Miranda and Valero part of an exclusive club(excellent read)

http://www.maxboxing.com/Fischer/Fischer082406.asp

News of this Saturday’s scheduled IBF middleweight title showdown between hard-punching challenger Edison Miranda and highly regarded belt-holder Arthur Abraham was a major disappointment to hardcore fight fans worldwide, including many American diehards who were going to miss watching the Germany based bout live because it wasn’t going to be broadcast in the U.S.

Miranda’s tragic-but-inspirational Odyssey to a world title shot, which began in his native Colombia where his teenaged mother abandoned him at birth, struck a chord with those who learned the details of his homeless childhood from ESPN’s blow-by-blow announcer Joe Tessitore, who touchingly recounted the Colombian slugger’s story (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=2375815) before he headlined a ‘Friday Night Fights’ broadcast earlier this year.

However, it was Miranda’s take-no-prisoners ring mentality backed by his explosive two-fisted punching power, which was on display when he knocked out iron-chinned perennial contender Howard Eastman on ESPN2 this past April, that has captivated fans.

No other fighter, including Bernard Hopkins, William Joppy and Abraham, had ever separated the rangy but sturdy British fighter from his senses the way Miranda did with a single uppercut in the seventh round of their IBF-title eliminator. Despite his relative inexperience vs. the two-time title challenger, Miranda lived up to his nickname “Pantera” and literally pounced on Eastman from the opening bell.

The often overly aggressive nature of Miranda’s attack left him open for Eastman’s offense and counter shots and the Colombian was stunned on more than one occasion before he broke through in the seventh round. However, his vulnerability only adds to his appeal. The likely prospect of a see-saw battle that ends with a brutal stoppage is the reason fans were looking forward to Miranda’s challenge to the formidable Germany based middleweight titlist.

Fans wanted to know if the Colombian’s powerful punches and burning desire would be enough to carry him to a world-title victory against a strong, young title holder with better skills, technique and experience.

That combination of punching power and will power was enough to carry another South American-born slugger to a title victory on enemy soil almost one month ago. On August 5th, Venezuela’s Edwin Valero traveled to Panama to challenge the Central American nation’s native son, Vicente Mosquera, for the WBA 130-pound title. Valero, who entered the bout with an astounding 19-0 record with all but one of those victories coming by way of first-round KO, was tested like never before by the Panamanian title holder, who bravely got up from two first-round knockdowns to score a third round knockdown of the Venezuelan punching machine.

According to fight reports, the two junior lightweights engaged in a sensational battle for the next three rounds until Valero’s relentless punching and superior conditioning wore Mosquera down to a 10th-round mercy stoppage.

Valero has never been seen on U.S. TV, but an international following of diehard fight fanatics followed his challenge of Mosquera via a Spanish-language radio simulcast that was broadcast live on the internet from Panama. The radio commentators’ call of the fight was translated by bilingual fans and posted on numerous message boards and fan forums throughout the internet; MaxBoxing’s message board was so heavy with members following the fight that it threatened to crash numerous times during the bout.

One good outcome of the Abraham-Miranda postponement is that it might give Miranda’s promoters enough time to set up some sort of internet pay-per-view broadcast for fans in North America who want to view the fight live.

If an internet broadcast can be set up by the proposed September date for the rescheduled fight, a fair amount of boxing junkies will likely purchase the event to see if Miranda can do in Germany what Valero did in Panama.

Although he has yet to get a major title belt around his waist, Miranda has pulled off one feat that Valero has yet to accomplish – the Colombian scored 21 consecutive KOs to start his pro career, putting him one knockout victory ahead of the ‘V-nom’.

Miranda, who holds a 26-0 (23) record (and scored 16 first-round KOs in his first 21 bouts), was extended the 10-round distance by veteran spoiler Sam Reese in his 22nd bout last May.

Fewer fighters than one would expect have begun their careers with 20 or more consecutive knockouts.

Even with the most careful and “creative” matchmaking against the weakest of opposition, it’s close to impossible to get a promising young fighter more than a dozen consecutive knockouts before some seasoned journeyman either takes him the distance or “exposes” him as a “suspect” by flipping the script and beating him.

Two heavyweights come to mind: Six-foot-nine southpaw Tye Fields, who won his first 17 bouts by knockout (all but one in the first round), before a 2-0 fighter named Jeff Ford stopped him in one round; and Texas-based curiosity David Rodriguez, who won his first 18 pro bouts by knockout (all but one in the first round) before he was taken the four-round distance by 4-4-1 John Turlington. (Rodriguez is currently 23-0 with 22 but he’s still fighting journeymen. Fields, to his credit, has stepped up his competition in recent months.)

But it’s not just heavyweight hypes and hopefuls who have fallen short of the magic 20-0 (20) mark, the hardest-hitting legends of the sport’s ‘Glamour Division’ – including Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and even Mike Tyson – were forced to go the distance at some point before they reached 20 pro bouts.

In fact, many of the most prolific punchers, pound-for-pound, in the history of the sport – from Sandy Saddler to Bob Foster to Carlos Zarate to Thomas Hearns to Julian Jackson and Felix Trinidad – failed to rack up 20 or more consecutive KO victories to start their careers.

Even the great Wilfredo Gomez, who racked up 32 consecutive KOs before running into the equally great Salvador Sanchez, fails to make the cut because he began his hall-of-fame career with a six-round draw.

So who is part of this exclusive club of hard-punching pugilists, along with Miranda and Valero?

