Title Fight Results (Apr. 18-19)

Great night or morning for Filipino fight fans as the Araneta Coliseum, site of arguably the best heavyweight title fight in history, hosted 2 title fights to a contented and boisterous full capacity crowd.

Long-time IBF Junior Flyweight titlist Ulises Solis of Mexico was finally dethroned by US olympian and Hawaii-born Brian Viloria. A wicked right in the 11th knocked Solis out and his seemingly invincible hold of this 108-lb. belt. Solis has been dominating in his previous 8 defenses that losing to Viloria this way seem to be far fetch going in to the fight. Viloria proved me wrong as he showed that he still got what it takes to proudly claim another belt. I've always doubted Viloria's heart specially in the critical stages of a title fight but overcoming the world's second best junior flyweight is highly commendable. By the way, in my opinion, Ivan Calderon is still the top dog in the 108-lb. class. Viloria, I believe in the first half dominated but seemed to slow down in the 7th. I thought, here we go again but lo and behold, Solis dethroned violently. Utmost respect to the Hawaiian Punch and to the crowd that inspired him because of his filipino ancestry. A rematch against WBC champ Edgar Sosa will be huge and Hawaii's got to host it. His Olympics tormentor, the eternal WBA champ in recess, Brahim Asloum will be appealing also to hardcore fans. Boxing Scene; Fight News

In the main event, Nonito Donaire of the Philippines clinically prevailed over Raul Martinez of the US by knocking him down then out 4 times in 4 rounds. Donaire succesfully defended his IBF Flyweight title for the third time after the referee decided, which I agree, that Martinez was simply outmatched regardless of whether he still can continue after the 4th knockdown. Donaire's hybrid left hook/uppercut found its target quite often that Martinez can't seem to take his guard down and throw punches. Donaire's performance definitely keeps the clamor alive for a rematch against his other left hook victim Vic Darchinyan. This will most probably be the last time we see Donaire as a flyweight as 112 lbs. seem to be getting difficult for him to meet. There's not a lot of competent match-ups in the super fly if Darchinyan moves up to bantam and dethrones Joseph Agbeko on July 11. So 118 will be Donaire's very likely destination unless he makes a quick stop at 115 and challenges the highly beatable WBO champ Jose Lopez. This I believe will be the better path for Donaire to a least get noticed for the P4P list. Afterwhich, he moves up to 118 against potentially Darchinyan or eventual WBO 118-lb. champ Fernando Montiel. Unless, Darchinyan gets Montiel first or Bob Arum not allowing 2 of his titleholding stablemates slug it out. There will also be Hozumi Hasegawa who I believe is the best 118 pounder or Anselmo Moreno. A lot of options for the fast rising Donaire. Boxing Scene; Fight News

Earlier, in South Africa, the 3 best South African 130 pounders completes the full circle as Malcolm Klassen dethrones Cassius Baloyi to take his IBF Junior Lightweight title via stoppage in the seventh. On April 2007 Klassen lost the same title to Mzonke Fana. Then Fana lost the title to Baloyi on April 2008. This time, April 2009, Klassen regains the title from Baloyi. Not a bad coincidence for trivia buffs. I did not see the fight but I hope somebody puts it up in youtube since reports indicated that it was an entertaining fight. Well that's probably asking too much after I got my boxing fix quite satisfyingly from the Donaire card. Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Results:
Good to see Viloria getting his heart back and proved me wrong.
Donaire was the easiest to predict so I, at least, got this right.
I was actually hoping for a Klassen win to complete the full circle but I thought Baloyi's length will prevail.

So with my first prediction setbacks in tow, my record is now 19-2 and a draw.
Tally changes as the US is pulling away once again from Mexico and the rest of the world.

As of Apr. 19, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	11	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140;WBO140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160 Brian Viloria - IBF108
2nd	Mexico	8	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd	Puerto Rico	7	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Jose Lopez - WBO115 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Roman Martinez - WBO130 Daniel Santos - WBA154
4th	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (2 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (2 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
10th (6 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (6 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (6 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (6 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (6 are tied)	UK	2	Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
10th (6 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Ghana	1	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Malcolm Klassen - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)

Title Relinquished - IBF Welterweight

According to multiple reports, Joshua Clottey of Ghana has officially relinquished his IBF Welterweight (147 lbs.) title. His planned unification bout against Miguel Cotto on June 13 at the Madison Square Garden in New York will now be for the WBO title only.

