One year ago on this day, the sport of boxing lost a great warrior when Diego "Chico" Corrales passed away at the age of 29.

One year later, I thought it would be nice to simply look back on a few of Diego's most memorable moments.

First up, of course, is the first fight with Jose Luis Castillo, and in particular, the miraculous 10th round. This one took place on May 7, 2005, two years to the day before Corrales died.

I fully expect to live the rest of my life without ever seeing a more dramatic fight or more thrilling round of boxing, and I could live until 120 and see all the great fights in the world and probably still feel that way.

This clip is from his totally uneven loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., when Mayweather just picked Corrales apart and destroyed him. But what's memorable about this, in my view, is that Corrales refused to stop trying to fight. He was massively behind, and you get to see knockdowns four and five of Corrales in this clip. And when his corner decides he's taken enough punishment and there's no way back, Corrales refuses to accept that reality. It was what made Chico the fighter he was. He had an unrelenting spirit.

Next we take a look at his win over Acelino "Popo" Freitas, from 2004, his last fight prior to the first meeting with Castillo.

Here is the latter portion of his first meeting with Joel Casamayor, a terrific fight that is somewhat overlooked. Casamayor, not Castillo, was Corrales' greatest rival.

Last is the post-fight interview from his final bout, a lopsided loss at welterweight to Joshua Clottey. While Corrales was dominated, it again showed how tough-minded an individual he was as a fighter. Corrales never stopped trying to fight, even though he was getting smoked by a stronger, fresher fighter. He was Diego Corrales, right until the end.

The sport will never replace Chico Corrales, and we as fans will always miss him. A fighter truly worth fond remembrance, Corrales' career was filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, but never was there a dull moment.

Rest in peace, Chico, and thank you again.

I just wanted to let everyone know that there will be some major, major changes coming to Bad Left Hook on Thursday, May 8, and that it's all for the better.

A quick rundown:

It'll look something like this, except with our colors and logo.

You will have to "re-register," sort of -- what'll really happen is you'll be claiming your name and password, and that'll allow you to do the same on any other SB Nation blog. This is a necessary quick, minor pain in the ass.

There'll be a primer on the new site posted by one of our tech guys that'll explain everything to you, and if you end up having any questions, you can post comments in that thread and one of our techies or myself will be able to answer any questions. I'm already quite familiar with the new platform, so it'll be a pretty smooth transition, really.

Here's one of the things that's going to be awesome for us: During fight nights, the comment threads have live updating, sort of like a chat room. No refreshing necessary. All comment threads, in fact, will have live updating. It's really a killer feature, and I think you'll love it. It'll encourage discussion in a major way for live stuff.

There's going to be a calendar feature where the fight schedule will be moved. It's pretty cool, but I've only tinkered with it so far, so that might take a little while to get fully done.

I know some people aren't big on change, but believe me, it's all for the better. I didn't absolutely love it at first when I was using it on Camden Chat, but I do love it now.

Official scores: 119-109, 119-109, 120-108

Image © AP

Oscar de la Hoya's return to the ring was all but completely advertised as a tune-up fight, almost a glorified sparring contest to prepare him for a proposed September rematch against pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

It turned out to be nothing more and nothing less. "The Golden Boy" used an effective jab and some re-energized legs that didn't fail him down the stretch to score an easy win over veteran Steve Forbes, exactly as everyone expected it would be. Official scores were 119-109, 119-109 and 120-108. I had a clean sweep for Oscar, 120-108.

Steve Forbes wasn't really uncompetitive, just out of his depth. He's a good fighter, too good for most guys to want to fight, and tough as hell. He kept up his 39-fight professional streak of never being knocked down.

Some are going to point to this as a mild rebirth for Oscar, but I say wait until we see him in against a better fighter than Forbes. During the fight, I tried to picture what Oscar was doing being employed against Mayweather. It's the right idea, jabbing and working the body, but Forbes is just not Floyd Mayweather. I think Oscar can always be competitive against Floyd, but I don't think he can beat him.

We're going to find out, though. Like it or not, Oscar-Floyd II is a reality.

MAIN EVENT
10:00 PM ET - HBO
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
Ring Magazine No. 3 Ranked Junior Middleweight
(38-5, 30 KO, East Los Angeles, CA)
versus
STEVE FORBES
(33-5, 9 KO, Las Vegas, NV, by way of Portland, OR)

Both weighed in at the agreed limit of 150 pounds, though Oscar was a half pound over before he took off his shoes.

The only way Steve Forbes can win this fight is if he boxes the absolute, bar none, 100 percent, not a bad moment, fight of his natural born life. And Oscar has to make a lot of mistakes, too. We've seen Oscar screw the pooch in a fight like this before. One would assume he really does mean it when he says he won't let that happen again, but you just never know until the bell has sounded.

We'll be here with round-by-round coverage, scoring and BSing during the fight, so join us.

Another four months (or close to it), and another P4P top 20 update here at Bad Left Hook.

The voters this time around:

Scott Christ, Bad Left Hook
Matt Miller, Bad Left Hook
Kevin Gonzalez, Bad Left Hook
Tim Starks, Ring Report
jrok, Bad Left Hook user

Thanks to everyone for their time and ballots, and let's not waste any further time. The spring update of the BLH P4P Top 20 is here!

Key:
Ranking. Fighter
Record, Weight Class
First Place Votes (If Any), Total Points, Ranking in Last Top 20

1. Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
39-0, 25 KO, Welterweight
4, 99, 1

SC: I had the idea that if Calzaghe really dominated Bernard Hopkins, I was going to consider bumping him past Mayweather. And I now truly think that Floyd's status as the top pound-for-pound dog in the sport is highly questionable. But I'm going to delay what I think is probably the inevitable with the hope that Floyd is avoiding Cotto for now to get the most possible money out of fighting him in the summer or fall of 2009. Floyd keeps his spot with me -- but it's razor thin. As wide as I felt Calzaghe beat Hopkins, it wasn't quite enough. His resume still falls a hair or two short of Floyd's.

