Andre Ward is looking to break through into the elite ranks of the sport tonight against Mikkel Kessler. (Photo via Goossen Tutor)

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Tonight in Oakland, a star could be born. Or, if things don't go the young man's way, well, a star could be born later.

Andre Ward has the pedigree. He won an Olympic gold medal in Athens back in 2004, and turned pro in December of that year with a second round stoppage of Chris Molina. Since then, the pacing of Ward's rise has been called deliberate and even slow, something he contends isn't the case. Worth taking into account is a knee injury that surfaced when he started stepping up from the bums to the gatekeepers.

The gatekeepers have really been his main targets. To hear Ward tell it, everyone's been a tough fight, and everyone has taken him lightly, then been surprised by his full package of skills. Ward (20-0, 13 KO) will take a massive step up in class tonight, and even with home field advantage, he might be biting off more than he can chew.

Then again, let's look at what Mikkel Kessler has done lately. Kessler (42-1, 32 KO) is the world's best super middleweight, at least in my opinion. When he fought Joe Calzaghe in November 2007, he was clearly beaten, but gave Calzaghe one of the tougher fights of the Welshman's career. He came into that fight considered the world's No. 2 at 168 pounds, and I felt he left without losing that standing. Yes, Calzaghe was better than him -- but only Calzaghe was better than him.

Since losing to Calzaghe, Kessler hasn't exactly been on a notable tear. Sure, he's wasted the competition, but the competition has been iffy. A promotional dispute with Mogens Palle led Kessler to signing with Sauerland Event of Germany earlier this year. Dimitri Sartison, Danilo Haussler and Gusmyr Perdomo may not be the best of the best, but like Ward has done with his middling opposition, he's done with them as he should have: Blown them out.

Kessler has been called "overrated" by a few people, but I don't see it. When you watch him fight, you can see where his record and his standing comes from. His jab is powerful, sharp and accurate, among the best in the sport. He isn't a tricky fighter by any means; in some ways he's like a superior Kelly Pavlik. Simple, basic, and extremely effective. He's tough to rattle, partially because to get at him, you're going to have to get past that nasty jab of his.

In terms of overall "skills," Ward probably is the better man. He's quick with his hands and on his feet. He's got solid power, if not great power; certainly enough to keep opponents respecting him. Ward also has a wrinkle in his game, as he switches from his conventional stance over to southpaw frequently, and pulls that off with pretty much unrivaled success. The power he generates when using his left as his money hand probably trumps what he does fighting orthodox.

What most concerns me for Ward is simple: Mikkel Kessler is really, really good, and Andre Ward has not yet faced a really good professional fighter. The best scalp on his record is Edison Miranda's, and if any fighter has been living off of one trick for a while now, it's Miranda. (Miranda, coincidentally, is now a stablemate of Ward's with Goossen Tutor Promotions.) The rest of the names are what we were talking about before, pure gatekeepers. Guys like Shelby Pudwill, Esteban Camou, Jerson Ravelo, Rubin Williams and "Sugar Poo" Buchanan aren't bad fighters, necessarily, but they come nowhere near Kessler's class.

Bottom line on the potential outcomes of this fight is that if Ward pulls off the upset tonight, he shoots right up near the top of this division. Should he win, he will do so because his pure ability is simply too much for Kessler to overcome, which was in some ways the case for Kessler against Calzaghe. Kessler is by no means unbeatable. A superior athlete with tricks up his sleeve (like Calzaghe) can outpoint him. Should Ward do it, it will mean he's got skills that are more advanced than I'm thinking they are at this point.

These two may well meet again later on in the tournament. Even if Ward loses tonight as I expect, a second chance might not go so well for Kessler. Kessler, at 30, is as good as he's getting. Ward, 25, has the type of upside that could take him from good fighter to elite fighter in a flash if he finds that spark.

I don't see the spark coming tonight, though. I'm taking Kessler by decision.

Kevin Johnson will challenge Vitali Klitschko on December 12 in Switzerland. The unbeaten American has high hopes. (Photo via Joe DeGuardia's Star Boxing)

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A Star Boxing press release featuring unbeaten heavyweight contender Kevin Johnson paints the next challenger to Vitali Klitschko as a confident but respectful young fighter heading into his December 12 shot at glory.

"Since the Europeans took over the heavyweight division, boxing lost some of its appeal. The average American walking down the street couldn't tell you who the champ is. When I think of great fighters I think of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson. When these guys were champs, they were icons in this great nation. The Klitschkos are a temporary mistake and I'm going to fix that mistake for good."

