hwan Choi in 1989 and failed to unseat Choi’s conqueror, Hideyuki Ohashi, in a 1990 try…found little success in moves up the scale later on.

18) Issac Bustos – 1.25 Points*: Mexico’s Bustos got off to a rough start but had a nice run in the early 2000’s…career mark of 25-10-3, 13 KO…Bustos bounced back from a 10-6-3 start to win nine straight in setting up his first major title shot…WBC belt 2004-05…faced three titlists in class (Eagle Kyowa, Katsunari Takayama, Ivan Calderon) defeating Kyowa for the belt in Japan when Kyowa suffered a shoulder injury and dropping decisions to the latter two.

17) Miguel Barrera – 1.5 Points: Colombia’s “El Huracan” looked like a rare star for his class before a head injury cut his career short…career mark of 23-1-2, 13 KO…IBF title 2002-03, 1 defense…Barrera will be best remembered for a three fight series with Roberto Leyva…their first bout ended on an accidental cut no-decision in two rounds…in 2002, they faced off again for Leyva’s belt and put on one of the greatest fight ever at Strawweight, a twelve round war which went to the final bell and left some of Leyva’s teeth on the floor…Barrera got the unanimous nod and looked on his way to greatness when he bulldozed Leyva in three rounds in March 2003…it was not to be…two months later, Barrera found a war from journeyman Edgar Cardenas and would be stopped in ten…bleeding on the brain caused during the bout ended Barrera’s career but thankfully not his life.

16) Kermin Guardia – 2 Points*: Still active at bantamweight, Colombia’s Guardia bounced back from tough losses to two of the division’s best to post a decent title run...career mark to date of 37-9, 21 KO…WBO belt 1999-2001, 3 defenses…faced three other titlists (Ricardo Lopez, Rosendo Alvarez, Eric Jamili), losing in title attempts against the first two by decision and then knockout…stopped Jamili for a belt in 1998 and vacated between 2001 and 2003…didn’t fight in 2002 and has had limited success at 108 lbs. and above.

15) Leo Gamez – 2.16 Points: Boxing’s most unheralded four-division titlist began his run as the first WBA titlist, reigning in 1988 and making 1 defense before moving up three pounds…career mark of 35-12-1, 26 KO…Venezuelan faced future titlist Bong Jun Kim in winning the vacant belt, winning by unanimous decision.

14) Yutaka Niida – 2.5 Points: Japan’s Niida was crafty, making up for a lack of pop with ring savvy over an impressive campaign in the early 2000s…career mark of 23-2-3, 9 KO…WBA title 2001 and 04-08, 7 defenses…faced five fellow titlists (Chana Porpaoin, Noel Arambulet, Juan Landaeta, Katsunari Takayama, Roman Gonzalez), defeating all but Gonzalez who ended his second reign and career…stopped a lengthy reign when he defeated Porpaoin and split two with Arambulet…loss came in attempt to reclaim belt vacated in 2001 before regaining in the rematch…could have moved up more with a showdown against concurrently Japan-based titlist Eagle Kyowa.

13) Daniel Reyes – 3 Points*: Another Colombian entry, Reyes has bounced back and forth between 108 and 105 the last few years and, at age 37, appears so near the end as to be worth the lone ‘active in the division’ exception here...career mark so far of 40-6-1, 30 KO…IBF belt 2003-04, 1 defense…won his first 25 to get a crack at a vacant IBF belt but fell short against the first of four Strawweight titlists (Roberto Leyva, Edgar Cardenas, Muhammad Rachman, Ivan Calderon)…stopped Cardenas in 2003 for his belt and avenged the vacant title decision loss to Leyva with a knockout…lost the belt to Rachman on a split decision and struggled to touch Calderon…upset Nelson Dieppa at 108 in 2007 before suffering a first round knockout to Giovanni Segura...currently coming off a knockout loss back at 105.

12) Hi Yong Choi – 3 Points: South Korea’s Choi would pick up titles in two weight classes before he was done...career mark of 19-2, 8 KO…WBA titlist 1991-92, 4 Defenses…volume puncher faced two titlists (Bong Jun Kim, Ohashi) in winning and losing the title…move up to 108 meant a showdown with former Strawweight champion Gamez and Choi walked away with a unanimous decision and another WBA belt…two fights later, a second loss meant retirement at only 29 years of age.

11) Noel Arambulet – 3.5 Points*: Still battling at Flyweight, Venezuela’s Arambulet reigned twice at 105…career mark to date of 23-8-1, 11 KO…WBA 1999-2000, 1 defense…2002-04, 2 defenses…faced four titlists (Joma Gamboa, Landaeta, Keitaro Hoshino, Niida), going 4-2 with a win over each…after losing to Niida in 2004, Arambulet found difficulty in higher divisions while maintaining a steady stream of world level competition.

