The Plight of Joel Casamayor.

Joel Casamayor is on the road of rebuilding, even though many considered him an established boxer with a future championship reign. Being located in the lightweight division can lead to second place acclaim, as Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo and even Acelino Freitas are featured names in a competitive weight

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division. Casamayor fought in a classic with Corrales in 2003, with Corrales going down twice and the fight ended due to two cuts in Corrales’ mouth; the fight should have been a stepping-stone for Casamayor. Corrales protested the stoppage and along with Casamayor, they both pushed and secured a quick rematch. This rematch would be much closer, as both fighters respected the other’s power. I have always thought of Casamayor as underrated and promoted lightly. He trains hard and holds a solid record of respectable opponents, including the distinction of being the first man to test Acelino Freitas, albeit losing a hard fought decision. Casamayor is growing as a fighter, and aside from his frequent changing of trainers, he still manages to be a major force in the lightweight division. This fight has landed Casamayor with Jose Bonilla. Hopefully, Casamayor will form a bond with Bonilla and together, they can form a more powerful and successful Casamayor.

Check in for this report on Joel Casamayor, one of this weekend’s featured boxers as SaddoBoxing continues with its big fight build-up.

He fought a multi-skilled Daniel Seda and came out with a unanimous decision and he accepted and put on a tactic-laced display against Jose Luis Castillo. Casamayor lost that fight, via split decision; however, some people would strongly argue that Casamayor won that fight. The outstanding Corrales vs. Castillo fight, was defining for the sport of boxing, but, a diversion from the other talented fighters in the lightweight division, one being Casamayor.

This weekend, Casamayor vs. Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov will be an under-card feature on the Miguel Cotto vs. Mohamad Abdulaev fight bill. “Kid Diamond” holds two very important keys for Casamayor: one being an undefeated record and the second being a ladder towards landing a big championship fight. A third match with Corrales is far away, yet reachable if Casamayor position himself with meaningful performances on his upcoming fights. Talks of Corrales moving up are just that, and he is still the WBO and WBC lightweight champion along with being the king of the lightweights.

Casamayor need to win this fight convincingly and then try to land a match with WBA lightweight champion Juan Diaz, an achievement that would be a strong step forward in earning a third match with Corrales. It is very clear that Casamayor is in the mix of a prominent division, and if he contemplates moving up to junior welterweight, he could be stepping into a weight class that could easily misplace his boxing skills by a lack of activity. The junior welterweight match-ups seem designed to fit one king of the division and that king will have to box above average boxers to stay on top.

Does Casamayor want that sort of schedule? It is easy to get caught up in the future match-up wishes we play out loud when discussing boxing, both in the lightweight division and the junior welterweight division, and most of the time, I hear no mention of Casamayor. Come this weekend, Joel Casamayor will have a fair chance to change the topic of boxing conversations by adding his name to them. His future is truly in his own hands.

Shaun Rico LaWhorn can be reached at filmmaking_mentality@msn.com