Despite that brash statement, he also considers Vitali the only true heavyweight "champion" out there, and points to his willingness to defend against young, undefeated fighters:

"I give Vitali a lot of respect for giving me this opportunity. He is a true champion that doesn't duck anybody. Of all the champions he is the only one who has stepped up and given us young guys, such as Chris Arreola and myself a chance to fight for his championship."

Johnson also says he won't fight the way the lumbering Samuel Peter or the overmatched Arreola did:

"If he wants to fight, I'll go toe-to-toe with him and use my speed to knock him out. I want to make things clear for everyone; I'm not Cristobal Arreola, or Sam Peter. If he stands in front of me with his hands down, I'll hit him ten times before he can land once. It's going to be a short night for him if he tries that amateur stuff with me."

Johnson is counting on his youth, speed and technique to make a difference, saying nobody besides Lennox Lewis has ever brought that sort of complete skillset against Vitali.

I'll say this. A year or two ago, I wasn't too high on "Kingpin," but the more I've watched him mature, the more I like him, and I think he has an actual shot at upsetting Vitali on December 12. I'm not picking him to win the fight, nor do I think it's anywhere near likely, but a Johnson decision win would not completely flatten me with shock or anything. And he's right: Vitali deserves some genuine respect for fighting guys like Arreola and Johnson instead of the Oleg Maskaevs of the world.

HBO will air Klitschko-Johnson on tape delay in the United States as part of a triple-header, paired with the Diaz-Malignaggi rematch and Victor Ortiz's return from Chicago.

While the focus of the boxing world is and will remain Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., there is a whole great big global sport out there that's going to keep happening in the meantime, and a lot of fantastic fights on the docket right now.

One of those is happening Saturday night in Oakland, the final fight of the Super Six World Boxing Classic's first stage. On October 17, we saw Carl Froch controversially outpointed Andre Dirrell, and we saw Arthur Abraham knock Jermain Taylor out cold. The first fight of the tournament on American soil has a lot of intriguing qualities, too.

For my money, Kessler (42-1, 32 KO) remains the world's best super middleweight. His only loss came in 2007 to Joe Calzaghe, the retired champion of the division (and later at light heavyweight), and a man whom Kessler tested like only a couple of other guys ever really did. The Dane hasn't become a major star yet, but that's part of what this tournament is about. Taking these fighters and giving them a chance to break out on the global stage.

But really, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more interested in 25-year-old Ward (20-0, 13 KO). Ward is a former Olympic gold medalist, and when he was going for the gold, I rooted for him heavily. I'm not the biggest fan of Olympic boxing (OK, I hate Olympic boxing), but Andre made some statements in 2004.

Since turning pro, he's moved at a steady pace. He's also suffered some knee injuries that may haunt him forever, as knee injuries can be bad, bad news for any athlete.

This year alone, Ward has fought three times. He routed Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan in a stinker in February; a stinker because Buchanan refused to engage, protecting his reputation of having never been knocked down, "not even in the streets." In May, he moved up to face the always-dangerous Edison Miranda, and like the other good fighters Miranda has faced, Ward made the Colombian slugger look more housecat than panther. In September, he tuned up for Kessler by demolishing poor Shelby Pudwill.

But for all his natural talent, including a great ability to switch between orthodox and southpaw stances, I've just personally never been terribly impressed with Ward. I don't know why, either. He's got power, he's got speed, he's pretty smart for a guy with his experience. He's always been a lot more humble than his "Son of God" nickname. I've never disliked him. I've just never gotten fully on board.

Saturday, that can change. If he beats Kessler, welcome to the elite class of the sport, Andre Ward. If he makes a good showing and loses a tough fight, he's more than proven himself a legitimate contender.

Once again, Ward will also be fighting for the reputation of the United States. It's not quite the Olympic level, but so far the Americans are 0-2 in this tournament, and Jermain Taylor seems likely to drop out entirely. Ward and his old Olympic teammate Dirrell both took sizable risks getting into this tournament. Today, fighters with their pedigrees often stay protected longer than this.

I can't help but admire the guts of both. And I'm hoping that my likely irrational lack of any real feeling toward Ward will dissipate after a great performance, win or lose. He'll be in there with the best.

We'll have more on this fight in the week to come.

Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto shake hands at their weigh-in on Friday. Those hands will be flying at the other man on Saturday in what could be the Fight of the Decade. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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The last time I felt this excited for the sheer enormity of a fight was quite recent, when Floyd Mayweather Jr. came back to the sport, or perhaps earlier this year when Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao were to meet up. The last time I felt this excited for the fight itself was also pretty recent, but a bit back.

It was the first fight between Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. On February 25, 2007, I wrote a preview trying to express properly how excited I was for that fight. I think my excitement comes across OK, but it still couldn't quite match what I was feeling.

I'm having the same problem for tomorrow night's fight between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao. There are so many ways this fight could go, but I cannot envision a single one of them resulting in a fight that is less than thrilling, no matter how long it lasts, who wins, whatever. It's going to be a great fight. These are two guys that are coming to seek and destroy, to not just stay at their current elite position in the sport of boxing, but to elevate where they're at.

And when the night ends, there's a damn good chance both of them will be elevated, too.

Fights like this don't get made often because boxing has over the years become a sport of marketing to a degree that it never has been before. It was always about business, don't get me wrong, but fighters now are so protected not just by their promoters but by themselves that we don't usually get matchups this promising. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a great fighter, but he doesn't take fights like this one. Oscar de la Hoya was always up for a challenge, but as good as he was, he wasn't this exciting.

This is like a mix of Mayweather's ability to make you want to see a fight, mixed with Oscar's guts in taking on tough opponents, and then you sprinkle in the fact that both Pacquiao and Cotto are pure action fighters. Both very clever fighters, too, but when the chips go down, these are men that throw their hands.

A lot has been made of size. I don't think size will be a big issue. Cotto will probably outweigh Manny on fight night, perhaps by 10 pounds or so. But that won't be the reason the fight goes however it goes. Nor will it be Cotto's notorious dirty tactics. And it won't be Cotto's constant cut problems.

This fight will be won by whichever man is better. These are elite-level performers, both of them. Every guy on this level can fight his ass off, and should never be counted out.

Cotto-Pacquiao is the sort of fight that in anticipation, makes your heart rate climb. This is boxing nirvana. Great fighters, big names, a can't-miss thriller of a fight. And I realize what type of statement I'm about to make, and how bold it is, but I firmly believe the following to be true. If this fight maxes out its potential for action, drama and intensity, we're going to see the Fight of the Decade tomorrow night.

The atmosphere will be off the charts. You don't have to be Filipino or Puerto Rican to be passionate about this fight, but those fans are going to take it to another level. This is the sort of event that can change minds about boxing. This is the sort of event that can make people sit up and take real notice. This is a "Wow!" fight.

So who's gonna win this bad boy? I have no real rooting interest. This is too good for me to hold any fan grudges (not that I have any with either man).

I'll say this: I don't think Freddie Roach is crazy for seeing an early Pacquiao stoppage. If Manny can blitz Miguel from the opening bell, there's only so much that Cotto can do. Yes, Miguel is a strong, tough man, but Pacquiao comes with such speed and ferocity that he can be overwhelming for anyone, and yes, I mean anyone in or around the welterweight division, including Floyd Mayweather. Ricky Hatton is not a bum, and Pacquiao took him out without breaking a sweat.

It was because he came from these angles that Hatton never saw coming. Hatton was in shape, and even abandoning his gameplan he shouldn't have been crushed the way he was. It happened because Pacquiao was simply better than him, and had him reeling right away. It was similar with Oscar de la Hoya. Oscar didn't get knocked out, but referee Tony Weeks could have stopped that fight with no argument from anyone. He battered Oscar because Oscar couldn't find him, couldn't time him, couldn't anticipate anything he was doing.

Pacquiao has evolved into a fighter unparalleled in this way. Nobody else in boxing can do what he does the way he does it.

But don't think I'm counting out Miguel Cotto. Cotto's been through the wars, too. He took a hard beating from Antonio Margarito, and overcame a brutal cut this past June to narrowly outpoint a tremendously strong Joshua Clottey. He's also beaten Shane Mosley and a Zab Judah that actually came to fight, not to mention his many solid conquests at 140 pounds.

He's been down. He's gotten up. He's taken massive shots. He's gotten past them. The only man to ever beat him was a guy with a jaw made of stone -- I don't care what you (or I) think about Margarito at this point, or even as pertains to that fight. A lesser-chinned man goes down against Cotto that night. Cotto was locked in until Margarito caught up to him, and that only happened because Margarito takes a punch as well as anybody.