10) Hideyuki Ohashi – 3.5 Points
Record: 19-5, 12 KO
WBC 1990, 1 Defense; WBA 1992-93, 0 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 5: (Jum Hwan Choi, Kiatwanchai, Lopez, Hi-Yong Choi, Porpaoin)

Japan’s Ohashi was one of the significant figures in the early development of the class.  Prior to the birth of the division, he faced and lost to then future titlist Bong Jun Kim at Jr. Flyweight in 1986 and went on to defeat Choi (and Choi) along with Kiatwanchai through his two reigns.  Ohashi though is probably more notable for his biggest losses.  Prior to being a champion, Ohashi twice challenged the great Jung Koo Chang at Jr. Flyweight and hit the showers early both times.  At Strawweight, he was the kicking off point for what would be notable reigns for both Lopez and Porpaoin.  While being a footnote to others isn’t what anyone would call a best case scenario, in Ohashi’s case it makes him integral to the telling the story of the Strawweight class and will keep his name in circulation long after most of these fighters are forgotten. 

9) Eagle Kyowa – 3.75 Points
Record: 18-2, 6 KO
WBC 2004, 1 Defense; 2005-07, 4 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 5 (Thomas, Jose Antonio Aguirre, Bustos, Takayama, Oleydong Sithsamerchai)

Given a nice list of titlists faced, it’s worth noting that Kyowa’s lasting legacy will likely come from a title defense against a man who has yet to win a notable belt.  In 2006, he and Rodel Mayol of the Philippines came together for twelve savage rounds which got the boxing hardcore base outside Kyowa’s home turf of Japan buzzing.  It was a bout indicative of why Kyowa was always worth a look.  The Thai born warrior came to fight.  He won his first title by overwhelming Aguirre en route to a lopsided decision and looked on his way to a long title run.  A shoulder injury cost him a TKO loss to Bustos in 2004 but he had his WBC belt back in 2005 when he won almost every round from Takayama.  It stayed with him until a trip back to his birthplace in what ended up his final fight, versus the currently reigning Sithsamerchai. 

8) Rosendo Alvarez – 4.5 Points
Record: 37-3-2, 24 KO
WBA 1995-98, 5 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 4: (Porpaoin, Guardia, Eric Chavez, Lopez)

He came so close to doing what no one else could and it got away.  With tenacity, boxing skill, and power, Alvarez emerged in the late 90s as the foil to the man who was the 105 lb. class.  The chance to stamp himself truly special on his own would never come so close again.  Nicaragua’s Alvarez was undefeated when he stopped in against the just as undefeated Ricardo Lopez in 1997, dropping him and controlling him before a clash of heads forced the fight to the cards after eight and a draw was announced.  It was the culmination of a strong run for Alvarez which began when he unseated Porpaoin on a narrow split decision for the WBA belt in 1995.  He followed the Porpaoin win with a rattling knockout of Guardia and three more defenses set up Lopez.  Then it all got away from him and erratic discipline which would plague the second half of his career began to emerge.  Alvarez would miss weight for the Lopez rematch, losing his WBA belt on the scales and then losing in the ring.  Later he would lose a title at 108 and a title shot at 112 doing the same.  Another fight, the first of four with Bebis Mendoza, would get away from him because he couldn’t get his shots above the belt.  In between he’d mostly win against good competition but he never stopped being the guy who almost beat Lopez. 

7) Fahlan Sakkreerin – 5 Points
Record: 54-4-3, 23 KO
IBF 1990-92, 7 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 4: (Porpaoin, Chavez, Melchor, Rachman)

Thailand’s Sakkreerin was like many a southpaw from his native land.  He could punch a little, box a little, and kept his hands moving.  He was also matched tough enough, often enough, to be respected beyond his numbers.  Turning pro against Porpaoin in a 1988 loss, Sakkreerin wouldn’t find defeat again until 1992.  Between those years, he stopped Chavez for his sole major title and pasted together a good reign.  Chavez was decisioned in a return, Pretty Boy Lucas was held to a draw, and Andy Tabanas was sent home with his first loss.  That he lost his title to the average Melchor (then 19-15) couldn’t discount what he got done before that.  He’d avenge the loss to Melchor in 2001 but never hold another crown after moving up to 108.