MM: Floyd languishes, inactive, at number one. He is no longer, in my view, the indisputable P4P champ, but he has not been inactive long enough to merit demotion ... yet. Giving Floyd the boot based on what we anticipate he will do--fight meaningless money fights from here on out--is bogus. When he actually does that, we can talk. My P4P list reflects current status only, and Floyd hasn't done enough (or failed to do enough) to lose his perch.

TS: How long do you get to be considered the best fighter on the planet if you don't fight? Talent-wise, Mayweather's a class above the rest. His excellent 2007 and career-long resume has given him some fuel to stay on top, but he's wasting 2008 with a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya and that's it; then in 2009, his only plans are for a rematch with Ricky Hatton. In other words, he's running on fumes as the pound-for-pound best. All it's going to take is one more quality win for my #2, #3 or even my #4 or #5, possibly, to depose Mayweather from his cherished perch.

JK: With all due respect to Ring Magazine, Ricky Hatton, and the vast majority of boxing journalists and pundits worldwide - I don't think Floyd is doing enough to prove he is still the Pound-for-Pound leader.  Neither of Floyd's 2007 fights ranked in my top twenty fights of the year.  Oscar is still a great fighter, but his best years and weight classes are clearly behind him, and Floyd didn't convincingly beat him.  And of all the events he could've come up with, a 147-lb Hatton was both the least dangerous and the most lucrative.  It was Floyd's "Apollo Creed" moment, and I don't think he should be rewarded or praised for it.

2. Manny Pacquiao
46-3-2, 35 KO, Super Featherweight
1, 92, 2

SC: I think Marquez beat Pacquiao in an exceedingly competitive fight, but it's one of those times where I'd never argue against Pacquiao more than, "Well, I thought he lost a close one." The official decision matters here, so I put Pacquiao slightly ahead of Marquez. It's also pretty easy to guess that Pacquiao has more time left, more big fights left, and more big wins left than Marquez does.

MM: Pacquiao's win over Juan Manuel Marquez was a disputed split decision and a close one to be sure. But I thought it was the right call, and few fans consider it a robbery. It was just a close fight. And while it's a shame, in a way, that the Marquez brothers keep losing these ultra-tight decisions, there was nothing in Pac's performance to suggest he is losing anything. My top three remain the same.

TS: Pacquiao drops to #3, but only by the slimmest of margins -- much as he defeated Juan Manuel Marquez by the slimmest of margins on the scorecards. I thought he lost, barely. What do you count in a situation like that, when it's for something like a pound-for-pound list? I'll go with what I saw. That said, I think he has the best chance to take my #1 spot. Why? Well, beating David Diaz doesn't get him much, if he does that, as expected, this summer. Maybe, just maybe, it moves him above Calzaghe. From there, the lightweight field is a target-rich environment. If he takes a rematch with Marquez and wins, he's in easy. If he beats Nate Campbell -- who's near the bottom of this list -- he goes to #1, but is vulnerable. If he beats the winner of Juan Diaz/Joel Casamayor -- the winner would almost certainly crack my top 20 -- then it's the same deal.

JK: He boasts no "O" to guard or covet.  He has been hurt in fights, even knocked out.  At times, his ring management has seemed flawed.   As a raw physical specimen, he is fairly average - certainly not possessing the sort of height or wingspan you'd expect from a boxer who's found success across four divisions.  But he did.  And for weight classes that are largely ignored by casual fans, his events have boasted historic PPV numbers, and have made him an international celebrity and a local god.  More importantly, Manny is still scouring the field for new mountains to climb.  He is a fighter, pure and simple.  And right now, he isn't just talking about being the best - he's climbing into dangerous rings to prove it.

2. Joe Calzaghe
45-0, 32 KO, Light Heavyweight
92, 3-t

SC: Firmly established, in my mind, his place as No. 2. Like Floyd, he's unbeaten. Like Floyd, he's a guy that some people will just never quite take to, because he's not a power puncher, not a particularly exciting fighter in the blood-and-guts manner, and will always have questions about this guy or that that he didn't fight. But Joe Cool is the real deal, something else he and Floyd have in common. He's the greatest super middleweight ever (a 168-pound Roy Jones would have beaten him, but Roy didn't spend much time in the division). Also -- again like Floyd -- he's a hell of a dresser.

MM: I believe I was one of, if not the only one to put Joe at number two last time around, but I bet others will be joining me now. His legitimate and hard-earned win over Hopkins suggests that Joe can hang at Light HW, though Pavlik, I believe, would give him trouble. I hope we find out before Joe really retires. There are few fights I would like to see more than Calzaghe vs. Pavlik.

TS: With his defeat of Bernard Hopkins, Calzaghe ascends to the #2 spot. It's a tough call, though. I did think he beat Hopkins, and so did the judges -- and for that reason, he has the tiniest separation with #3. Beating Roy Jones, Jr. in November might be enough to put him at #1, but beating Kelly Pavlik instead -- or shortly thereafter -- definitely would.

JK: For every question about Joe Calzaghe - about his career, about his power, about his legacy - Calzaghe comes up with approximately eighty answers per round.  For me, watching a Joe Calzaghe fight is often like watching a documentary about a strange and mysterious sea creature.   Marrying the dyspeptic rhythm of a natural southpaw to an almost cartoonish whirlwind of low-temperature punches, Joe can be unsightly at times, and even downright ugly.   But, so what?  In his last two fights, Joe Calzaghe has proven the old axom that the best defense is a good offense, and therefore he brings both by the bucketful.

4. Miguel Cotto
32-0, 26 KO, Welterweight
84, 6

SC: Here's what's really scary about Miguel Cotto: I don't think he's as good as he's going to be. I thought he'd beat the crap out of Alfonso Gomez and end that one quick, but that was absurd. Anyone out there want to re-evaluate Gomez v. Urkal now? OK, that's not entirely fair. But like I said, Urkal is a veteran that knows how to hang around and not get creamed. Gomez isn't that type of fighter. He tried to fight Miguel Cotto. Big, big mistake. Cotto bounced around the ring, looked very light on his feet, threw powerful shots, and just dominated -- as he should have. Since Floyd doesn't want anything to do with him right now, he'll fight Tony Margarito. Miguel Cotto is everything you might possibly want out of your pro fighter. He's a modern and throwback fighter at the same time, a champion that fights top guys, comes to mix it up, and is tougher than a two-dollar steak. What is there to dislike here? Is there any boxing fan that doesn't like Cotto?