Pacquiao hits hard. I don't think his power is a detriment at 147, especially when you combine it with his speed and accuracy. But does he hit harder than Margarito, Mosley, Clottey, or the missile-throwing 140-pound Ricardo Torres? I don't see it.

Cotto's neutralized speed before, and he can do it again. Pacquiao has beaten some great boxers before, and he can do it again. Pacquiao's also been toe-to-toe with some really tough guys, including Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. They were all smaller than Cotto, but no one was questioning Pacquiao having some great size advantage over them at the time, or anything like that. We just saw Marquez try to fight at this weight. Not so hot. Pacquiao would have knocked that Marquez out within five rounds.

That Pacquiao has carried the weight so well is amazing, but there's no size excuse for this fight. He is this size fighter, so is Cotto. Plain and simple. I almost don't want to make a pick, because I'm not sure how much I care who wins. I just want to see this. This is a fight that no boxing fan on earth should miss.

But I will make my pick, and if I'm wrong, oh well. I picked against Pacquiao thinking size would be a real factor against Oscar. It wasn't. I picked against Pacquiao thinking Hatton could stand up and trade with him, and land something big. He couldn't.

I'm picking Manny Pacquiao to win this fight. And I wouldn't bet a dime on it.

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HBO's Greatest Hits: Miguel Cotto

HBO's Greatest Hits: Manny Pacquiao

Bert Sugar and Kieran Mulvaney talk about the fight

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The final previewed fight on the Cotto-Pacquiao undercard will be contested for the WBA junior middleweight title. We've already taken a look at these two fights:

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. v. Troy Rowland

Jesus Soto Karass v. Alfonso Gomez

Daniel Santos (32-3-1, 23 KO) v. Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KO)
Junior Middleweights - 12 Rounds - For Santos' WBA Title

This was the fight that let us know that maybe this undercard wouldn't be as "sensational" as Bob Arum was promising. Foreman has been featured on TV plenty; almost forced down our throats, you might say. The trouble with Foreman isn't that his story isn't as interesting as people make it out to be. For stories that make you turn your head and wonder if it's really true, Foreman's is second-to-none in boxing today. (For those unaware, Yuri is studying to become a Rabbi.)

But Foreman is a dull boxer. He's technically sound, doesn't make many mistakes, isn't a puncher, and has no great physical qualities. He's not small; at 5'11" with a 72" reach, Yuri has the same dimensions there as heavyweight Brian Minto, who will fight Cristobal Arreola on December 5. But he lacks power, isn't much for speed, and is a pretty straightforward fighter. Not a lot to figure out. But so far, no one's been able to beat him, and he's routed most opponents.

Santos, who turned 34 in October, is five years older than Foreman and has been out of the ring since July 2008. In fact, he's been terribly inactive since 2004. Since beating Antonio Margarito in September 2004, he's fought just four times. He lost to Sergiy Dzinziruk in December 2005, beat a can in July 2006, and then returned to score back-to-back wins over Jose Antonio Rivera and Joachim Alcine in October 2007 and July 2008. He scored a pretty impressive knockout of Alcine, but keep in mind the last time I really wrote anything about Santos, he was 32.

Will the layoff hurt him? Probably. Sure, Foreman's nothing amazing, but he's been active. He has fought just once in 2009, a fight in June on a Top Rank Latin Fury PPV against Cornelius Bundrage, which had all the earmarks of a contender for Stinker of the Year. Foreman, though, was the victim of a pretty nasty unintentional headbutt and the fight was called a no-contest after three rounds.

To be honest, I think prime-versus-prime, Santos wipes the floor with Foreman. He'd have the southpaw thing going for him, he's a pretty powerful guy, and he was just a lot better. But this isn't prime Santos, and the rust will be a factor. How big of a factor? That's what makes this one a toss-up.

Quick Notes

Santos' Best Win: Are any of them really relevant at this point? The only one that might be is the knockout of Alcine, which was quite impressive. Alcine was unbeaten at the time, a titleholder, and after that sixth round KO, was out of the sport for a year. The win over Margarito was probably the biggest of his career.

Foreman's Best Win: Take your pick out of a select few, really. Yuri has split decision wins over Anthony Thompson and Andrey Tsurkan back in 2007, and beat Saul Roman in 2008. Roman was at the time riding high off of an upset of Kassim Ouma. I thought James Moore might give him a bit more of a fight last December, but Foreman blew him out of the water without breaking a sweat. He also has an old win over fellow undercard featured fighter Jesus Soto Karass.

