Photo © Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images

The HBO Boxing After Dark card produced the three favorites as the three winners, even though the main eventer struggled (relatively, anyway), and the two budget-priced PPVs went off largely as planned.

The night's biggest fight saw Cristian Mijares unify the WBC and WBA super flyweight titles with a split decision win over Alexander Munoz. Most observers thought Mijares clearly won the bout, and found themselves scratching their heads at the card from judge Burt Clements, who scored it 116-111 for Munoz (32-3, 27 KO), who has spent much of his career in Japan.

The two other cards favored Mijares (35-3-2, 14 KO) by tallies of 115-113 and 116-112. Boxing Scene's Cliff Rold called Mijares' performance "a masterpiece," and said that any P4P list should now have Mijares. It's hard to disagree; though some of his post-Arce opposition has been a little light, to say the least, the guy is on a major roll right now.

In other pay-per-view action south of the border, Jorge Arce defeated Devid Lookmahanak via majority decision (115-114, 115-113, 114-114) to earn a shot at the WBC super flyweight belt, a title he lost convincingly to Mijares in a brutal 12-round decision last April. It would seem unlikely that he'll exercise his right at a shot to Mijares, who would undoubtedly be ready to tear Arce apart once more. The first fight wasn't even close; a rematch between the two would be somewhat equivalent to the coming rematch between junior welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi and ex-titlist Lovemore N'dou.

There has been plenty of talk of Arce, who has always been big for his weight, moving all the way up to 122 pounds to fight Israel Vazquez late this year or early next year. While it would no doubt be a hell of a war, most would expect Vazquez to outgun Arce and knock him out. I know I would.

Undercard action from the PPVs

The "other" Chavez kid, Omar, knocked out Juan de Dios Castillo in the first round ... Brian Viloria dropped tomato can Fred Heberto Valdez in the third in a fight that had no business happening ... Jorge Solis won a 10-round unanimous decision over Miguel Roman ... Julio Cesar Miranda upset previously undefeated Omar Salado via brutal fifth round TKO.

Boxing After Dark

James Kirkland stunningly destroyed Eromosele Albert at 1:06 of the first round, knocking Albert down once on a couple of short left hands, and finishing him off moments later after another strong flurry. Much is being made of Kirkland's unorthodox, "old school," boot camp-style training regiment, led by great female boxer Ann Wolfe, who is his chief trainer. I don't know that the methods would work for most fighters, but clearly it's the right gear for Kirkland, who has the killer instinct that could make a legend. He lacks some technique and his defense isn't so great, but his offensive style is just astonishing to watch. He punches in bunches and lands hard. He's a fighter, no doubt about it, and I think he could drop anyone at 154 right now. That's not to say he wouldn't be beaten if the fight could be drawn out by a tough, savvy veteran, but his power is lethal, and he's like a shark in the ring.

Alfredo Angulo knocked out a tough Richar Gutierrez in the fifth round -- sort of. Referee Tony Weeks jumped in to stop the fight before Gutierrez went down, as Gutierrez was taking a massive amount of punishment. Angulo was staggered early in the fifth, but recovered quickly and had taken firm control of the action. The first round was great back-and-forth fighting, and Gutierrez never backed down from Angulo. But Angulo showed better technique as the fight went on, giving him the big advantage when all was said and done. Gutierrez is still one of my favorite unheralded TV fighters, but he's so lax defensively that it's going to kill him against guys on Angulo's level.

How great would an Angulo-Kirkland fight sound to you right now? It won't happen, since there's not enough money in it and the two can continue to make their names bigger for the time being, but I'd love to see it. And I'd love to see either of them take on Joel Julio, too. These three guys are a strong foundation for what is a very weak division right now. In short order, they could all contribute to turning the division over in a big way.

In the third fight of the night, Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa was stretched out a full ten rounds against a double tough Darling Jimenez, who knocked Gamboa down in the fourth round and occasionally threatened to make a fight of it. Gamboa's hands down philosophy is going to get him tagged by a harder puncher at some point, and though he showed a good chin and was barely hurt on the perfect counter shot that floored him, that could spell trouble. At the same time, he's 10 fights into his pro career. Offensively, his lightning hand speed allows him to do the Roy Jones hands down thing. But Jones had such amazing agility and upper body/head movement that he was also able to get away with it defensively most of the time. Gamboa doesn't have that yet. It'd be very hard to teach him to keep his hands up since he's 26 years old, has great amateur experience, and that's just the way he fights, but improving head movement would likely be more manageable. And given the type of athlete he is, there's no reason that can't be done.

Quote of the Weekend

"I couldn't keep up with (Shaun George). He took me to school." -- Chris Byrd

Yuriorkis Gamboa faced the stiffest test of the night, surprising most everyone. After a first round TKO by James Kirkland over Eromosele Albert and a fifth round TKO of Richar Gutierrez by Alfredo Angulo, Gamboa took a hard-fought unanimous, ten-round decision over Darling Jimenez. We'll have much more on the fights, plus the other weekend bouts on Sunday night.

Other quick results: Cristian Mijares won a split decision over Alexander Munoz to unify the WBC and WBA super flyweight titles, and Jorge Arce won a majority decision over David Lookmahanak to win an eliminator for that very same WBC title. The night's only real upset saw Omar Salado suffer his first defeat via fifth round TKO against Julio Cesar Miranda.

At one time, Boxing After Dark was indisputably the premier showcase showdown for boxing's elite young stars. The up-and-comers flocked to the series, and HBO proudly gave them the stage to build an audience and hopefully keep it as they continued to develop.

