2008 promises to be a very entertaining year in one of the sports most under-appreciated divisions, the bantamweights. Already, on January 10 in Osaka, Japan, WBC champion Hozumi Hasegawa (23-2, 7 KOs) and WBA champion Wladimir Sidorenko (21-0-2, 7 KOs) fought on the same card with Hasegawa out pointing WBC #1 contender and mandatory challenger Simone Maludrottu (26-2, 10 KOs) and Sidorenko out pointing WBA #4 ranked Nobuto Ikehara (27-2, 19 KOs). This is supposed to lead to a unification bout between the two champs but Sidorenko may have to face WBA #1 contender and official challenger Anselmo Moreno (21-1-1, 8 KOs). While unification should be of the highest priority, either bout, Hasegawa-Sidorenko or Sidorenko-Moreno, is certainly worth the price of admission.



Hasegawa vs. Maludrottu





Sidorenko vs. Ikehara





Hasegawa has made 5 successful defences of the WBC title since winning it from long-reigning champion Veeraphol Sahaprom (AKA Nakornluang; now 60-3-2, 42 KOs) in April 2005. Sidorenko, who won the vacant WBA title by beating then interim champ Julio Zarate (now a highly ranked super bantamweight with a 26-4-1, 16 KOs slate) in February 2005, has put the WBA title on the line 6 times. Moreno owns wins over former IBF junior bantamweight champion Felix Machado, former two-time world title challenger Jose de Jesus Lopez, and Tomas Rojas. He secured the no. 1 spot and official challenger status with a TKO-1 over perennial contender Ricardo Vargas (39-13-3, 13 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator in August.



Penalosa vs. Gonzalez





WBO champion Gerry Penalosa (52-6-2, 35 KOs), unable to negotiate a rematch with WBO junior featherweight kingpin Daniel Ponce De Leon (34-1, 30 KOs), will be defending his bantamweight title against WBO #1 ranked Ratanachai Sor Vorapin (72-9, 48 KOs), a former WBO champion, March 2nd in Manila. Vorapin has won 7 in a row since losing the title to Jhonny Gonzalez at the 2005 Mexico-Thailand "World Cup" in Tucson, Arizona. Penalosa took the title from Gonzalez at the Mexico-Philippines "World Cup" last August in Sacramento, California.



Gonzalez vs. Pacheco





Gonzalez, still very much in the mix at 118 and 122, is now 35-6 with 29 KOs having out pointed Jose Angel Beranza in November.



Joseph Agbeko (25-1, 22 KOs), the Bronx, New York-based Ghanaian-born IBF champion, has no bouts scheduled but his mandatory challenger is Nicaraguan William Gonzalez (20-2, 18 KOs) who defeated former WBO champion Mauricio Martinez in an IBF eliminator last July. Martinez has since bounced back with a win to improve to 34-8-1 with 23 KOs.



Mabuza vs. Marquez





Silence Mabuza (20-2, 16 KOs) will make the first defence of his second reign as the IBO champion against 19-year-old Philippine super flyweight champion Eden Sonsona (14-2, 3 KOs or 19-2, 8 KOs depending on the source) February 2nd in Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa.



There are good fights available for this past Thursday's failed title challengers. A rematch between Maludrottu, who vacated the European title to challenge Hasegawa, and Belgium's Carmelo Ballone (20-2-1, 9 KOs), who recently won the vacant European diadem, is a must. Ikehara could challenge the winner of the Japanese title bout between champion Masayuki Mitani (21-2, 10 KOs) and Kohei Ohba (20-0-1, 10 KOs) or go after the winner of OPBF champion Rolly Lunas' (AKA Matsushita; 23-6-1, 13 KOs) January 27 defence against Indonesian champion Aldo Hummer. Matsushita took the OPBF title from former WBC flyweight champion Malcolm Tunacao (now 21-2-3, 14 KOs) and had made two successful defences, the most recent being a TKO-12 over Mitani in August.



The WBC has called for purse bids for a title eliminator between the #2 ranked Sahaprom, the current WBC Asian Boxing Council champion, and #3 ranked WBC International champion Vusi Malinga (17-2-1, 10 KOs). Incidentally, Malinga has a 12-round draw with Filipino Jerope Mercado (now 13-1-2, 4 KOs) who was stopped in 9 by the aforementioned Sonsona.



Jorge Arce





There are numerous other bantamweights to keep tabs on in 2008 besides those previously mentioned. WBC Latino champion Jorge Arce (48-4-1, 37 KOs), who has a title defence scheduled against Jonathan Perez (13-3, 10 KOs) for February 9, may be more interested in a world title shot at 115 but those with an eye on the 118 prizes include former IBF junior bantamweight and bantamweight champion Luis Alberto Perez (25-2, 16 KOs), NABF champion Alejandro Valdez (19-2-1, 15 KOs), Sasha Bakhtin (18-0, 7 KOs), WBO NABO champion Abner Mares (15-0, 9 KOs), Commonwealth champion Tshifhiwa Munyai (15-0-1, 8 KOs), WBC Continental Americas belt holder Yonnhy Perez (14-0, 11 KOs), WBA Fedelatin and WBC FECARBOX kingpin Neomar Cermeno (14-0, 9 KOs), PABA titlist Tabtimdaeng Na Rachawat (22-1, 16 KOs), South American and WBO Latino champ Diego Silva (21-1-2, 10 KOs), former IBF flyweight title challenger Diosdado Gabi (30-3-1, 21 KOs), and South African champion Simpiwe Vetyeka (18-1, 11 KOs).



The division has been sort of under the radar since Rafael Marquez moved up to 122 but it is talent-rich and deserves our attention.

Article By: Ken Pollitt