Photo © Showtime

All eyes in the boxing world are currently on one American TV network, and for the first time in a good while, it isn't HBO.

While HBO continues to bask in the glory of their momentous 2007, Showtime has quickly shaken off the stigma of being the vastly inferior company that came with their truly dreadful year. In January, they kicked off the year right with an entertaining 140-pound title fight between the charismatic Paulie Malignaggi and tough contender Herman Ngoudjo, and now, they really kick it into second gear.

The next two weekends are Showtime going back to their boxing roots, the ideas that made them, for a while, HBO's unquestioned superior. While HBO farted around with contract fights that people couldn't get excited about, Showtime offered bang for your standard pay cable subscription buck. "Great fights, no rights" was the motto of Showtime Championship Boxing and Shobox -- while HBO offered the more familiar commentary team, the generally grander events, and the glitz and glam that comes with a major prize fight, Showtime was content to give us some of that, but also fights that promised action, to boot.

For the diehards, Showtime was the network. Last year, Showtime went a step too far in attempting to imitate HBO and hopelessly failing, while HBO answered criticism by delivering arguably their strongest year of boxing ever.

Now, Showtime is back to what works. Tonight's special edition of Shobox will lead in to tomorrow night's highly-anticipated rubber match between super bantamweights Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez, and then next Saturday, the network will bring American fans rare live coverage of a major cruiserweight title fight, when David Haye takes on Enzo Maccarinelli in London, another fight that promises a knockout.

(In somewhat related news, a special edition Shobox will air on Saturday, March 29, headlined by the Carl Froch-Denis Inkin fight. Seriously, how great is Showtime looking right now?)

Up to the plate first: Robert Guerrero defending his IBF featherweight title against Jason Litzau -- yet another fight where fireworks and action are to be expected.

The 126-pound division is a good one again, littered with really solid fighters throughout the top of the division, a division unfortunately spearheaded by Indonesian Chris John, who appears to have no plans to leave the comfy confines of his homeland and venture into major fights, instead seemingly secure in making his mandatories and little else. The biggest win of John's career over Juan Manuel Marquez was a gift -- John is a really good fighter, but he's something of a chump champion.

Past John, though, it gets more interesting. Guerrero, WBO champion Steven Luevano, and dynamite WBC titleholder Jorge Linares are the other three major titleholders, and all of them could give John a run for his money. Linares is, in fact, one of the most exciting young boxers to come down the pipe in a long time. The newest "Golden Boy" pretty much has it all.

And then there's the cast of contenders waiting for title shots. Former bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez has made his way into the division, hoping to prolong a stagnating career. 24-year old Derry Matthews and Nicky Cook are England's top hopes. Tough veterans like Hector Velazquez and Orlando Salido. Puerto Rican southpaw Mario Santiago (lone loss was to Velazquez) is a personal favorite. Jorge Solis' only career loss came at 130 to Manny Pacquiao.

And then there's Jason Litzau, "The American Boy" himself. Born, raised and residing in the lesser-known of Minnesota's great twin cities, Litzau blitzed through his first 20 fights, scoring 18 knockouts. He was a fast-rising TV favorite. And then he met Jose Hernandez on December 16, 2006.

Hernandez knocked Litzau out in the eighth round. And it was on HBO's Boxing After Dark, too.

Maybe he was overconfident. Maybe he was overhyped. And maybe Hernandez was just the better man that night. Whatever it was, Hernandez weathered Litzau and wound up kicking his ass. Litzau was always a little cocky -- on that night, it bit him.

Since the loss, Litzau has gone 3-0, beating Aldo Valtierra, Emmanuel Lucero and Edel Ruiz, the Valtierra and Ruiz fights going the 10-round distance, with Litzau winning by wide margins in both cases. Lucero was knocked out in the second round.

I don't remember where I read it, but one internet comment summed up Litzau, at the time of his loss to Hernandez, rather squarely: "It's like he gets paid extra to keep his hands down."

Has he overcome that? Lapses in defense can be corrected if the fighter is one of substance. Just look at Kelly Pavlik, who used to get hit a lot more than he did against Jermain Taylor in their second fight. Pavlik will never be a great defensive fighter because he's too offense-first in nature, but he's become much less susceptible to someone who can punch, because he no longer looks to simply trade bombs and win the war.

Has Litzau done the same? Because if he stands and trades with Guerrero, "The Ghost" (Guerrero, not Pavlik) could knock him out the same as Hernandez did. At the same time, Litzau has shown he has the power to knock out anyone, too.

One other thing that bothers me about Litzau is weight. Only once in his career has he actually weighed in at 126 pounds, which was the Lucero fight. For much of his career, he's fought at 130, and in many fights, weighed 128. It may not seem like a major issue, but it might be.

As for Guerrero, he's one of boxing's truly good guys. He maintains his own blog, offering rare insight into a boxer's everyday life, often posting sparring videos and training with Shane Mosley and things of that nature. Guerrero is someone I root for every step of the way. And he's a good fighter in addition to being a class cat.

I have to favor Guerrero tonight, simply because I can't shake the image of Litzau being knocked out by Hernandez. For now, that's my real image of Litzau. I'm not saying he has no shot -- he has a very real chance of beating Guerrero, and I'm quite looking forward to the fight. We'll be here with scoring and round-by-round coverage of Guerrero-Litzau and a heavyweight rematch between T.J. Wilson and Travis Walker, and then back tomorrow night, of course, for Vazquez-Marquez III. We hope you'll join us. Actually, tomorrow night, I'm ordering anyone with even a passing interest in boxing to join us.