Calderon vs. Esquer

Unbeaten World Boxing Organization junior flyweight champion Ivan Caderon (29-0, 6 KOs) will be defending his title on Saturday night against challenger Juan Esquer (22-2-1, 17 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout at the Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Calderon, 32, had previously held the strawweight title since 2003 before abandoning it in August to take on WBO junior flyweight champion Hugo Fidel Cazares, whom he defeated by 12-round split decision.

Instead of moving back down to the strawweight class, Calderon opted to defend at the higher weight class, hence his bout with Esquer on Saturday. Calderon is an elusive boxer, similar to heavyweight Chris Byrd, only much faster and slicker. Though Calderon is still one of the premier defensive fighters in all of boxing, he’s showing signs of slowing down, as he struggled in his last two fights, winning split decisions over Ronald Barrera and Cazares.

In point of fact, Calderon was knocked down in the 8th round by the hard-punching Cazares, who was throwing every punch with knockout intentions. To his credit, Calderon continued boxing well, and used his skills to keep getting tagged again for the remainder of the fight. Despite by the signs of slipping, Calderon should have little problems with Equer, who isn’t nearly in the same class as Calderon.

Ranked #12 in the WBO, Esquer recently defeated Kermin Guardia to win the little known WBO/WBC Latino light flyweight title. Esquer, an excellent puncher with 17 knockouts on his record, will no doubt being trying to flatten Calderon, knowing that it’s his only chance to win the bout. I just hope he has his track shoes because it won’t be easy catching up to Calderon.