Size Matters: Santos (5'11 1/2", 74" reach) will have a half-inch of height and two inches of reach. So basically, no real advantages for either there. They size up evenly, and both are natural at 154.

Prediction: Honestly, it's quite tough. The great Graham Houston likes Santos to pull it out, and he has some very valid points. But like me (and most, I assume), he wonders how much the rust will bother Santos. It's a very real concern on his side. Santos has recently tried to get his name back out there by confronting Kermit Cintron in Puerto Rico. A win here for Santos could set up a Santos-Cintron bout for sure. It'd be a big fight in Puerto Rico and a nice matchup, too. But he also might lay out for another year. Foreman has a lot riding on this fight. One has to wonder how much of his heart is in boxing. He's always spoken of the sweet science with great love and respect, and it's clear he's passionate, but there's a bigger calling for him, it appears, and as he nears 30, would a loss to the first (theoretical) world-class fighter he's faced change his outlook on boxing?

It's too bad that a matchup with such interesting little dilemmas as this one will probably absolutely stink. I'm hoping Mr. Houston is right and it turns into a quick-paced, tactical affair, sort of like Diaz-Malignaggi. But I don't see it happening. I wouldn't advise anyone to take my advice if it means you get your wallet out, because I'm taking a real shot in the dark on this one. I'm going with Foreman in a close, and possibly controversial decision.

Previous: Jesus Soto Karass v. Alfonso Gomez

We continue our tour of the admittedly not-so-impressive Cotto-Pacquiao undercard with the bout that will immediately precede the main event on Saturday, and is an attempt to grab some buys from the Mexican fight fan community, which is large and loyal.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KO) v. Troy Rowland (25-2, 7 KO)
Junior Middleweights - 10 Rounds

Let's not beat around the bush, because as much as I want everyone to order this card, this fight deserves to be called exactly what it is. By sticking the frequent "Latin Fury" PPV headliner Chavez on the card, Bob Arum is surely hoping to grab some undecided Mexican buys in PPV land by throwing on a favorite son. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's good business.

And as much as I want to root for Troy Rowland because he's a Michigan guy just like yours truly, it'd be folly to consider him anything more than a hand-picked opponent trekking to Vegas to lose to Chavez. That's not disrespect; that's truth. Rowland beating Chavez might not send shockwaves through boxing, but would be the 2009 Upset of the Year, I think, even considering all factors.

What are those factors? First of all, Chavez just isn't all that good. That's also not disrespect, and it's not truth either. That's an opinion. I have nothing against Chavez, whose career is built on his father's name, but really, that's no big deal. Fact is, Chavez being limited has made for some quite exciting fights in his babysteps-filled rise to prominence. At 23, he's already been in the ring with plenty of guys better than Rowland, such as Ray Sanchez and Matt Vanda, and neither of those guys (or the scores more like them on Chavez's record) are exactly world-beaters.

Second, Rowland basically defines "club fighter." He's 34 years old and has fought outside of Michigan twice in his career, and both of those fights were in LaPorte, Indiana. For those not familiar with the terrain, that's just south of the Michigan border in northwestern Indiana. Not exactly a major change of locale.

Chavez isn't a contender yet. Even with 40 wins and just the one draw, he remains a prospect more than anything, though you can also easily say he's pretty much a finished product. He's not his father, and he never will be. But he could still have a damn fine career even without ever being his father. Few ever have been his father.

Quick Notes

Chavez's Best Win: JCC Jr. has beaten a lot of guys on roughly that same level of journeyman or will-be journeyman. I think his best win is Ray Sanchez. Sanchez led on two of three cards after five rounds before getting knocked out in the sixth. Chavez showed an ability to fight back with some adversity. There's also his rematch pounding of Matt Vanda, who gave him all he could handle and more the first time they met. That showed an ability to adjust by Chavez. He was much, much better in the rematch.

Rowland's Best Win: Rowland climbed off the canvas to outpoint strong veteran Epifanio Mendoza in 2004. Past that, you might also recognize Charles Whittaker's name. Whittaker's last loss came in 2004 to Rowland, who won on very narrow scores (96-94 twice and one card a 95-95 draw) with a distinct home field advantage. Whittaker nearly fought Vernon Forrest last year before the plug was pulled on that show, which at the time most felt was a disgusting mismatch in Forrest's favor.

Streaks: Rowland has won four straight since being knocked out by Fernando Zuniga in 2005. He fought twice more in '05 before taking three and a half years off. The only blemish on Chavez's record came in 2005, a six-round draw with Carlos Molina. Chavez immediately rematched Molina and beat him. He's working on 17 in a row.