6) Ratanapol Sor Vorapin – 5 Points*
Record: 59-7-1, 48 KO
IBF 1992-97, 18 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 4: (Manny Melchor, Thomas, Zolani Petelo)

Thailand’s Sor Vorapin held the only belt Ricardo Lopez didn’t win at Strawweight and he held it for a long time.  It was a showdown which would have been nice to see in their primes but instead would not come until the early 2000s.  Sor Vorapin lost in three.  He probably would have lasted longer in the 90s and still lost…but it doesn’t mean he couldn’t fight.  After losing two of his first ten fights, Sor Vorapin would right the ship to defeat Melchor for his belt in 1992 and he didn’t look back for years.  Quality threats beyond Ala Villamor and Juan Herrera were hard to find on his record.  Like many Thai based fighters, Sor Vorapin racked up stats but one could wonder where the beef was.  In 1995 and 96, he managed to lose his belt on the scale temporarily but got it back right away to keep the wins going.  When he found a real threat in 1997, he was stopped in five by a then 10-2-2 Petelo.  Still, the second most impressive reign in the short history of the class counts.  The 34-year old Sor Vorapin continues at 115 lbs. today. 

5) Chana Porpaoin – 5.25 Points
Record: 54-4-4, 19 KO
WBA 1993-95, 8 Defenses; 2001
Titlists/Champions Faced – 8: (Sakkreerin, Melchor, Ohashi, Rafael Torres, Alvarez, Hoshino, Niida, Landaeta)

The third consecutive Thai on the list built a resume the envy of any of them.  Through two title reigns he consistently faced tough outs and won more than he lost.  With a point here or there, who knows?  It might have been him in the ring with Lopez instead of Alvarez.  He did plenty on his own without it.  After taking the crown from Ohashi, he added the first two losses to the career of future 108 lb. titlist Carlos Murillo, squeezing in a win over the former (and first ever) WBO 105 lb. titlist Torres between.  He lacked pop, but could box and was quick handed with a solid chin (never stopped in an almost twenty year career.  After the Alvarez loss, Porpaoin seemed to fade away quietly but then there he was in 2001, traveling to Japan and walking out with a split decision title win over Hoshino for his second title.  He’d lose it in his first attempted defense and slowly faded from the scene, fighting sporadically through 2006. 

4) Jose Antonio Aguirre – 5.75 Points*
Record: 34-9-1, 20 KO
WBC 2000-04, 7 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 4: (Wandee Singwancha, Melchor, Hoshino, Kyowa)

Mexico’s “El Jaguar” has fallen far from where he was at the start of the 2000s but not far enough to forget what he got done.  Turned pro in 1995, Aguirre would lose only one of 24 bouts before securing a title shot over Thailand’s Singwancha.  Stamping his passport, he returned home with a narrow majority decision in his favor and a green belt which he’d hold onto for a good spell.  Solid challenges from Juan Keb Bass Juan Palacios fell short and a trip to Japan to face former titlist Hoshino ended in a knockout win with less than a minute to go.  Aguirre’s next trip to Japan, against Kyowa, ended his near four year run and it didn’t get better from there.  The Kyowa loss would be the first of eight of his next twelve, four of them in title fights at 108  The higher class also supplied his biggest highlight since 2004, a decision win over fellow former Strawweight Kermin Guardia.  Aguirre, 33, remains active at Flyweight.     

3) Zolani Petelo – 6.5 Points
Record: 17-5-2, 9 KO
IBF 1997-2000, 5 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 2: (Sor Vorapin, Jamili)

If he is remembered at all by western fans, Petelo goes down as the man who put the exclamation point on a legend.  After a solid run at Strawweight, Petelo moved up to 108 in 2001 to challenge Ricardo Lopez for IBF honors.  The South African went home with an eighth round knockout loss and the right to be the trivia answer for “Who did Lopez end his career against?”  Petelo can be proud to also be the answer to ‘who ended the second longest reign at Strawweight’ though one can’t be sure who’d ask that.  His stoppage of Sor Vorapin set up a solid title reign which included knockouts of the former champion Jamili, rugged Mickey Cantwell, and a decision over the same Juanito Rubillar still causing troubles for the world’s littlest fighters.  Exceptionally tall for Strawweight at 5’6, Petelo had a quality jab and could crack when he got set.  He just couldn’t get set against Lopez.  Few ever did. 

2) Ivan Calderon – 13 Points*
Record: 32-0, 6 KO
WBO 2003-07, 11 Defenses
Titlists/Champions Faced – 6: (Marquez, Sanchez, Cardenas, Leyva, Reyes, Bustos)

Number two is almost as much a no brainer at 105 as number one.  Unlike number one, there was almost never a knockout to fear with Calderon.  Instead, opponents had to hope against embarrassment.  In twelve title fights in class, only a handful of foes could leave with more than a round or two scored in their favor.  Continuing on currently as the top man at 108 lbs., Calderon remains an elusive target.

