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Are we all overlooking Urango?

Power, good looks, the body that makes casual fans, fight promoters, and TV networks take notice, and a nice record with a fine knockout rate.

What is it that keeps Juan Urango off of everyone's radar?

Urango took his IBF 140-pound strap (won against Naoufel Ben Rabah) into an HBO headlining fight against Ricky "Hitman" Hatton in January of 2007. I thought Urango could have been considered something of a live dog.

Hatton won, 119-109 on all three cards. But he never looked like he hurt the rock-solid Urango, whose offensive gameplan was terrible at best and non-existent at worst. When he bothered to turn up the heat -- or, more accurately, turn on any heat -- he was able to stand with the "Hitman," who was returning to the junior welterweight ranks after a shaky 147-pound debut over Luis Collazo.

Why did Urango seem to so easily roll over for Hatton? Was he star-struck by his opponent, the Vegas lights, the HBO cameras, the general attention that came with going from being a nobody to a big-time, Saturday night main eventer? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just that Hatton was too much for him.

But that is an excuse I don't really buy, as Hatton was hardly at his best that night. Whatever it was, Urango lost, convincingly, and it was back to the sticks for a recent titlist.

TKO wins over Nasser Athumani and Marty Robbins got him up to 19 career wins, but proved little more than that.

Anybody that caught Urango's fourth round knockout of Carlos Vilches (53-8-2, 31 KO) on Wednesday Night Fights saw what he's capable of. The southpaw Colombian threw a vicious right hook that ended Vilches' night in short order in the fourth round, and became a quick contender for Knockout of the Year (it's well behind Miranda over Banks if you ask me, but a great knockout is a great knockout).

Let's say Urango learned something from the Hatton loss, and you'd have to guess that he has. Where does he fit in at 140 pounds? Hatton, Junior Witter, Paulie Malignaggi, and Ricardo Torres are all busy for the time being. Kendall Holt is getting another shot at Torres, N'dou has another chance to beat Malignaggi, Lazcano will look to knock off Hatton, and top prospect Timothy Bradley is stepping into the deep waters with Witter.

Who's out there? Andreas Kotelnik holds an alphabet title, having just beaten Gavin Rees in decisive fashion. Rees himself, a tough scrapper that Urango would probably beat, sounds like he wants to move down to 135 and take a crack at Amir Khan.

Vivian Harris could use a dance partner. So could Herman Ngoudjo. And there's always Demetrius Hopkins, whenever he gets his career straightened out.

Urango needs a high-profile win, or at least something as high-profile as Harris or Ngoudjo. Urango-Ngoudjo, in fact, would be a wonderful ESPN2 headliner or premium cable undercard bout. Both guys have faced top competition and lost, though Ngoudjo made a better showing against Malignaggi than Urango did against Hatton.

Is it possible that Urango could be the darkhorse at 140? Judging by how he looked on Wednesday, I wouldn't look past this guy anymore. He doesn't turn 28 until October, has shown real power and a good chin, and he showed legit one-punch power against Vilches.

I might be too early to really sound the alarm, but Urango has officially entered my list of guys to keep an eye on. He might not rocket up the ranks, but if he gets a chance, look out.

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Ngoudjo
Ngoudjo is fighting an eliminator with M'Baye. Urango will probably fight for a vacant belt early next year. Hopefully it will be against either Hopkins or the Holt/Torres winner.

by BabyBull1289 on Apr 25, 2008 3:18 AM EDT   0 recs

re:
Completely forgot about Ngoudjo-M'baye. DiBella won the purse, right?

by SC on Apr 25, 2008 3:24 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Hammerango
Urango more like Hammerango. I did not notcie this on Wednesday, but doesn't it looks like as time went on with the guy knock out on the canvas that his face is swelling up?

That can be an addition to Knock out of the day. Damn!

by CRAZEDANG1280 on Apr 25, 2008 9:26 AM EDT   0 recs

Urango
To me, Urango seems to be a solid fighter, but I wouldn't pick him to beat Malignaggi, Torres, Holt, Witter, Victor Ortiz (who you may have forgotten to mention) or Hatton in a rematch.  Urango-Ngoudjo, in my book, is a toss-up.

I'm not sure what the deal is with Vivian Harris.  A focused, well-trained Vivian Harris has the talent to beat pretty much anyone in this division.  Perhaps he's gotten old too early.  I think the Vivian Harris of four/five years ago would have given Witter a much better fight.  At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if Urango beat him.

In any case, I almost see Urango as a Randall Bailey/Demarcus Corley/Lovemore N'dou type of a fighter.  A gatekeeper of sorts.  Someone much better than your average fighter, who will win a belt here and there, but who will never be great, or win a major fight against a big opponent like Hatton, Cotto or Malignaggi.

by Kevin Gonzalez on Apr 25, 2008 11:50 AM EDT   0 recs

Urango
Vilches sleeping on the job? Oh, Urango had something to do with it. Urango knocked him completely out. Just awesome.

Urango has obvious knockout power but he doesn't throw jabs at all. And his head is always in position for a prime uppercut. Sometimes wild with his punches. He's pretty much a puncher who tries to wear his opponents down. Slightly above average, I guess. LOL, I'm not a good judge of talent.

by E ROC on Apr 25, 2008 3:10 PM EDT   0 recs

Jabs
I've seen him throw jabs, but not his most effective punch.  I remember him throwing a pretty decent number of jabs in the hatton fight, just not tunring them into anything.  Then again, that could've been an optical illusion, since Ricky Hatton wouldn't throw a jab if you held a gun to his head.

by jrok on Apr 25, 2008 6:16 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

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