MM: Cotto's win over Gomez was predictable, but it was a thorough schooling. With both Hopkins and Marquez losing, Cotto continues his steady climb up my P4P lists, ascending two spots from number six last cycle. There is no fight that we all want to see more than Cotto/Mayweather. Will Floyd man-up, or is he now too much of an "entertainer" to fight someone as tough as Miguel?

TS: Strange as the reasoning may seem, Cotto's blowout of Alfonso Gomez helped Cotto move up another slot on this list. Why? Well, because Cotto showed even more wrinkles in his game, looking like he'd improved even more. In addition, Gomez was a dramatic underdog, but ESPN.com had him as a top-10 welterweight, and Cotto demonstrated anew the gulf between himself and Mayweather versus the rest of boxing's best division. If he beats Antonio Margarito this summer, I will give him a long look for #1, pound-for-pound.

JK: For me, Cotto is the 600-ton elephant in the room.  He is young and hungry, agile and powerful.  A stalker by design, he possesses two or three utterly game-changing punches, which is two or three more than even many excellent fighters have.  But, like few other guys on my list, it is Cotto's elasticity that proves to me he is one of the top five P4P boxers in the world.  When Cotto surprisingly "hopped on his ten speed" against Shane, he poured textbook jabs and checks on him in what could only be considered a masterpiece of counter-offensive technique.  It reminded me of the classic Wild Bill Hickcock quote, when responding to a rival who claimed he could "kill a crow on the wing."  "Did the crow have a pistol?" Bill asked.  "Was he shootin' back?  Because I will be."

5. Juan Manuel Marquez
48-4-1, 35 KO, Super Featherweight
80, 5

SC: Like his brother's rivalry with Israel Vazquez, Juan Manuel's with Manny Pacquiao is the type where neither man is truly better than the other. I think Vazquez will generally beat Rafael Marquez at 122 pounds because of the power making the difference at the end of the day, but if Marquez had never fought Vazquez and stayed at 118 pounds, I'd probably be ranking Rafael higher than Vazquez. Since none of that has very much to do with Juan Manuel Marquez, let's just say this: Juan Manuel is one of the best fighters in the game, and deserves to be placed alongside Morales and Barrera when the curtain closes on his career. Prime v. prime, he goes a hard 12 with either of them at any of the weight classes they've fought.

MM: No shame in his razor-thin loss to Pacquiao and so little downward movement for Juan Manuel Marquez, dropping one spot on my list.

TS: Since Pacquiao edged him ever so slightly on the scorecards, I decided to bump Marquez down one position in my last list. But in the toss-up between himself and Hopkins for this spot, I favored my eyes: In each man's respective last fights, I thought Marquez beat Pacquiao, and I didn't think Hopkins beat Calzaghe. He can get to #1 if he gets his rematch with Pacquiao and wins. Maybe.

JK: Juan's loss to Pacquiao don't sink his ship at all for me. I actually had him losing both fights with Pac, but just by a hair, and his comeback in the first battle was superhuman.  I'd rate him even higher on this list it weren't for the other uber-talents crowding the room.

6. Israel Vazquez
43-4, 31 KO, Super Bantamweight
77, 7

SC: Vazquez is Mighty Mouse. I don't think I need to go too much further into my man-crush on Vazquez anymore. His promoters giving him a bonus and a dedication ceremony for his series with Rafael Marquez was a class move. I'm thrilled that the trilogy has been given such loving loyalty by Showtime, because the two of them earned it in blood.

MM: Vazquez is a big mover and shaker this cycle, moving up three spots to crack my top five. It's great for the sport of boxing that three of our five best warriors--Vasquez, Cotto, and Pac--are also three of our most entertaining. And although entertainment value doesn't affect my p4p list, Vazquez is at the head of that list.

TS: I wager Vazquez has a solid chance to surpass Hopkins soon, because Vazquez is more likely than Hopkins to take on a meaningful challenger. Even though I picked him for #7, it's still weird to see him there. He's not a traditional pound-for-pound fighter, at least the way I conceive of them. But he's done a lot with what his body and guts have given him.

JK: After his last outing against the marvelously competitive Rafael Marquez, I got the feeling we may have to come up with whole new lists or designations to rival the whole "Pound-for-Pound" title.  How about "Dollar-for-Dollar," or "Round-for-Round?" Or even "Second-for-Second, the Best Boxer in the World?"  And if we did, I'd give all three to the same guy. I don't think there's a more soulful expression of what boxing is all about than the type of performances we have seen out of this man lately.   The level of boxing he showed us was consistently world class, and offered a hundred reasons why nobody in his weight class or anywhere nearby would want anything to do with Israel Vazquez.

7. Rafael Marquez
37-5, 33 KO, Super Bantamweight
68, 8

SC: Where does Rafael go from here? Say a fourth fight with Vazquez doesn't happen, although I do think it's going to. He could fight Caballero, whose height might trouble him. He could fight Ponce de Leon, who is a good finisher and a strong puncher but would get creamed by Marquez, I think. He could fight Steve Molitor, a tough, competitive guy, and I think that'd be a hell of a fight. He could step back down to 118, maybe, and re-claim his throne there. There are plenty of possibilities, but two things are certain. 1) He deserves the rest, and 2) He's a great, great fighter.

MM: Rafael Marquez's loss to Vasquez was far more impressive than Hopkins' loss to Calzaghe. In many ways, Rafael Marquez is the polar opposite fighter of Hopkins, too, now that I think of it. Another reason I put him over Hopkins: Marquez has a lot more left in the tank. None will forget his gift to us in his classic trilogy with Vasquez. It's almost enough to ignore his camp's incessant whining about supposed bad calls. "Incessant whining"? Hmmm ... maybe he does have something in common with Hopkins after all.

