By Eric Thomas: WBO light flyweight champion Ivan Calderon (34-1-1, 6 KO’s) suffered his first defeat of his nine-year pro career to the younger and taller Giovanni Segura (25-1-1, 21 KO’s) last Saturday night in an 8th round TKO loss at the Coliseo Mario ‘Quijote’ Morales, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Calderon was stopped with a series of hard body shots in the 8th round. Calderon fought bravely for six rounds, but didn’t have the offensive firepower to match the power and the relentless pace that Segura set out in this fight.

Segura had figured out a way to beat Calderon’s excellent defensive ability by overloading him with constant pressure and nonstop punching. In a way, it was like watching a smaller version of Antonio Margarito with Segura’s relentless attack. The reason why Segura fights so much like Margarito is because they share a common trainer Javier Capetillo, who is the brainchild of the all out offensive style of Margarito and Segura. Capetillo no longer trains Margarito after Margarito was found to have a plaster like material on his hand wraps a year ago before his fight with Shane Mosley. However, Capetillo is still able to train fighters outside of the United States and Segura is one of his best pupils.

Calderon took a lot of punishment in the Segura fight, and although he might want to try and avenge his defeat and take on Segura in a rematch, he should think twice before doing so. I don’t think Calderon can beat a fighter like Segura. Calderon doesn’t have the size, the offensive talent, the work rate or the youth to beat a guy like him. I’m pretty sure they’re going to waive a lot of money under Calderon’s nose to try and get him to fight Segura again, because they’re already talking about the Calderon-Segura bout being a fight of the year candidate.

If Calderon needs the money badly, then he should go ahead and take the fight. But if he really thinks he has a chance of beating Segura in a rematch, then he needs to think again. Calderon doesn’t stand a chance against Segura. The guy is too good offensively, and his size and youth makes him too good for Calderon. What Calderon needs to do is move down in weight to the minimumweight division where Calderon held the WBO title from 2003 to 2007. Calderon would do well at that weight, because he wouldn’t be at a huge disadvantage in size like he was against the much bigger Segura last Saturday night.