This Week in Boxing.

We begin our preview of this week’s world boxing action on Thursday in the idyllic sounding setting of Palm Springs. Whether conditions in the ring prove quite as agreeable remains to be seen as former world light heavyweight champions Julio Gonzalez and Montell Griffin face off.

Roy Jones Jr., Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, Dariusz Michalczewski and James Toney are but a few of the outstanding names adorning the collective records that Gonzalez and Griffin amassed over the last ten years of professional prizefighting, and yet, they find themselves on the outside looking into serious matters of the light heavyweight division. The real fight in the division takes place in June when Johnson and Tarver meet in a rematch of their December 2004 showdown. Meanwhile, Gonzalez and Griffin contest an elimination spot for the IBF title; possession of which offers them a road back to former glories. In the chief support feature, Joe Goossen’s Ghanaian prospect James Armah returns to the ring. Not content with having proved to be the terror of lightweight fighters in Great Britain and his native land, Armah turns his attention to the United States, where he has found no more resistance to his cause. Blocking Armah’s fifteenth successive win is none other than “The Mongoose” Steve Quinonez. Having already experienced the fury of Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo and Mickey Ward, Quinonez will not likely approach Armah with great caution, but how much left Quinonez has after eleven years of fighting and losing his last three fights may figure greatly in the outcome of this fight.

A super bantamweight struggle occurs at the Desert Diamond Casino in Arizona this week as Celestino Caballero gets his reward for inflicting a first defeat upon Golden Boy Promotion’s Daniel Ponce De Leon. And what great bounty awaits Caballero befitting of such an admirable achievement? Another IBF title eliminator, this time against Jose Luis Valbuena. This fight not only represents Caballero’s second successive elimination bout, but Valbuena’s third involvement with the IBF title in a row. You would think Valbuena learned a lesson in being knocked out by current champion Israel Vasquez last time out, but no, he’s on the trail again. Caballero benefited from some last minute matchmaking when he arrived as a late substitute to face De Leon in his last fight. De Leon’s preparations were for an entirely different style of fighter, but he went out to fight regardless. Now we shall see if Caballero’s win high-profile win had substance or was just a matter of circumstance.

Punctuating Friday’s fight action is the DiBella Entertainment’s card held at the Foxwood Resort in Mashantucket. In action there are two undefeated prospects tipped to do some business in the boxing world during the next few years. An “0” must go as Yuri Foreman looks for a return to form against Kevin Cagle. Both fighters sport undefeated records, and although most people consider Foreman the prospect, Cagle may hold a trick or two up his sleeve to upset the proceedings. You will find out more about Yuri Foreman later today as we bring you an exclusive interview with the young fighter from our own Sergio Martinez. Co-headlining the fight card is “The Iron Horse” Sechew Powell. Once again, someone’s undefeated streak will wear a blemish after the nights festivities as Powell at fifteen wins and no losses meets Cornelius Bundrage, currently boasting twenty-one wins without defeat. With both Powell and Foreman making waves in the light middleweight division, and Jermain Taylor set to challenge Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight crown, Lou DiBella might hold the key to these two boxing territories in the coming years.

As you have no doubt already seen, the current plight of welterweight contender Manuel “Shotgun” Gomez appears in today’s edition of SaddoBoxing.com. Sergio Martinez brings you the whole story you do not want to miss, but until you get to that, we can assume that Gomez shall give his all when facing Antonio Diaz later on this week. Diaz, best known for two failed title attempts against Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito respectively, also holds solid wins over such notable opposition as Emanuel Augustus, Omar Weis, Cory Spinks and Mickey Ward. So, if the “Shotgun” is to get into title contention, nothing less than an explosive, double-barreled attack will suffice against Diaz.

Saturday brings us to what I believe is the fight of the year as we journey to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the much-anticipated showdown between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo. Despite the hype preceding the Trinidad-Wright fight on May 14, the unification bout between Corrales and Castillo holds the potential to eclipse any and all fights happening throughout 2005. Still only twenty-seven, Corrales seems to have given us so many great fights already while Castillo’s impressive list of victims harvested add to the fact that this is the premier lightweight confrontation. Both fighters are the epitome of what a fighter should be, and whether in victory or defeat, the prospect of a fight with Erik Morales remains a possibility for both. The chief support bout comes in the form of Juan Manuel Marquez risking his titles against hardened Colombian featherweight Victor Polo. Fresh from a disappointing decision loss to Scotland’s WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison, Polo takes his penchant for upsets to the Mexican fortress that is the Marquez era as a unified featherweight champion. Polo is more than capable of causing a stir, but as detailed in his own words on this site, Marquez believes that he has bigger game to catch and will look to dispose of Polo in impressive style.

Don’t hold your breath but Welsh WBO super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has a fight scheduled in Germany, so let’s hope that he actually gets to fight in it. In danger of breaking sweat whilst almost certain to receive a knockout at the Welshman’s hands is Mario Veit. The German challenger has only one loss to his name, in a world title fight, only it came against Calzaghe himself; forgive the assumption that hope is not high for Veit to have transformed himself in the interim before this rematch. Once Calzaghe deals with Veit, and Jeff Lacy handles the business of beating Britain’s Robin “The Grim Reaper” Reid, a tantalizing unification between Calzaghe and Lacy appears to be waiting.

And that’s all for this week. We hope you enjoy this week’s boxing action and please make sure to check in for next week’s edition of “This Week in Boxing.”

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk