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[Salvy_Mic]

Well boys, it looks like the lightweight division will finally give welterweight a run for its money as the deepest division in boxing starting this June 28 when Manny Pacquiao moves up to face David Diaz for the WBC Lightweight strap. And that's just the beginning. 3 fights that will shape the immediate future of the lightweight division have been signed, and if you think about it, there's not a single fight that doesn't have intrigue all over it.

First off, Golden Boy announced that Joel Casamayor, the Ring/Lineal lightweight champion, is facing Juan Manuel Marquez, who's moving up from super featherweight, on September 13.

Second off, unified WBA/IBF/WBO champion Nate Campbell is facing his WBO mandatory Joan Guzman, who himself is also moving up from super featherweight. This fight is set probably for August.

Third off, former unified champion Juan Diaz is facing Michael Katsidis on September 6 in a fight that's really nothing more than a showcase of probably the two youngest and most exciting lightweights in the division, and a fight to see which one of them will move on to bigger fights with the veterans.

Arguably, Nate Campbell, Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz, David Diaz, and Michael Katsidis could be considered the top 5 lightweights in the division. Without a doubt, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Joan Guzman are the top 3 super featherweights in the world. Unwittingly, Don King, Bob Arum, and Oscar de la Hoya have created one of the greatest 8 man tournaments ever, because people will demand to see the winners of these 4 fights get in the ring with one another.

I'll give you my prospective picks for these fights:
Pacquiao via TKO 10
Campbell via TKO 11
Marquez via UD
Diaz via TKO 10

Guys, I can't wait for these fights. The pieces have fallen into place as well as you could possibly imagine them. If my projected winners are correct, then the next series of fights I want to see are Pacquiao/Marquez III for what would be the WBC/Ring/Lineal titles, and Campbell/Diaz II for the WBA/IBF/WBO titles. And hopefully, the winners of those fights will face each other by the middle of next year for all the marbles at lightweight.

There's one legitimate superstar and legend (Pacquiao), two borderline Hall of Famers who would definitely secure their place (Casamayor and Marquez), a grizzled veteran who could establish himself as a Hall of Famer (Campbell), an underdog who could make himself into an unlikely star (D. Diaz), and two youngsters who still have their whole careers ahead of them who would use these wins as the foundation for what could be all-time great careers (J. Diaz and Katsidis). It really doesn't get any better than this.

[Gurry]

i dun give katsidis a big change in that fight. And manny pacquiao is becoming like the legend killer now.. Good read

[lovebuzzkurt]

Your a great hype man, i know the paquio fight is on ppv but are the rest? and if not where can i catch them?

[Salvy_Mic]

Unfortunately, the Casamayor/Marquez fight is going to be on PPV on September 13th, however, Campbell/Guzman and Diaz/Katsidis are both going to be on September 6th if I heard correctly, on Showtime and HBO respectively. I know my hypothetical tournament probably won't come to fruition, but I have to believe that at least two of the winners will fight each other, especially if Juan Diaz and Nate Campbell win. Diaz has said he wants a rematch and wouldn't consider himself a champion unless he got his W against Campbell.

While I'm on about these fights, there are other lightweights that we shouldn't get about, especially one Jose Armando Santa Cruz. Late last year, he got robbed badly against Casamayor, so for a good majority of boxing people, Santa Cruz is seen as the true uncrowned lineal champion. He's got a title eliminator coming up in July against the Pacquiao/Diaz winner. Chances are, he won't get the winner unless Diaz wins, because everything I hear is that Pacquiao is talking about moving up after the Diaz fight to take on Ricky Hatton. Me, preferably, I would hope that Pacquiao is granted a chance to make an optional defense before Santa Cruz, and that he would use that to take on any of the other winners of the other 3 fights, especially against Marquez should he win.

At the same time, Amir Khan and Anthony Peterson are the two top prospects in the division and both, especially Khan, could figure into some major fights in the near future. Khan's already a ticket seller, as he's rapidly becoming one of Britain's biggest stars, and is beginning to gradually step up his competition on the way up. As for Peterson, he could get in with Kid Diamond soon, who is one of the better lightweights around but hasn't shown much lately and has a controversial win over Casamayor and a stunning loss to Campbell on his record.

[Gurry]

In the K-1 section, there tlakig about how there surprised nobody posts there given that mma fans shuld be interested in k-1, but i dun understand y nobody posts here, i mean im pretty sure weve all been boxing fans at one point or another. K-1 if diff in a sense that, i din even no what k-1 was, i knew kickboxing but only found out about k-1 a few years ago. I started wathcing UFC before i got involved seirously in boxing, but im pretty sure everyone on this forum has caught a cupla good prize fights in there time. I hope this forum picks up...