TS: It's hard to get a sense of Marquez' prospects for moving up, because he and dance partner Vazquez are still licking their wounds, rightly, from what I consider the third best fight since 1990. But I almost feel bad for having him at #9. I had him at about #5 pre-trilogy, and he only lost the third fight by one point on my card.

JK: Despite coming off so obnoxious after his last fight, there's no absolutely flies on this guy.  Probably the fiercest competitor on this list, and that's saying something.

8. Bernard Hopkins
48-5-1, 32 KO, Light Heavyweight
64, 3-t

SC: Hopkins takes a significant tumble for me (from No. 3 to No. 10) just because the sport really is quite healthy as far as great fighters goes. And he's 43. And I think he's finally started looking like it. And that might have been his final fight. If Bernard announces his retirement, there'll be plenty more to say. But as much as I sometimes can't count myself as a fan of Hopkins', I'd like to thank Bernard for being Bernard Hopkins. He was never dull, except occasionally in his fights. He's one of the all-time greats.

MM: After his loss to Calzaghe, Hopkins sounded as delusional as James Toney after his second fight with Samuel Peters. He still deserves to be in the top ten, but I don't foresee another "great chapter" in his storied career. His best days are in the rearview mirror.

TS: The other factor in my placement of Hopkins, besides how I scored Marquez/Paquiao II and Calzaghe/Hopkins, was the fact that, as well as he fought for a 43-year-old, the fact remains that Hopkins finally showed an age-related drop-off. Unlike Marquez/Pacquiao III, which I think Marquez would have a good chance of winning, I don't see a rematch between Calzaghe and Hopkins producing the same chances of a Hopkins victory. Besides, he probably isn't going to get it. That means Hopkins has very little way to go but down, because there aren't many wins available that could boost him above the considerable resumes of my top 5, unless someone above him slips unexpectedly.

JK: Hopkins has dropped four notches for me since the last time I thought about this.  His expiration date is not up, but it seems more and more like the only things left out there for him are old grudges to settle.  He would still test the living shit out of anyone at Lt. Heavy, and test the patience of audiences everywhere.

9. Kelly Pavlik
33-0, 29 KO, Middleweight
62, 10

SC: I had a long e-mail conversation with a reader a couple months back, and eventually it came down to both of us discussing the sanctioning bodies and their corruption, Don King (who it turns out I like a lot more than some people might think based on some comments), and how special Kelly Pavlik really might be. Pavlik has talked recently of going up in weight, maybe even someday landing at heavyweight. But Top Rank has his future planned out for now. Lockett, Rubio, then probably Abraham, and after that we start getting into questions of weight classes and opponents. Here's the real point: Pavlik, I believe, is just that rare breed of fighter that is truly more than the sum of his parts. I think we're witnessing the bloom of what is going to be a significant fighter in terms of history. Like Cotto, there's nothing about Kelly Pavlik I don't like.

MM: Pavlik makes a nice leap up on my list with his win against Taylor, cracking the top ten and suggesting many intriguing possibilities for future matches.

TS: After beating Jermain Taylor earlier this year, Pavlik isn't doing a whole lot in 2008 until the end of it. He's got two easy title defenses on his agenda, then it's Arthur Abraham, a very serious middleweight. Still, I see him being in the top 10 at least until then, unless a couple fighters I rank lower go buck wild with quality wins, and a win over Abraham would likely bump him upwards.

JK: Pavlik's do-over with Taylor pulled him into my top ten.  While its true that "Taylor x 2" counts as really his only world class victories, he has made a bigger splash in and around his division then almost any fighter in recent memory.   Pavlik was and atomic bomb in 2007, and the blast radius sent a top contender and a champion fleeing to other divisions.  Also, the number and quality of guys now talking about wanting to fight Kelly Pavlik is matched only by the number and quality of guys that seem to want no part of him.  He is one to watch, and has the potential to scoot up this list in a heartbeat in 2009.

10. Shane Mosley
44-5, 35 KO, Welterweight
51, 11

SC: He's going to whip the piss out of Zab Judah and will grab a rematch with Cotto if Miguel beats Margarito. How's that for my analysis of Shane Mosley? Another future Hall of Famer who can still fight at a very high level. I don't see Zab making it into the double digit rounds against Shane.

MM: I'm looking forward more and more to watching him beat the tar out of Zab Judah. He pushed Cotto harder than anyone has so far, and he deserves a place of respect on anyone's P4P.

TS: If Mosley beats Zab Judah, I shoehorn him into the top 10. He barely fits, but I can see him coming off that win and taking the place of his old conqueror, Wright, simply because beating Judah's a quality win and Wright isn't doing jack.

JK: Shane is still top-ten.  His Cotto fight proved that time has pretty much stood still.  This isn't just a case of "he's in good shape for an old guy."  He is a dangerous man, and still a real threat to two of the top fighters three fighters on my list.  Cotto was not his swan song by a long shot.

11. Winky Wright
51-4-1, 25 KO, Middleweight
50, 9

SC: Winky Wright is perhaps doing a generation of fighters a favor and teaching them a lesson. Never overvalue your own worth to this degree. Where are you, Ron?

MM: Winky has done everything possible, it would seem, to scuttle his own career. I suspect many will drop him out of the top ten altogether this cycle. He needs a big fight and needs it soon. To that end, he must quit thinking of himself as a household name in the biz and get back to taking the toughest fights available, as he has done throughout most of his career.

TS: Mayweather and Wright are the two guys in my top-10 who are just wasting time. Wright would be far easier to bump down than Mayweather, for me. He's done nothing, but for some reason, several of the boxers just on the verge of cracking the top 10 haven't put anything compelling up to replace him. Like, Diaz -- he could've snagged #10 by beating Campbell. I just need to see one quality win from one guy on the edge of entry.

12. Ivan Calderon
31-0, 6 KO, Junior Flyweight
49, 13

SC: He just keeps winning. The no-doubt best of the little guys -- a shrunken Mayweather in some ways. He is a boxer's boxer. Combine his style and his size, and you have the reason why Ivan Calderon can't get on American TV if he pays to run an infomercial. But "Iron Boy" deserves all his props. A rematch with Hugo Cazares looks likely, and that's a good one, as Cazares deserves one. But the fight I want to see (and I mean actually SEE somewhere) is Calderon against Ulises Solis.

