The Lightweight Division Looks Bigger and Better

After the fights on April 4th, the Lightweight division looks to be filling up with talent. Some of the top fighters from the division have left it. Manny Pacquiao, Nate Campbell, and maybe Juan Manuel Marquez have all jumped up to the Junior Welterweight division. With those top fighters gone this Lightweight division still is pretty good.

Juan Diaz had a tough loss to a pro in Juan Manuel Marquez on February 28th. It was a very good and very competitive fight. Juan Manuel Marquez showed his experience and got a great looking KO. Even after this loss, Juan Diaz is the top fighter in the division.

Edwin Valero got a powerful knockout of Antonio Pitalua in the 2nd round of their fight on April 4th. Valero jumped out at the beginning and was throwing cement blocks at Pitalua's head. Pitalua was knocked down three times before the referee stopped the fight. Valero said, after the fight, he wants to fight anybody: Marquez, Diaz, Hatton, or Pacquiao. He feels that he can dominate in the Junior Welterweight division. If he fights like he did against Pitalua he could handle all of his competition. With this said, Antonio Pitalua is a strong fighter but he is not very crafty. If Valero fights any of the above mentioned fighters, he might have a struggle. Marquez, Diaz, and Pacquiao are all have very good body and head movement. It would be very entertaining to see Valero fight any of those fighters or any other fighter because he has extremely powerful hands.

Michael Katsidis also fought on April 4th and had come off of two losses. He lost to Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz. These are two very strong fighters so his losses don't mean Katsidis is a bad fighter. Katsidis took a page out of Juan Manuel Marquez's book and had a slow start. In the 4th round he turned it on and a headbutt opened up Jesus Chavez. Once the blood started to flow, Katsidis' bloodlust turned on and he took over the fight. Jesus Chavez was trading shots throughout the fight but after the 7th round he didn't come out of his corner. Katsidis looked very good coming off those two losses he had and he re-established himself as a contender in the division.

Another fighter in the division who was on the comeback track was Julio Diaz. Julio Diaz took on Rolando Reyes on April 4th and got knocked out in the 5th round. Once one of the top Lightweight fighters, Julio Diaz now has a long path to return to greatness. The audience in Austin, Texas booed Diaz and Reyes because Diaz was just throwing jabs ans short shots. Reyes decided in the 5th round to start fighting and he did. He landed a very solid right hook and left uppercut to stun Diaz and followed with a flurry to drop him. Diaz got up only to receive another barrage of punches. After this the referee stopped the fight leaving, little known, Rolando Reyes as a contender in the Lightweight division.

There is one simple fact about this outstanding division, nobody knows exactly what will happen until the Ricky Hatton - Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2nd. Once there is a clear winner the division can start scheduling fights. Anyone and everyone wants to fight the winner of that fight. Both the winner and loser of that fight will be looked at as competition. Lightweights to Welterweights want Hatton and Pacquiao and the future is unknown. However one thing is known, the Lightweight division is a tough, hard, packed division.