Size Matters: Both are listed at six feet tall, and Rowland (74 1/2") will have a 1.5-inch reach advantage.

Prediction: If you haven't guessed by now, Chavez should rightly smash Rowland. I don't think this one will get past five rounds or so. If anything, Rowland is a step down in competition from the likes of Vanda, Luciano Cuello and Jason LeHoullier. Chavez stopped LeHoullier in 2:43 his last time out, and a repeat of that would hardly be a shocker.

We're not going to lie or sugarcoat it, but we are going to preview it. The November 14 undercard for the Cotto-Pacquiao pay-per-view is not pretty. In fact, it's bad, a massive step down from the interesting fights we got on the September 19 Mayweather-Marquez card. Promoter Bob Arum promised a great undercard, and on paper, he has not delivered.

But it's not all bad, and we're going to try to highlight those aspects of the three-fight televised lead-up to the killer main event.

Jesus Soto Karass (24-3-3, 16 KO) v. Alfonso Gomez (20-4-2, 10 KO)
Welterweights - 10 Rounds

Karass, 27, and Gomez, 29, are not exactly what you'd call top-level contenders. Karass could be ranked in the back-end of the top 10 at welterweight, but he reportedly had a harder time with Edvan dos Santos Barros in August than the cards that night (100-90, 99-91, 97-93) might indicate. dos Santos Barros (10-8-1, 7 KO) should have been no challenge at all.

Gomez was a star on the first season of "The Contender," fighting as a misplaced middleweight. In the long run, it served him well. He became the most popular fighter on the show that season, and it wound up getting him a couple of money fights at welterweight. He was chosen as a low-risk, bounceback opponent for the late Arturo Gatti in July 2007. It wound up being Gatti's final fight, as Gomez battered the veteran and knocked him out in seven one-sided rounds. After that, he went through another veteran, Ben Tackie, and was given a title shot at Miguel Cotto, who held the WBA welterweight title at the time.

As we all know, Cotto-Gomez should never have happened. It was a gross mismatch and Gomez was demolished, but he was demolished because of his fan-friendly style, too. As clearly out of his league as he was that night, he proved out as a gutsy guy that was willing to walk through hell to win. It was just that his walk into hell had no win at the end of it. Just more hell. He was mercifully pulled out of the fight after five rounds.

Soto Karass and Gomez are not big names, and aren't going to be shaking up the welterweight division any time soon. But the chances they'll put on a hell of a good scrap are pretty high. A loss damages both of them pretty significantly, because they're already walking a thin line between a potential title shot (gimme fight for any titlist or not) and getting close to irrelevance. Neither of them are old, but their records are hardly attractive and neither has proven a likely test for any of the top names.

So that should be your focus with this fight: Will they bring the action? They're on the card because they might go into all-out war with another. The only stoppage loss on either man's record is Gomez's against Cotto. Both have chins, neither are huge punchers (though JSK can punch), and they like to bang. It's not like a lack of great natural talent prevented anyone from enjoying last year's highlight reel brawl between Rogers Mtagwa and Tomas Villa. I'm not saying this fight will equal that one, but don't let yourself get too hung up on much more than the potential for a wicked scrap, and you shouldn't be disappointed.

Quick Notes

Gomez's Best Win: Gatti may have been shot, but that win put him on the map. And he left no doubt about his ability to war with one of the bravest men in the history of boxing. He outgunned Gatti.

Soto Karass' Best Win: You might say it was Vince Phillips, the former junior welterweight titlist who once upset Kostya Tszyu. Or you might go with his 8th-round stoppage of David Estrada in 2008. Estrada is no great fighter and never was, but he wasn't stopped by Shane Mosley, and it took Kermit Cintron and Andre Berto 10 and 11 rounds, respectively.

Streaks: Soto Karass is on a terrific little run, having not lost a fight since dropping three straight in 2004-05. Over that time, he's gone 13-0-2. Gomez has won two comeback fights this year after taking a year off following the Cotto smashing and signing with Top Rank.

Size Matters: Soto Karass will have four inches of reach (73" to 69") and at 5'10" is an inch taller than Gomez.

Prediction: I think this one goes the distance, and that Soto Karass does enough damage to win a clear decision. I genuinely do think this will be an entertaining fight with a lot of spirit on display from both men, and figures to be the undercard's highlight.