MM: Calderon utterly dismantles Nelson Dieppa and proves he is still the best of the best at the lowest end of the weight spectrum.

TS: Yeah, you can totally make the case for Calderon being in the top 10, skill-wise. But he's fought in a pretty weak division most of his career. His next fight is probably a rematch with Hugo Cazares. Winning that propels him into the upper echelon for me, finally.

13. Oscar de la Hoya
38-5, 30 KO, Junior Middleweight
32, 14

SC: I know it's not the fight that hardcore fans are clamoring for, and I'm not exactly thrilled, either, but Floyd-Oscar II does carry some minor intrigue. What if Oscar won? Let it enter your mind. If this is truly to be Oscar's final year in the ring, then I can do nothing more but sincerely thank him for what he's done for boxing. He fought the best -- Mayweather, Hopkins, Mosley, Trinidad, etc. -- and even if he wasn't the era-defining talent that some might have hoped way back in 1992, he was a great fighter that was only rarely beaten soundly. Both losses to Mosley and the loss to Tito were competitive, the latter an historic boner on Oscar's part. And, man, what IF? What if Oscar doesn't lose his jab? What if he attacks the body and sustains it? What if? It'd be a great story.

MM: Inactive since last cycle, Oscar has two fights on the horizon and at this point, may be less of a "mega-event only" fighter than Floyd.

TS: De La Hoya's ranked this high by me really only for a little while longer, I suspect. He's likely to lose to Mayweather again later this year, and there's no real shame in that, since it's what pretty much anybody would do. But he's talking retirement soon, and none of the wins he's likely to get in 2008 are impressive enough to keep his position from eroding further should some folk below him get a couple better ones.

14. Jermain Taylor
27-2-1, 17 KO, Super Middleweight
30, 16

SC: Moves back up some for me, because I think he edged Pavlik out in that rematch, though like Marquez-Pacquiao, it was one where I think it's just what flavor you like best. Taylor looked the best he has in years in that bout. I'm looking forward to the rest of Jermain's career. He is giving the impression that he's very mentally tough, which is going to be in his favor.

MM: Despite losing again to Pavlik, Taylor remains at 14 in my list, because there is no one below him who has done anything. Taylor still has a lot left, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn another chapter in his career and begin to ascend the ranks.

15. Ricky Hatton
43-1, 31 KO, Junior Welterweight
27, 15

SC: I'm ranking the "Hitman" as a 140-pounder and not so much on his last fight, because if Ricky ever starts thinking again that he's a welterweight, he drops off this list like a rock from the top of the Empire State Building.

MM: Hatton is still a monster at 140. Looking forward to seeing him fight Paulie Malignaggi.

TS: I think Hatton has a tough fight on his hands this summer against Juan Lazcano, but more because of the style match-up. Beating him is not the kind of win that could get him back into the top 10. Beating Paulie Malignaggi later this year? That's the kind of thing he needs, but by then, several people just below him may have better wins on their resumes than that.

16. Joan Guzman
28-0, 17 KO, Super Featherweight
18, 19

SC: Giant kudos to Alex Arthur for fighting Joan Guzman, because no one else wants to, and it proves that Arthur will put his money where his mouth is. Guzman is a two-division titlist that could probably add straps at 135 and 140 if he wanted to. He's very good, but we may never get to see how great he could be. He's exactly the type of opponent that no top fighter wants anything to do with. He's too good, and too hard to look good against.

MM: With Diaz and Williams' losses, Guzman cracks my top twenty despite not fighting. Now it's time for him to step up the competition.

TS: OK, so I don't see Guzman as better than Mijares, but he'd jump over Mijares on my list temporarily in May if he beats Alex Arthur, and De La Hoya, at least until Mijares beats Munoz a couple weeks later.

17. Chris John
41-0-1, 22 KO, Featherweight
13, 18

MM: Another meaningless win for Chris John, this time over 22-7-1 Roinet Caballero. The only reason he moves up at all is because Diaz and Williams were exposed in the meanwhile.

SC: I didn't rank John this time around. He doesn't fight anyone worth a damn, and the staying in Indonesia act is stale. The only time in his career he risked fighting a top guy was against Juan Manuel Marquez, and while he won on wide scorecards (which I just don't agree with and never will), he clearly didn't like something about that experience, because he's never dared to come close to anything like it again. John is more myth than anything at this point. At least when Sven Ottke was being gifted phantom victories, he did it against credible opposition. OK, that's rude, John has done nothing to warrant comparison to Ottke.

17. Wladimir Klitschko
50-3, 44 KO, Heavyweight
13, 17

MM: You would think that unifying a couple of HW belts would be worth a jump up on my P4P list. Nope. Not with that win. I'm going to hold my nose and keep Wlad at 16.

TS: I can't imagine how Klitschko moves up my list this year, because beating his next two mandatory challengers, while decent wins, aren't the kind to put him ahead of folk who have better-than-decent wins.

SC: Another guy that fell off my list. It's nothing against Klitschko, it's just that I think there are 20 better pound-for-pound fighters out there. Let me say this about Wlad. You can look over the entire history of heavyweight boxing, and you won't find a single guy that Wladimir Klitschko couldn't beat. His combination of size, power, intelligence and speed when he chooses to use it all together is lethal. I'm not saying that he's the best or even close to it, or that these guys couldn't just as easily beat Wlad. All I'm saying is on the right day, Wladimir Klitschko could beat them all. He's a hell of a fighter, and I think it's a crying shame that he's stuck in this era, playing King Shit of Turd Mountain.

19. David Haye
21-1, 20 KO, Heavyweight
10, NR

TS: Haye is going to be incubating for a bit at heavyweight, which means it'll be a while before he tests himself against the kind of opponent that could further boost his pound-for-pound stock. Look out below.

SC: Didn't rank Haye, either, mostly because I've got to see him against a legit heavyweight before I start caring too much about his jump up the weight totem pole. As a cruiserweight, I love him. He's a destructive force.

