World junior flyweight champion Ivan Calderon has had three straight fights end early on cuts. Is the unbeaten "Iron Boy" closer to his first loss, or to retirement? (AP Photo)

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In boxing, guys that cut frequently have uphill battles before a fight even starts. Reigning junior flyweight world champion Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon sure has his work cut out for him these days.

Saturday's technical split decision win over Rodel Mayol showed again that not only is the 34-year old Calderon (33-0-1, 6 KO) slowing as many fighters his size do near and even before his age, but given that this was the third straight fight of his to end early on a cut, I think we can more than safely say that yes, Calderon has a real problem on his hands.

The first blemish on his professional record came in June, when he fought Mayol for the first time. That bout was stopped after six due to an accidental headbutt cut, and the judges came back with a draw (58-56 Calderon, 58-56 Mayol, 57-57). This time, Calderon escaped with two cards in his favor after seven rounds (68-65 on both). Imagine if the other two judges had seen it the way that judge Carlos Colon did (68-65 for Mayol). Had that happened, it would have been the largely unheralded Filipino Mayol that would have been the man to take Calderon's Hall of Fame-bound "0," not Edgar Sosa, Ulises Solis, Brian Viloria, Hugo Cazares, or anyone else among the more highly-regarded Calderon contemporaries.

After the fight, Calderon said he'd like to unify titles before 2009 is over with Brian Viloria, which seems unlikely. We're in mid-September and Calderon just suffered yet another nasty cut. I don't think there's much standing in the way of Calderon-Viloria for the first quarter of 2010, though, and that might just be the fight that ends Calderon's undefeated run. Let's face it: Mayol is tough, can bang, and isn't a bad fighter, but when Viloria's on, he's on another level, and he's been on this year, with an exceptionally exciting upset of Solis in April, followed by a win over Jesus Iribe last month.

It's not just the cuts, either. Calderon has lived and died on his magnificent, downright beautiful grasp of the sweet science. It's been said a lot, but for those that think Floyd Mayweather Jr. is slick, check out some prime era Calderon. Now that was slick boxing. But he's getting old, and it's showing. He's a tick slower both offensively and defensively, and when you have no power in your punch, guys will come at you hard. A fool in the division would try to box Calderon straight up, even now. A guy that will get in his face and test those declining reflexes has a shot now, where once upon a time even winning a few rounds against Calderon was a moral victory.

What I'm wondering is simply what's closer: Calderon losing, or Calderon retiring? Have his skills slipped to the point where Brian Viloria might even be considered a favorite head-to-head, all things considered? If he beats Viloria, and given the cut situation he's facing and his age, would you expect him to retire on top with his "0" intact, or do you think he'd fight on and look for a fight with Edgar Sosa, the other top-line fighter at 108? Sure, he's taken minimal punishment, but how many fights in a row can end early on a cut before a guy just has enough?

Mikkel Kessler stopped Gusyml Perdomo in the fourth round in Denmark. His win was part of a largely predictable night in the boxing world. (Photo via d.yimg.com)

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Only one unexpected result came out of a busy night, so let's just recap in simple, quick and dirty terms:

• Mikkel Kessler stopped Gusmyl Perdomo in the fourth round in Denmark, retaining his WBA super middleweight title. Kessler's next fight with Andre Ward will be significantly tougher, and if it's not, it says a ton about Kessler. On that note...
• Andre Ward easily dominated Shelby Pudwill en route to a third round stoppage in California. Pudwill came to fight, he was just massively outgunned against a far more talented foe. Ward actually asked the referee to stop the fight just before he did. He didn't want to keep drilling Shelby. Kinda classy, no?
• Ivan Calderon won a seventh round technical split decision over Rodel Mayol in Puerto Rico after an accidental headbutt cut him.
• Roman Martinez knocked out Feider Viloria in the ninth round to defend his title.
  
• Nehomar Cermano again defeated Cristian Mijares, this time without controversy, to retain a bantamweight title. 
  
• James Toney stopped Matthew Greer in the second. Toney was in shape, relatively. Toney apparently weighed in at a svelte (for James) 217 for the fight, the lowest he's weighed since beating Holyfield.
• Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. blasted past Jason LeHoullier in the first round. It's really time for Chavez to stop coasting on daddy's name and step up in competition. Even the relatively limited John Duddy would be a respectable foe at this point. Chavez has already beaten enough cans and journeymen. He's 40-0-1 (30) at this point. Bob Arum can't get away with exploiting the Mexican PPV audience forever with this guy.
• Alejandro Valdez appeared to have stopped Fernando Montiel in the third round of their 118-pound title bout, but ended up with a technical draw. In an action fight, Valdez was knocked down in the first round, but came back to score a knockdown in the second on a perfect uppercut, opening a gash on Montiel.  After the third round, Montiel's corner signaled to stop the fight, and the ref waived off the fight.  Valdez went crazy in the ring, believing he had won, but the ref called it a technical draw.  Valdez's team waited in the ring and kept questioning the decision, and after a while, the commission came to the conclusion that Valdez had actually won by third round TKO.  As of last night, this is what we thought the final result was, but since then, the commissioners back in Mexico City have changed the result back to a technical draw, despite pretty clear evidence that the cut was caused by a big punch from Valdez.  Although Valdez appears to have been robbed of a victory, this puts Valdez, now 21-3-3, back on the map.  It also makes Hozumi Hasegawa's destruction of Valdez look that much more impressive.
• Z Gorres beat Cruz Carbajal via sixth round injury TKO.
• Donnie Nietes retained a 105-pound title, beating Manuel Vargas via split decision.
• Jose Luis Castillo knocked out Juan Urias in the second.

168-pound titlist Mikkel Kessler meets challenger Gusmyl Perdomo tonight on Showtime. Also featured: Andre Ward v. Shelby Pudwill. (Photo via www.boxnews.com.ua)

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Live, round-by-round coverage and scoring starts tonight at 10pm. Showtime will televise both fights.

NOTE: Kessler-Perdomo is being aired by Showtime on tape delay, and is not live. DO NOT post spoilers in this thread. Spoilers in this thread will get you banned. If you feel compelled to post spoilers for Kessler-Perdomo, do it in a FanPost and clearly label the title with "SPOILERS."

Not gonna do the records bit for this show, because it's a showcase show, and we all know it. Kessler and Ward are due to meet in the Super Six World Boxing Classic on November 21, and both of them are looking for impressive victories, and perhaps even more importantly, to not get hurt at all or suffer a bad cut or anything like that.

Kessler (41-1, 31 KO) is facing the tougher test, as Gusmyl Perdomo's record (16-2, 10 KO) doesn't quite tell you how much talent he has. Kessler is the perceived top dog by many (including yours truly) at 168 pounds, but Perdomo over Kessler would be a lesser upset than, say, Marquez over Mayweather. Cliff Rold thinks Perdomo has a speed advantage and doesn't rate Kessler as significantly better in any way.

Andre Ward (19-0, 12 KO) faces Shelby Pudwill (22-3-1, 9 KO) and should face no resistance. Pudwill is 34 years old and has fought just once since a 2006 first round TKO loss to John Duddy. The Pudwill name is mostly known due to Shelby's brother, Tucker, getting an iffy title shot at Joe Calzaghe years ago.

Also happening tonight, which may or may not wind up getting some coverage in the comments:

"Undefeated Champions" PPV headlined by Ivan Calderon v. Rodel Mayol in a rematch

"Latin Fury 33394" featuring Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. v. Jason LeHoullier

Ivan Calderon, Roman Martinez and Rodel Mayol are all on weight for Saturday night's pay-per-view from Puerto Rico.

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Weights are in from Puerto Rico for Saturday night's "Undefeated Champions" pay-per-view event.

Note: In the co-feature, WBO junior lightweight titlist Roman Martinez was to face Vicente Martin Rodriguez. Rodriguez had a visa issue, however, and has been replaced by Colombian Feider Viloria (22-4-1, 15 KO), who has lost three of his last five and been stopped three times in his career. Not a great replacement, but it was really short notice, too.

Main Event - Junior Flyweight World Championship (12 Rounds)
Ivan Calderon 107.4
Rodel Mayol 107.3

Co-Feature - WBA Junior Lightweight Title (12 Rounds)
Roman Martinez 129.4
Feider Viloria 129.2

Junior Bantamweights (10 Rounds)
Juan Mercedes 115.2
Robert DaLuz 116.5

Cruiserweights (6 Rounds)
Carlos Negron 185
Larry Carter 184.8

The last two fights are showcases for Mercedes and Negron, but I do dig the nickname of Robert "Don't Lose" DaLuz.

Three shows are available on American TV this Saturday night:

1. Mikkel Kessler v. Gusmyr Perdomo and Andre Ward v. Shelby Pudwill on Showtime, which Bad Left Hook will be covering
2. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. v. Jason LeHoullier in another one of Bob Arum's $40 Chavez exhibitions
3. Ivan Calderon v. Rodel Mayol II, also on PPV for $30 and available on Gofightlive.tv for $9.95 if your TV provider isn't carrying this show (which mine isn't)

If the Showtime show wasn't there, I'd be ordering Calderon-Mayol personally. Much bigger fight, much more important, and with a decent undercard to boot. Here's the PPV pre-show for the card if you are considering it.

Ivan Calderon and Rodel Mayol (seen here with Roman Martinez in the middle) will meet for a second time on September 12 in Puerto Rico.

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Junior flyweight world champion Ivan Calderon and Filipino challenger Rodel Mayol clashed on the June 13 undercard of Cotto-Clottey at Madison Square Garden, with a technical draw declared after the fight was stopped due to a Calderon cut. On September 12, the two will meet again, and this time U.S. audiences will get a chance to see the action. Integrated Sports will offer the show on pay-per-view for a suggested price of $29.95.

At a press conference in Calderon's native Puerto Rico, the champion said, "I made many mistakes in the other fight when I wanted to impress the fans there and watching on television, but this time I'm going to do my job. My boxing style is to hit and not get hit."

Calderon (32-0-1, 6 KO) lost his unblemished record in the draw with Mayol, and while he remains one of the best "pure boxers" in the game today (arguably still the best), there is no question his age (he's 34) and tendency to cut is starting to catch up with him. A look at his last few fights says that and maybe more.

Mayol (25-3-1, 19 KO) is a good puncher and always a game opponent. Past the Calderon draw, he's lost his biggest fights, but he's a legitimate threat to dethrone Calderon at this point. Mayol is confident he can beat Calderon this time around: "I am training very hard for this fight because I want the title and I know that I will win the title on September 12."

On the undercard, 130-pound titlist Roman Martinez (22-0-1, 13 KO) will defend against Vicente Martin Rodriguez (25-2-1, 13 KO), a replacement for Michael Lozada.