His rise in the ranks was almost as quick as the fleet feet of the Puerto Rican craftsman.  Following an opening round loss at the 2000 Olympics, Calderon turned pro in 2001 and ran off fifteen in a row before challenging Eduardo Marquez in May 2003 for the WBO belt.  A wide technical decision in nine started him on the road to a commendable reign.  An aged Alex Sanchez couldn’t catch up to him, Edgar Cardenas missed weight and then the final bell in a rare stoppage win, and former titlists Daniel Reyes and Issac Bustos won two rounds, combined, on six scorecards.  Only Leyva, of the current/former titlists he faced truly gave him a run, and even then could muster only a unanimous 8-4 loss.  In his last defense, challenger Ronald Barrera made a tough run, dropping a split decision and then Calderon was off to bigger challenges.  He’s still chasing those targets and the reigning Ring Magazine/WBO Jr. Flyweight champ could find a big money showdown by the end of 2009 with fellow 2000 Olympian Brian Viloria.

1) Ricardo Lopez – 17.25 Points
Record: 51-0-1, 38 KO
WBC 1990-97, 20 Defenses; WBC/WBO 97-98; WBC 98, 2 Defenses; WBC/WBA 98-99
Titlists/Champions Faced – 6: (Ohashi, Lee, Melchor, Guardia, Sanchez, Alvarez)

From the moment he first strapped on a title belt, Strawweight was Lopez and everyone else.

It still is and everyone reading to now probably already got that.

Turned professional in 1985, Lopez made easy work of the road to his first crown, extended the distance only seven times in his first 26 outings.  His October 1990 shot at then-WBC titlist didn’t see things get too much tougher, Ohashi run over in five rounds on his own home turf in Japan.  Over the next seven-plus years, Lopez would continue to mostly run over his foes, posting an outstanding twenty-two title defenses, seventeen of them by stoppage.  Of the champions in class he fought, Lee, Guardia, and Alvarez went the distance.  Future 108 lb. champion Saman Sorjaturong did not, blasted out in two.  Formidable contender Ala Villamor was expected to be a challenge; Lopez upended him in eight. 

Lopez was not put into unification situations until 1997 when he stopped Sanchez in five to add the WBO belt to his trophy case.  It would take until his next and final two fights in the division, against Alvarez, to find unification and a challenger who could take him to the wall.  In their first bout, Lopez was a little fortunate to escape with a draw on abbreviated scorecards after being dropped for the only time in his career and then cut with an accidental headbutt.  He rebounded in the rematch, giving up what amounted to a pair of weight classes, to nail down a split decision in a serious contender for Fight of the Year in 1998.  Three fights, all at 108, would follow and he notably added the scalps of two more former titlists at 105 in Petelo and Sor Vorapin.  After over a year off, Lopez announced his retirement in November 2002 at 35 years of age, defeat never having found him.

There can be great debate as to where Lopez rates with the best of all time across the scale.  The lack of depth at Strawweight and inability to secure fights with some of the outstanding men just above him in the 1990s (Michael Carbajal, Mark Johnson, Yuri Arbachakov) are weighed against his technical prowess.  There are observers who rate him as one of the most fundamentally perfect pugilists ever to lace them up.  Those arguments have little bearing at the 105 and, really, there is no argument to be had. 

“El Finito” was the greatest Strawweight of them all and it will be a long time before anyone challenges his standing.  Ricardo Lopez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.

Semantics

The results here are based on a numerical comparison, adjusted slightly from the previous weeks, which assigns points in part based on:

1. Number of fellow champions faced (total) then divided into a competition score to flatten the field due to the fluctuation in titles recognized.

2. Lineal World Titles (Noted; 1 Point)

3. Sanctioning Body Titles (Points Assigned based on  number of bodies; i.e. .5 pre-IBF; .25 post-WBO)

4. Title Defenses (Points assigned in correlation to title points)

5. 2 Points per KO; -2 per KOBY; 1 per UD against fellow titlists

6. Quality Wins (Points Assigned based on opponent accomplishments; i.e. lineal champions can count for 1, a single sanctioning body champion based on their sanctioning body total, discretionary points for established champions from other weight classes)

7. Quality Losses (Losses to champion opponents -1 point; selective non-title losses)
Draws (.5 points)

*Still an active professional

Coming Soon: The Top 25 in Each of the Original Eight

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com