20. Juan Diaz
33-1, 17 KO, Lightweight
8, 12

SC: jrok is the sole voter that ranked Juan Diaz. He left no comment, but when I emailed him to make sure that he wasn't accidentally putting "Juan Diaz" when he meant "Nate Campbell," he cited my other thought, which is that he simply feels that Diaz had an off-night complicated by a bad cut man. I can see that.

Others Receiving Votes: Joel Casamayor 7, Cristian Mijares 7, Nate Campbell 6, Antonio Margarito 5, Junior Witter 3, Chad Dawson 3

Dropped Out: Paul Williams (20)

Well where in the hell was that guy last year?

We all remember watching Andre Dirrell's 2007 fight with Curtis Stevens, declared by many to be the worst fight of the year, and enough to make myself and several others out there want to never see Dirrell fight again.

He ran. He ran, and ran, and ran some more. He did legitimately win the fight, since Stevens didn't exactly go after him all that hard and never did anything. But it was one of the least impressive legit, wide wins you'll ever see. I'm not totally a blood-and-guts sort of guy. Sure, I love a good brawl, but I also love to watch a good, technically sound fighter, and I love guys that can hit and avoid being hit. It's an art.

Dirrell seemed to have that potential, but it all left with the Stevens fight. If you want to call it a fight, that is.

Last night on Shobox, Andre Dirrell showed up, got rocked early by Anthony Hanshaw, and then went to town. The southpaw from Flint, Michigan, exhibited all the talents he was known for coming out of the 2004 Olympic Games. Hand speed (and how), power, great combination punching, and a legit killer instinct. Dirrell looked like a predator against Hanshaw, who's a perfectly credible fighter.

Dirrell (15-0, 10 KO) even sounded like a changed fighter afterward. Said Dirrell after knocking Hanshaw out in the fifth round, "I felt we both lost that fight (Dirrell-Stevens) and they didn't see the real Andre Dirrell. They got to see the real Andre Dirrell tonight and they will see more."

Well by God, let's hope so, because if this is the real Andre Dirrell, look out -- super middleweight just got another damn good fighter, one who has all the physical gifts to be a world champion.

Listen, like my favorite referee, I'm fair but firm. Dirrell stunk out the joint last year and I haven't wanted to see or hear anything about him since then. I wondered how on earth Showtime could risk giving that guy a TV slot last night. Well he shut me up something fierce. Anyone that wasn't impressed with Dirrell last night is nuts.