Clottey never intended to relinquish his title as he signed the contract before the deadline imposed by the IBF to make it a unification bout. Unfortunately, Cotto did not sign the contract on time. Despite an appeal by Clottey to the IBF to reconsider since it was not his fault that the deadline was not met, the IBF still stripped him of his title. There was pressure also from the handlers of mandatory challenger Isaac Hlatshwayo of South Africa which gave the IBF no choice. Hlatshwayo will most probably fight Rafal Jackiewicz of Poland for the now vacant title.

Cotto probably wasn't aware that his delay cost them the IBF belt. But, if Cotto was fully aware then he probably did not want the IBF title in the first place. The IBF will mandate him to defend against Hlatshwayo if he defeats Clottey. Obviously, Hlatshwayo is not financially appealing to Cotto. Who cares about a fight against Hlatshwayo if there's Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley or Floyd Mayweather Jr. among the possibilities?

Anyway, with Ghana losing one title, they're down to 1. Here's the updated list.

As of Apr. 17, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140;WBO140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
2nd	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd	Puerto Rico	7	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Jose Lopez - WBO115 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Roman Martinez - WBO130 Daniel Santos - WBA154
4th	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (2 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (2 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
10th (6 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (6 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (6 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (6 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (6 are tied)	UK	2	Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
10th (6 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Ghana	1	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)

Title Fights Scheduled (Apr. 18-19)

On Apr. 18 in Mafikeng, South Africa, IBF Junior Lightweight titleholder South Africa's Cassius Baloyi [36(19)-3(0)-1] will defend his belt against compatriot Malcolm Klassen [23(14)-4(0)-2]. This will complete the round-robin among, presently, the 3 best ranked South Africans and the last 3 titleholders in the IBF 130-lb. division - Baloyi, Klassen and Mzonke Fana. Klassen once held the same title until he was dethroned by Fana on April 2007. Then Baloyi took Fana's title exactly 12 months later. This time, it's Baloyi defending against Klassen after 2 years to the month since this round-robin started. This does not make any headlines to the rest of the world but is obviously huge in South Africa. This is a tough fight to call but Baloyi's huge height and reach advantage is difficult to ignore.

On Apr. 19 (Apr 18 ET) in Quezon City, Philippines in the historic Araneta Coliseum, IBF Flyweight titleholder Nonito Donaire [20(13)-1(0)-0] of the Philippines will defend his title against the dangerous and undefeated Raul Martinez [24(14)-0(0)-0] of the US. Donaire wasn't impressive in his last win against Moruti Mthalane compared to his previous fights while Martinez knocked his opponent out in the first in his last fight. Martinez's list of opponents though does not really impress anyone, to say the least. Donaire, with the homecrowd behind him will be too much for Martinez and will make it a point to make up for the unremarkable performance against Mthalane. Besides, he needs to keep winning to earn a title shot in the higher weight classes against possibly a rematch with his KO of the year victim Vic Darchinyan.

On the same card, Mexico's Ulises Solis [28(20)-1(0)-2] will defend his IBF Junior Flyweight title against Brian Viloria [24(14)-2(0)-0] of the US. This will be Solis' 9th defense of an impressive title run. Viloria will be banking on the homecrowd because of his filipino lineage. It will be tough to figure which Viloria will show up in this fight. He's back in his groove in the last few fights but they were against insignificant opponents. The last 2 fights that mattered which was a couple of years ago were both losses against Omar Nino Romero (not counting the no contest) and current WBC 108-lb. champ Edgar Sosa. Viloria, in my opinion, showed no heart in those fights where he had every opportunity to win yet was so dismal considering how meaningful those fights were. Solis meanwhile is at the peak of his game with remarkable wins one after another including 3 straight against formidable filipino challengers - Rodel Mayol, Bert Batawang and Nonito's older sibling Glenn Donaire. This card will be covered by Top Rank PPV Saturday night in the US at 9 pm (ET) for what I believe an affordable $24.99. Not bad for hardcore fans.

My Prediction:
Baloyi by late stoppage or decision.
Donaire will successfully defend his title by mid-fight stoppage.
Solis will continue on with his impressive run and stop Viloria late.