Listed below are 10 fighters who have exceeded 20 consecutive knockouts to begin their careers. Some are hall-of-famers, some are current world-class fighters and others were considered merely decent pugilists during their eras. They are ordered according to their accomplishments and talent (in this fight scribe’s humble opinion). There are probably a few other fighters who belong on this list. The author of this article is not a boxing historian; he just plays one on the internet. Readers who know of the missing ‘20-plus KO Club’ members are encouraged to email Yours Truly with their additions.

Here they are:

1.Ruben Olivares – Olivares, one of the greatest Mexican fighters ever and a top five all-time bantamweight, won his first 23 pro bouts by KO before going the 10-round distance with Felipe Gonzalez. He stopped 26 of his next 28 opponents en route to his 118-pound title winning KO of Lionel Rose in ‘69, and finished his hall-of-fame career with a 88-13-3 (78) record. Among his KO victims: Bobby Chacon and Jesus Pimentel.
2.Alfonso Zamora – Another fantastic Mexican bantamweight, Zamora won his first 29 pro bouts by stoppage before getting knocked out in four rounds in a showdown with fellow KO artist Carlos Zarate (45-0 with 44 KOs at the time). The mid-‘70s star was never the same after the stoppage loss to Zarate and finished his career with a 33-5 (32) record. Among his KO victims: Eusebio Pedroza and Alberto Sandoval.
3.Danny Lopez – “Little Red” thrilled Los Angeles fans during the early-to-mid ‘70s as he bombed his way to 23 consecutive KOs before he and his streak was stopped by fellow featherweight prospect (and fan favorite) Bobby Chacon. He rebounded from the one-sided ninth-round stoppage and won the WBC featherweight title, finishing his career with a 42-6 (39) record. Among his KO victims: Ruben Olivares, David Kotey, Chucho Castillo, Art Hafey and Sean O’Grady.
4.Michael Moorer – The former two-time heavyweight champ won his first 26 fights by knockout, 22 of those bouts took place in the light heavyweight division where a trim and aggressive Moorer terrorized 175 pounders and reigned as the WBO title holder for two years (December of ’88 to December of ’90). He finished his career with a 47-4-1 (37) record. Among his KO victims: Bert Cooper, Alex Stewart and Vassiliy Jirov.
5.Nigel Benn – Britain’s “Dark Destroyer” won his first 22 bouts by knockout before middleweight contender Michael Watson took the wild banger to school and took him out in six rounds. Benn rebounded to win the WBO middleweight and WBC 168-pound titles before retiring with a 42-5-1 (35) record. Among his KO victims: Doug DeWitt, Iran Barkley, and Gerald McClellan.
6.Acelino Freitas – Currently 38-1 (32), “Popo” won his first 29 bouts by KO, including a first-round stoppage of Anatoly Alexandrov for the WBO 130-pound title, before his streak was broken by Alfred Kotey in a 10 rounder. The Brazilian bomber had two consecutive distance fights following the Kotey bout and never quite regained his search-and-destroy style, but he still won the WBA 130-pound title and the WBO’s lightweight belt (twice). Among his KO victims: Javier Jauregui, Carlos Rios and Jorge Barrios.
7.John Mugabi –“The Beast” was a popular 154- and 160-pound contender in the mid-‘80s who won his first 25 bouts by KO before he was taken into deep waters by Marvelous Marvin Hagler and drowned by the middleweight great in a grueling 11th-round stoppage. Mugabi briefly held the WBC 154-pound title and retired with a 42-7-1 (39) record. Among his KO victims: Curtis Parker, James “Hardrock” Green, and Frank “the Animal” Fletcher.
8.Mac Foster – A hot California prospect for a hot minute in the late ‘60s, Foster won first 24 fights by KO until he faced Jerry Quarry and was wore down to a sixth-round stoppage that he never recovered from. Foster was never again knocked out but he lost five of his next 11 bouts (including a 15-round decision to Muhammad Ali in Japan) before retiring with a 30-6 (30) record. Among his KO victims: Cleveland “Big Cat” Williams (twice), Jack O’Halloran and Thad Spencer.
9.Alex Stewart – “The Destroyer” won his first 24 fights by KO before getting stopped in eight rounds by Evander Holyfield in ’89 in what was a competitive bout and one of the Real Deal’s first tests in the heavyweight division. Stewart, who was knocked out by Mike Tyson and Michael Moorer in the early ‘90s, never contended for a world title (though he gave George Foreman hell in a 10-round majority-decision loss), and retired with a 43-10 (40) record. Among his KO victims: Ezra Sellers.
10. Alexander Munoz – Currently 28-2 (26), “El Explosivo” won his first 23 pro bouts by KO, including a brutal eighth-round stoppage of Celes Kobayashi for the WBA 115-pound title. His streak was snapped by Hidenobu Honda in a 12-round title defense in Japan and his title was taken by classy Mexican technician Martin Castillo (the only man to beat the formidable Venezuelan junior bantamweight). Among his KO victims: Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym.

Before his first fight in the U.S. three years ago, Valero told this writer that he wasn’t concerned with prolonging his streak of first-round stoppages; however, he said that he did want to break the Venezuelan national KO record set by his countryman Munoz.

Can he knockout another three opponents? Will he get the opportunity to emulate the fine fighters in the top half of the ‘20-plus KO Club’? Will Miranda? Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure, fight fans will be watching.

1 thing's for sure for me,if Miranda KO's Abraham,I'll be on the bandwagon,I just have not seen enough of him to be a proper fan as yet.