• We're going to get the updated pound-for-pound top 20 up as soon as possible. We're waiting on a ballot from Kevin right now. This time around, the list has been made up of votes from myself and fellow BLH contributors Matt Miller and Kevin Gonzalez, Ring Report's Tim Starks, and BLH commenter jrok. There are plenty of changes, as expected.
• Joel Julio proved a lot with his win on Wednesday Night Fights over Ishe Smith, a good boxer who doesn't get knocked out and was last seen by most getting robbed against Sechew Powell at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where the Brooklyn-born Powell's decision win was booed. Julio is a knockout artist, but he's made great strides and looks every bit like the boxer that was once Prospect of the Year material. Taking a tough, 10-round decision against Smith proves a fair bit about his overall game, I'd say. I really think that Julio moving to 154 was the best option for him -- it's a very weak division and he could beat anyone out there, except perhaps for Cory Spinks, who could Cory Spinks his way to a decision. There are guys he could lose to, obviously (Dzinziruk, perhaps), but who really overmatches him? Nobody. There's money to be made, and he also might be someone that could breathe some life into a dead division.
• I can't believe Showtime is putting Andre Dirrell on TV tomorrow night. Anyone that saw his embarrassing "fight" against Curtis Stevens last year won't soon forget or forgive. I'll always say this: for those that think Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is a "runner," watch Andre Dirrell. Floyd looks like Micky Ward in comparison. Here's hoping Anthony Hanshaw beats Dirrell so that we can stop having to endure Dirrell fights.
• Does anyone else wish Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins would both just shut up about the fight? Let's go bare bones on this and look at it without the two Hall of Famers in the same ring thing in mind. It was a rather boring, ugly fight, totally unmemorable from a black-and-white perspective such as, "Was that a good fight or not?" No, it wasn't. Calzaghe won. Let's move on. On the same note, if Bernard Hopkins retires, who's really going to miss him? Great fighter, Hall of Fame fighter, but he's 43 years old and his act is even older.
• If Steve Forbes beats Oscar de la Hoya, I don't really know what I'll do. But I'm rooting for Stevie Forbes, and I've really never disliked Oscar the way many do.
• Stevie Johnston is back in the game, as he'll be headlining the May 21 edition of Wednesday Night Fights against Edner Cherry. I've always liked Stevie, but it's probably time for him to hang 'em up. We'll see exactly how much he has left against Cherry, who's coming off of two wins over Wes Ferguson following a shutout loss to Paulie Malignaggi.
• Paul Spadafora was arrested again for violating a protection from abuse order that was filed last year by his ex-fiancee, Nadine Russo, whom he of course shot in 2003. He's currently free on a $2,500 bond. Can we stop with Spadafora already? This is the second time since his release from prison that something of this nature has happened. It's over. His career is dead in the water.
• Amir Khan has parted ways with trainer Oliver Harrison, and has hired Dean Powell to replace him. Other candidates were reportedly Buddy McGirt (who was assumed to be getting the job) and Roger Mayweather. Maybe Khan just couldn't afford those guys right now. Or maybe Frank Warren got his fangs in. It does seem to me (and others) from an outside perspective that Khan-Warren is not a relationship that will end amicably.
• With Antonio Margarito vacating his recently-won IBF welterweight title to fight Miguel Cotto, top-ranked contender Joshua Clottey says that he expects to fight Andre Berto in August for the vacant belt. Berto currently has a scheduled bout with Miki Rodriguez, another in a long line of patsies that the athletically superior Berto should destroy. Clottey, though, is a different animal. He takes a good shot, knows his mind games and tactics, and doesn't go down easy. I'd still have to favor Berto on physical gifts and the fact that Clottey does sometimes seem to wander in fights, but that'd be a hell of a test to see where Berto is really at, and to see if Clottey is truly top-notch or just a top-notch opponent for the best welterweights.
• Those that are giving Kelly Pavlik and his team guff for lining up two "soft" defenses against Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio need to really look at what's out there. The cupboard is pretty bare at middleweight past Pavlik, Arthur Abraham and Winky Wright. All Kelly is doing is staying active, and at the same time making fights that at least promise action. Plus, there's talk of him fighting Abraham when King Arthur is more established in the States, as well as talk of a fight with Joe Calzaghe sometime in 2009. Pavlik's not ducking anyone. There's not really anyone to duck.
• Is there a more unappreciated pound-for-pound fighter in the sport than Joan Guzman?
• Nate Campbell is expressing doubts about the news that Joel Casamayor wants to fight him. In an interview with Boxing Talk, Nate said, "Unless De La Hoya puts up $2 million or some crazy amount of money or Don puts up something crazy, they're not going to take the fight. ... People want to see (Casamayor-Juan Diaz) as much as they want to see me fight Katsidis. People want to see winners fight winners, not winners fighting guys who just lost." Frankly, I'd take any combination of the four fighters against one another, but ideally, he's right. Casamayor-Campbell would be a fight between the true champion (Casamayor) and the guy that has truly established himself as "the man" in the division (Campbell). Do that and Diaz-Katsidis, because Diaz-Katsidis would just be a hell of a fight.
• Let's say it once: a fight between Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and Hector Camacho, Jr. is a joke. Anyone that pays money for that absurdity is out of their mind.
• Judge Chuck Giampa has retired from the sport and will go into consulting. He's been an insurance broker since 1969, and will be Nevada's only insurance broker specializing in athlete accounts. Most boxing fans slam all judges all the time, but this is a case where I'd rather just wish Chuck a happy retirement.
• The proposed fight between Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi is reportedly going to receive a big money offer from one of the casinos in Vegas to stage their fight there instead of Madison Square Garden. Hatton wants to fight at MSG, and Malignaggi is a Brooklynite so he has a lot of fans there. They'd most likely sell out or come very close to doing so. Ricky's dad, Ray Hatton, says that Vegas considers Ricky "one of the top six most exciting fighters in the world." Who are these people that find Hatton so damned exciting? Am I missing something? I love the energy of his fans, but the guy isn't the action star many make him out to be. He's not even close to it, really. Now if by "exciting" they mean "profitable," then OK.
• While David Diaz has been training hard since mid-April for his June 28 bout with Manny Pacquiao, the Pac-man is again concerning promoter Bob Arum and trainer Freddie Roach by failing to start his own camp of yet. He plans to begin soon in Cebu, and then fly over to Los Angeles' Wild Card Gym to start work with Roach. I don't think there's really any doubt that Manny should beat Diaz, but if he's not taking him seriously...
• Talks have begun for Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez IV. Marquez wants it in November/December, but Vazquez wants to wait until January/February. I'm sure they'll figure that part out pretty easily. The Home Depot Center, which housed their third classic, is the target venue. Vazquez is said he'd be willing to fight Ponce de Leon or Molitor or anyone else, and I'm sure Marquez would, too. But the fact is, Vazquez-Marquez IV probably offers both guys their best possible payday. Plus it's a guaranteed great fight. The part of me that didn't want to see them battle again is losing to the part of me that would watch them fight every week if it were possible.
• The recently amended gloves rules in Nevada that allow for Cotto and Margarito to fight with eight-ounce gloves are making problems elsewhere, specifically in the Kendall Holt-Ricardo Torres rematch. Torres wants ten-ounce gloves, and Holt wants eight-ounce gloves. So they're doing ten-ounce gloves, because that's how the rule breaks down. Everywhere else, they'd be going with eight ounces. It's silly, and just one of those things you don't think about too often, but how has Nevada, of all places, gotten this so screwed up? Just do what everyone else does, guys.

The May 10 Showtime card is getting another facelift, as super middleweight contender Denis Inkin is pulling out of his scheduled fight with fellow undefeated 168-pounder Carl Froch for the second time, which might allow exciting KO artist/victim Alejandro Berrio a chance to fight Froch instead.

The show -- to be headlined by a Junior Witter-Timothy Bradley 140-pound title match -- is a special Shobox Saturday event that will give all of the fighters their biggest U.S. stage to date.

If Inkin is pulling out, Froch is right to move forward with a new opponent, even on such short notice and with someone as dangerous as Berrio, a former titleholder that has 25 knockouts in his 26 wins, and has been knocked out in all five of his losses. The guy brings action and comes to fight -- none of his fights are something to miss. You are all but 100% guaranteed a KO, one way or the other. And he has big power.

Froch is 22-0 with 18 knockouts, so yeah, I'd say we're getting a KO in this fight. And Berrio is no patsy replacement, though I would still favor Froch, the same as I would against Inkin.

Should be a good card, really. I think Witter is going to decimate Bradley, who has all sorts of talent but is just not ready for someone as cagey as Witter. Adding Froch-Berrio to that makes this one pretty close to can't-miss.

Credit: Telegraph

If you have yet to see HBO's Countdown to de la Hoya-Forbes, I highly recommend it. The network generally does a marvelous job with this series, but they went above and beyond making this fight seem like more than what it is on paper. From the opening and closing of a garage door to the use of Aerosmith's epic "Dream On" over video of the two fighters, the three Mayweathers, and Forbes' wife and child, HBO hit all the right buttons.

And this fight is now one that I can't wait to see.

On paper, this is a mismatch. Oscar is bigger, he's stronger, he's fought much better fighters than Forbes has, and he's Oscar de la Hoya. Steve Forbes is an ex-titlist, a great guy, and a damn good boxer. But he's no welterweight.

But what if, you know? What if?

Photo © Sky Sports

Stevie Forbes is obviously going to come to fight. But it allows me to just get my timing back, have a fight where I can practice on different things, and still be in a tough fight, because this kid is no pushover. -- Oscar de la Hoya

The above comment by Oscar came off quite poorly, I thought. While wearing his Houston Dynamo polo, Oscar sat in a room, I presume, in his home, surrounded with beautiful, expensive things, his family, etc. He was in his comfort zone.