With ESPN2's boxing coverage so spotty and not exactly well-promoted (I'm trying to be nice here), and Showtime's outstanding Shobox series trucking along, it's good to see HBO get back in the game in regard to young fighters getting a chance to show what they can do.

On Saturday night, there are going to be some good ones. B.A.D. will present a triple-header featuring a handful of very promising young fighters who might be on the cusp of breaking out in 2008. Let's take a brief look at all three fights.

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT: JAMES KIRKLAND (21-0, 18 KO) v. EROMOSELE ALBERT (21-1, 10 KO)

If you missed Kirkland's Shobox outing on November 30th, you missed some fun. But since it didn't last very long, let's just watch it here.

Inexperienced 32-year old Allen Conyers will always have "James Kirkland, L, TKO-1" on his record, but that one round was all action. He showed massive guts standing up to the powerful Kirkland, and even though he didn't last a round, he showed us that the previously untested Kirkland is very vulnerable. The two right hands that put Kirkland on the mat were pinpoint stuff -- Kirkland's one flaw was always supposed to be his lack of defense. Power he's got for days -- but does he have the technical skills (or desire to use them) that makes a truly great fighter?

I don't know if he does or not. How's that for analysis? What I do know is that many of the most memorable fighters ever were always very vulnerable. Arturo Gatti, of course, springs to mind immediately. Kirkland has great power, throws a dagger of a left hand, and has a very powerful, very compact sort of build. He doesn't waste motion on his punches all that often. As aggressive as he can be, he doesn't get terribly sloppy.

Defensively, Eromosele Albert will test him. While Kirkland is the favorite, Albert is no chump. He routed Yori Boy Campas in a 10-round decision last year, and followed that up with a win over Daniel Edouard, whose only previous loss was to a hungry Jermain Taylor in Taylor's last fight before he faced off with Bernard Hopkins.

Should Albert upset Kirkland, it will be because he outboxed and out-thought his opponent over 10 rounds. And I'll tell you, that is not too hard to imagine. Kirkland has a great killer instinct, he's a fighter that feeds off of the energy and is exceptionally dependent, it would seem to me, upon momentum. All fighters need momentum to box their best, but Kirkland is that type of fighter for whom momentum is imperative, I believe. We haven't seen it come to that for him just yet, but his style lends itself to that thinking, at least to me. If Albert can frustrate him and pick away, the rounds might start piling up. And we know Kirkland can be hurt. Albert isn't the puncher that Conyers is, but over the course of a fight, a lot of little shots make way for one big one, even for a middling puncher.

This is a fight I'm really looking forward to, because it's going to tell us a LOT about both of these men. Eromosele Albert is 33 years old and isn't going to get a lot of chances to make it much bigger than he already has. Kirkland, 24, has the world waiting for him. He might just look past the wrong guy.

SUPER FEATHERWEIGHTS: YURIORKIS GAMBOA (9-0, 8 KO) v. DARLING JIMENEZ (23-2-2, 14 KO)

Olympic Gold Medalist and Cuban defector Yuriorkis Gamboa is a beast. He is an absolute monster, and this guy could be the future of boxing. That is not hyperbole -- he is 26 years old, but fights like a guy that's been a pro for a lot longer than a year. He has dominated everyone in his path. He's already talking about fighting Manny Pacquiao. And you know what's scary? I don't think he'd get embarrassed.

He has lightning hand speed. He has a nasty left hook. He's got the kind of power and aggressive nature that makes you drool, but he's also just overwhelming at all times. He not only brings the fight to his opponent, he neutralizes any thought of offense they might have.

Darling Jimenez has a couple of OK wins on his sheet, beating Mike Anchondo and Jose Soto, and he's had competitive losses to tough customers Fernando Trejo and Miguel Huerta. But he's just not on Gamboa's level. There are a select few fighters that just plain HAVE IT. Gamboa is one of those fighters. It would be positively stunning if he lost this fight, and I think it'd be stunning if he didn't clean house on Jimenez in short order. It might not last long, but the bottom line is if you want to see a dynamite young fighter on the rise, watch Yuriorkis Gamboa tomorrow night.

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHTS: ALFREDO ANGULO (12-0, 9 KO) v. RICHARD GUTIERREZ (24-1, 14 KO)

This is the one where I think we're most likely to see an upset. Gutierrez is a fighter that I really like for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. His February ESPN2 win over Jose Varela was entertaining if a bit dirty and rough house-y, but there's nothing wrong with that if you ask me. And Angulo, as they note in the video above (win over Ricardo Cortes, February 1), has some fatal flaws that someone like Gutierrez might see on tape and entirely build a plan around. He doesn't have good head movement. He relies on his offense very heavily. He's not good at moving around the ring.

Moving the ring is not a problem for Gutierrez. Like Albert against Kirkland, his best shot is to jab, wear Angulo down, and win rounds. Look, Gutierrez's only loss came via majority decision to Joshua Clottey. He can fight.

To me, this is a bit of a can't-miss show for diehard boxing fans and those that are trying to learn more about the sport while it's in a hot period. It's too bad that the Munoz-Mijares PPV is up against this, because otherwise I'd take that Mosley-Judah money and buy the Top Rank show. Sadly, even for the budget price of 30 clams, the PPV has just one fight I really want to see. Boxing After Dark has three fights worth watching -- Gamboa could fight anyone and I'd tune in, and I think the other two fights are both bouts with live dogs.

We'll be here tonight to cover Chris Byrd's move to light heavyweight, and back tomorrow night for B.A.D. -- good to be going strong again. I hate those lulls.