Title Fight Result (Apr. 11)

A bloody end to what became, I believe, an entertaining fight to hardcore boxing fans. The timing was also perfect with the Paul Williams-Winky Wright fight in HBO wrapped up, there were a few minutes before the main event started in Azteca America. It was way too late here in the east coast but a hardcore fan like me needs to stay up for that. So, the thrice rescheduled IBF Mini Flyweight title fight finally happened in La Paz. Mexico's Raul Garcia successfully retained his title by TKO in the 6th over Ronald Barrera of Colombia. The fight started slow in the first with Garcia contented on circling around Barrera while throwing jabs from afar. Action picked up in the second with exchanges increasing as the fight progress. In the fifth, Barrera was cut above the right eye. I did not notice how he got the cut nor were there replays to show it. It might have been due to the accumulation of punches his been taking to that spot. The announcers might have mentioned it but my comprehension of spanish wasn't exactly fluent. Anyway, Barrera's face was a bloody mess so is Garcia's gloves. The sixth was halted with the ringside physician checking the cut out. As the action resumed, Garcia went after the cut like there's no tomorrow. Barrera was obviously bothered by the blood that continuously affected his sight. The referee finally stopped it to prevent further damage. Garcia is definitely one of the better 105-pounders and it would be nice to see a unification bout against other titleholders in this less regarded division. A rematch with Florante Condes would be a good option for him too. Unfortunately, Condes' handlers can't seem to find a way to get him back in the ring for meaningful fights. Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Results:
A better Garcia showed up compared to the first fight with Barrera and the mid-fight stoppage proved that.

Another notch to my score which is now 18-0 and a draw.
There are no changes in the tally with the titleholder successfully retaining.

Title Fight Scheduled (Apr. 11)

On Apr. 11 in La Paz, Mexico, the thrice scheduled IBF Mini Flyweight title fight between titleholder Raul Garcia [25(15)-0(0)-1] of Mexico and Ronald Barrera [26(16)-5(0)-1] of Colombia will, hopefully, finally take place. As I've posted in my previous entries, this is a rematch from a title eliminator early last year where Garcia won easily by decision. That eliminator gave Garcia the shot to dethrone Florante Condes whose belt now he defends. It looks like Azteca America will still be covering starting at 11 pm ET.

My Prediction:
Garcia will win again by decision or late TKO.

Title Fight Results (Apr. 4)

Timothy Bradley survived 2 knockdowns in the first and the last round and won by unanimous decision over Kendall Holt. Bradley is now the unified 140-lb. titleholder by keeping his WBC Super Lightweight and dethroning Holt from his WBO Junior Welterweight belt. Bradley's consistent pitbull-like attack took Holt out of his gameplan. By the middle rounds, the body shots obviously took its toll on Holt and was throwing lesser jabs. Bradley's in tremendous shape which allowed him to withstand the knockdowns specially the one in the first that if it was any other boxer, the fight would've been over. Bradley is mandated by the WBC to defend his titles in his next fight against the #1 contender as part of his arrangement in postponing his mandatory for this unification bout. The very likely challenger will be Devon Alexander. Besides, with titleholders and marquee names in the division busy the next 3 months Bradley has no choice but to defend against his mandatory. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Venezuela's Edwin Valero wins his second division title by stopping Colombia's Antonio Pitalua in the usual Valero manner. A TKO in the 2nd gives Valero his 25th win in as many knockouts. Valero is the new WBC Lightweight titleholder. With the way the first round was going, I felt like Pitalua will survive a few rounds than I expected. In the start of the second, the Valero we're accustomed to came out and a short right shocked Pitalua. Pitalua was obviously wobbly getting up. Valero smelled blood and the onslaught continued with Pitalua going down and barely standing up for the second time. Another Valero blitz then the referee finally stopped the fight with Pitalua obviously no chance of finishing the round vertical. A unification fight against Juan Manuel Marquez will be a fight fan's wish unless Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaeffer gets what he wants (see ESPN article below). Anyway, it's still a possibility depending on how things shape up with the Pacquiao-Hatton fight and the Mayweather comeback. If all 3 snobs Marquez then Valero and the fight fans might get their wish. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Edgar Sosa of Mexico easily outclassed Thailand's Pornsawan Porpramook and successfully defended his WBC Light Flyweight title via TKO in the 4th. This is Sosa's 8th defense of what was a vacant title he won against Brian Viloria. I did not see the fight so I don't have any opinion but based on reports it was practically a walk in the park for Sosa. Boxing Scene; Fight News

For the third time, Raul Garcia's defense of his IBF Mini Flyweight title against Ronald Barrera is rescheduled again to Apr. 11. I already have my DVR set up early in the week because of the simultaneous title fights last night. In fact, it was listed on Azteca America in the guide clearly indicating that it is the Garcia-Barrera fight. Well, the reason according to FightNews.com was television commitments. Anyway, hopefully Azteca America still carries it next week since there are no other title fights scheduled for that weekend.