I'm not saying a fighter needs to be struggling to make ends meet to be a great, ferocious fighter. That's not it at all.

But "have a fight where I can practice on different things"? A fight that "allows me to just get my timing back"? He seemed to pick up on what he was saying, and tried to cover it with, "and still be a tough fight," then called Forbes a kid.

Steve Forbes is no kid. He's a 31-year old man who has won a super featherweight title, competed very well on "The Contender" against guys who were much, much bigger than him, and has proven many times over that even with disadvantages, the man can take shots and hang in there. He's also a good boxer -- there's nothing about him that is fundamentally bad, even considering his lack of punching power.

The last time we saw the Golden Boy in the ring, he should have scored what would have been a fine upset of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., in Las Vegas, in the richest fight in the history of the sport. I will say that again -- Oscar should have won that fight.

He worked well off the jab, had enough natural speed to at least not get embarrassed the way so many Floyd opponents have, and was hitting Mayweather hard. He was working the body. He was cutting Floyd off.

Then, whatever happened happened. The jab left the building. Floyd started being Floyd, but it was because Oscar, either through poor preparation, age, or budding overconfidence in what he was accomplishing, let Floyd do what he does. The weight was too much for Mayweather to be an effective puncher as far as power goes. Oscar was bigger, stronger, and so on and so forth.

Steve Forbes isn't Floyd Mayweather. Oscar is hoping that Forbes can be a close enough approximation that he'll be able to use this fight as that stepping stone.

Oscar went on to talk about his still-controversial decision win over Felix Sturm, the last time he was using a lesser-regarded fighter as a tune-up to a showdown against a great. Oscar fought Sturm to get ready for Bernard Hopkins. As Jim Lampley put it, he looked fat. Not fat like I'm fat, but fat for a world class athlete. And Sturm won that fight. No matter what the record books say, Felix Sturm beat Oscar de la Hoya that night. He was better-prepared and just plain flat-out beat Oscar de la Hoya.

Oscar says he'll never let that happen again. That he's learned his lesson. Has he? Or is this "practice" fight going to turn into a nightmare for him? Forbes doesn't have to knock Oscar out to win rounds, and I don't think Oscar has the left hook anymore that's going to knock Forbes out.

One other thing during the Sturm stuff that related to the Mayweather stuff bothered me. When talking about the Mayweather fight, Oscar used that antiquated, old fogey stand-by about how you need to "really beat" the champion to take his title, and he didn't think Mayweather did that. Yet he talks about the Sturm fight in a rather candid manner.

Felix Sturm came into that fight as the reigning WBO middleweight champion. Did Oscar "really beat" Sturm to take his title? This entire idea is ridiculous, and not really important, but I've always hated that line.

Photo © AP

This is the fight I've been dreaming my whole life. This is the perfect opportunity, the perfect stage. And I think he is looking past me. Any time you have a fight set before you have dealt with the man in front of you, I don't care what he says, he's looking past me. -- Steve Forbes

Steve Forbes isn't like Oscar de la Hoya. He's not trying to sell this fight to you or me. He's not going to tell you that Oscar's a "tough kid" or note his opponent's heart or determination. He won't tell you about his past fights, even.

Steve Forbes is trying to alter the landscape of boxing as we know it. Like it or not, Mayweather-Oscar II is the biggest fight on the horizon. Not the best, not the most intriguing for diehard fans or those that value action over name value, but absolutely the biggest. As great as we all expect Cotto-Margarito will be, it will not do half the pay-per-view buys that the rematch between Money Mayweather and the Golden Boy will.

If it happens, that is. Should Steve Forbes upset Oscar de la Hoya, that fight won't come off. Mayweather couldn't possibly justify it. And given that I don't think Floyd would want to spend the rest of 2008 not pocketing a few more million bones (don't believe a word of what Floyd says, he's not going to retire any time soon), that'd leave the Pretty Boy with some interesting career choices.

Would he fight Forbes and justify it as giving "2 Pound" a shot he's earned by beating Oscar? Would he try to rush a mega millions rematch with Ricky Hatton at Wembley Stadium? Would he actually fight Miguel Cotto, should Cotto get past Margarito? Would he fight Shane Mosley, should Mosley get past Zab Judah?

Should Steve Forbes beat Oscar de la Hoya, a lot of domino effect sort of stuff starts happening. Floyd's schedule opens up. Cotto and Mosley start looking more attractive if both win their next fight. Forbes himself is suddenly a superstar, no matter how short-lived that might ultimately be. And Oscar de la Hoya's grand plan of three fights before the end of 2008 to say farewell to the sport gets a giant wrench thrown into the gears.

Steve Forbes is getting a good payday, and good for him. He's getting the biggest fight of his career, and good for him. But more than that, he's getting a chance to throw the boxing world into a state of disarray.

I've said it before, I think Forbes has maybe a five, ten percent chance of beating Oscar. But there have been a lot of those guys that have stunned the world in this sport. Every man has a bad night. Many inferior fighters have a great night and shake it all up. James J. Braddock, Buster Douglas, Carlos Baldomir, Corrie Sanders, Hasim Rahman, you can go back as far as Jim Corbett in 1892. Even think about fights like Hamed-Barrera or Tszyu-Hatton -- those were not supposed to happen.

And Steve Forbes is not supposed to beat Oscar de la Hoya. I don't think he will. Anyone that really thinks so and would put dollar one on it is living pretty damn dangerously. But never say never. Count me as one that will tune in mostly for what could happen.

Nothing comes close to having your hands raised when you were not supposed to -- when it's not supposed to be. -- Sugar Ray Leonard

(Steve Forbes) can walk in there two ways. He can walk in that ring and say, 'Well, shit, man. I'm getting paid.' Or he can walk in that motherfucker like Buster Douglas and say, 'I'm gonna whoop this motherfucker's ass.' -- Roger Mayweather

The headline has already been written. Everybody expects de la Hoya to win. And if he don't? Wow. -- Jeff Mayweather

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.