Prediction Results:
Bradley indeed won by decision.
Valero indeed won his second division title by stoppage.
Sosa indeed stopped the Thai early.

That's 3 more to my running score of 17-0 and a draw. The streak is still on.
Tally changes shows Bradley with 2 titles and Venezuela climbing up to 10th tied with 6 others.

As of Apr. 5, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140;WBO140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
2nd	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd	Puerto Rico	7	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Jose Lopez - WBO115 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Roman Martinez - WBO130 Daniel Santos - WBA154
4th	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (2 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (2 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
10th (7 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
10th (7 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (7 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (7 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (7 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (7 are tied)	UK	2	Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
10th (7 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
17th (9 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
17th (9 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
17th (9 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
17th (9 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
17th (9 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
17th (9 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
17th (9 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
17th (9 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
17th (9 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)

Title Fights Scheduled (Apr. 4)

There are 4 title fights this weekend with 3 televised at least in the east coast.

On Apr. 4 in Montreal, Canada, 140-lb. titleholders Timothy Bradley [23(11)-0(0)-0] and Kendall Holt [25(13)-2(2)-0] will clash to unify the WBC Super Lightweight and WBO Junior Welterweight titles. If there's a battle of east and west on May 2, this is the battle of east coast vs. west coast. California native Bradley against my fellow Jerseyan Holt. I saw both of their last few fights and Holt has the advantage in both reach and height but I feel like that will not matter against Bradley who pack more wallop although his KO record does not really say so. I think Bradley's style is suited against Holt who I believe was lucky against Ricardo Torres in that one-round classic last July. I'm sure everyone who saw that fight can figure that if not for that quick accidental headbutt, he couldn't have knocked the daylights out of Torres. The fight will be covered by Showtime at 10:45 ET.

Same night in Austin, TX, Venezuela's Edwin Valero [24(24)-0(0)-0] will once again fight in US soil after over 4 years to take on Antonio Pitalua [46(40)-3(1)-0] of Colombia for the Pacquiao-vacated WBC Lightweight title. This will probably only be the second time that Valero will meet a decent live underdog since Vicente Mosquera. Pitalua is a heavy-handed veteran whose last fight was a stoppage win against Jose Armando Santa Cruz who I thought should've won against Joel Casamayor a couple of years ago. The will be a good re-debut for Valero in the US to show his unbelievable power. Valero's fights in Japan though showed that he's still raw and his defense is suspect but it's been reported that that's where he concentrated on going into this title fight. We'll soon find out if Valero is indeed the real deal specially in the bigger stage with HBO PPV covering.

In Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, WBC Light Flyweight champ Edgar Sosa [34(18)-5(1)-0] of Mexico will defend his title for the 8th time against Thailand's Pornsawan Kratingdaenggym [21(16)-2(0)-0] also known as Pornsawan Porpramook. This will be Kratingdaenggym third attempt to win a world title. Lost to Donnie Nietes for the vacant WBO Mini Flyweight title and to Oleydong Sithsamerchai for the fellow Thai's WBC Strawweight title. No TV coverage in the US as far as I know even in the spanish channels. I don't think I'll miss much with Sosa having fought better challengers before, this may be a walk in the park for him.

As for the fourth title fight this weekend, hopefully this will really be it. The twice rescheduled IBF Mini Flyweight title defense of Mexico's Raul Garcia [25(15)-0(0)-1] did not only move from Mar. 21 to Apr. 11 and finally to Apr. 4 but from Guadalajara to La Paz. Garcia will be challenged by Ronald Barrera [26(16)-5(0)-1] of Colombia. This is a rematch from a title eliminator early last year which Garcia won easily by decision. That eliminator gave Garcia the shot to dethrone Florante Condes whose belt now he defends. The good thing about the date change is at least now there's TV coverage by Azteca America. If you understand spanish or you don't mind then the spanish broadcasted network will be fine.

My Prediction:
Bradley unifies the titles by decision.
Valero wins his second division world title by, of course, stoppage.
Sosa will take care of his 8th defense early.
Garcia will win again by decision or late TKO.