By Anthony George – Boxing fans should mark down March 2nd, 2024. Otabek Kholmatov takes on Raymond Ford for the vacant WBA featherweight championship. It is an intriguing matchup (preview and prediction coming soon) that is bound to get the historic juices flowing for diehard boxing fans. Boxing fans who do not want to kick anybody off their lawn. Although, even if you are one of those bitter folks about boxing today, a trip down the featherweight memory lane is bound to put a smile on that cantankerous demeanor.

The featherweight division, 126-pound limit, is chock full of historic names, fights, and water cooler debates.

In 2019, International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) members voted on the top 20 featherweights in boxing history. Names like Pep, Dixon, Armstrong, Saddler, Arguello, and Manny got the voters’ attention. For a look at the complete list, check out https://www.ibroresearch.com/

There will be plenty to chew on.

The history of the featherweight division is so rich in talent that you need not look any further if you want to build the perfect fantasy fighter. Boxing’s Colonel Steve Austin would consist of:

The footwork of Willie Pep

The jab of Salvador Sanchez, while we are it let’s take his stamina as well

The right cross of Alexis Arguello

The left hook of Barry McGuigan

The power of Sandy Saddler

The counterpunching of Juan Manuel Marquez

The two-fisted attack of Henry Armstrong

The defense of Shakur Stevenson

Add and replace as you see fit. Indeed, there is plenty to choose from. 

Then we have all the great fights in the history of the featherweight divisions. Brawls, chess matches, controversies, dirty tactics, overturned decisions, comebacks. The list is endless. 

When a fight like Otabek vs. Ford comes up, connecting the dots of the rich featherweight boxing history is compelling. Both fighters and matches.

For those of you who may feel it is foolish to connect today’s featherweight and those of ‘the good old days,’ I suggest you open your lens wider. As the onion peels deep. 

After all, if you are a true student of boxing history, no matter what era you turn to, there are a fair share of get off my lawn guys discriminating against the tremendously brave boxers risking their lives for our entertainment at that time.

To provide some evidence to support this claim. Let us look at today’s central talking point regarding how boxing has too many champions. ‘In my day, there was one champion!’ Really, you must be very old. The 1969 issue of Boxing Illustrated, where the great Jose Napoles is featured on the cover, suggests otherwise.

Looking at the rankings of that issue, it may surprise you that the featherweight division had two champions. Two! The WBA champion was Shozo Saijo, and the WBC Champion was Johnny Famechon.  

There was no unification showdown between Famechon and Saijo. To give the fans what they undoubtedly wanted. To have one champion.   

That August 1969 issue of Boxing Illustrated did cover a fight WBC champion Famechon had. His non-title bout against Jimmy Anderson was cited as a:

‘customary take-no-chance exhibition.’ In the piece, Famechon’s style was described as ‘a regular Houdini who could wriggle out of a sealed bag but could not punch his way out….because he lacks any semblance of aggression his style may not cause too much fever at the box office.’ 

A much more honest assessment of Famechon than some Old Man Card guys are bound to be spewing. Hyperbole such as ‘Famechon would beat Otabek and Ford in one night!’ Or something to that effect. 

By 1978, Alexis Arguello was already a featherweight champion. Stopping Ruben Olivares in a great fight in 1974. In 1978, Arguello added to his belt collection by defeating Alfredo Escalera in a bloody affair to capture the WBC Super Featherweight Title- wait, they had super weight classes then as well, one thing at a time!

In World Boxing magazine’s 1978 The Year in Review Issue, Alexis Arguello did not quite walk on water despite his impressive resume. In their At Ringside segment, World Boxing wrote this about The Explosive Thin Man:

‘Arguello-Leon was a yawner. Alexis’ last two fights hardly enhance his rep as an all-time great- or his chances of survival against Roberto Duran, should that fight take place.’ 

In case you were wondering, in 1978, Danny Lopez was the WBC Feather Champion and Eusebio Pedroza walked around as the WBA King. 

Fast forward to KO Magazine’s February 1986 issue. Boxing finally got itself straightened out; after all, the best always fought the best in the Golden 80s, and we had ourselves one featherweight champion. I am kidding, of course. The WBA champion was Barry McGuigan, and the WBC champion was Azumah Nelson. Also, still in its infancy, Ki-Yung Chang was the IBF featherweight champion in February of 1986. Although virtually nobody was acknowledging the IBF at that point. KO Magazine did not even list the IBF rankings. Sound familiar?

While there are not many disparaging comments about Barry or Azumah in this issue. The promise of having only one champion in every era but today is unequivocally false. In covering Azumah Nelson’s title defense Juvenal Ordenes, in Miami KO Magazine stated:

‘After welterweight kings Donald Curry and Milton McCrory unify the 147-pound crown later this year, Nelson and WBA featherweight titlist Barry McGuigan will be the subjects of the new unification talk. And what an explosion a Nelson-McGuigan battle would be. Don’t say you have nothing to look forward to.’

Nelson vs. McGuigan for all the marbles did not happen. Mainly because McGuigan lost to Steve Cruz in June of 1986 (Ring Magazine’s Fight of the Year). Nelson continued to defend his version of the featherweight title until August 1987. Never unifying at 126. Or at any weight where he held a title, for that matter. 

Another cool feature of KO Magazine was their Media Watch segment. This was a breakdown of television’s main events over a month. Boxing matches aired on networks such as Prism, HBO, ESPN, USA, MSG, ABC, NBC, and CBS would receive a letter grading based on significance, matchup, and result. 

Barry McGuigan’s first title defense of his featherweight title against Bernard Taylor was aired on ABC and covered by KO (although the British telecast for the fight was much more compelling). KO gave the bout an A for significance, an A- for the matchup, but only a C for the result. Taylor, handled by Ace Miller, was perceived as a solid boxer who failed in his first attempt at winning a title against Eusebio Pedroza in a 15-round draw.

Of course, Pedroza was the champion who McGuigan brilliantly dethroned to capture the title in 1985. The fact that Taylor could go 15 with Pedroza provided intrigue and respectability to the bout. 

Unfortunately, not only did Bernard Taylor have difficulty pronouncing McGuigan’s name, Bernard Taylor had trouble making the featherweight limit and Bernard Taylor was not able to answer the bell for the ninth round. A disappointing ending that left boxing fans craving for more. A showdown with Azumah Nelson was at the top of that wish list.

Like many boxing fans, KO Magazine felt that featherweight unification was inevitable.

It never happened.

KO Magazine’s use of the phrase: ‘Don’t say you have nothing to look forward to’ when dangling a Nelson-McGuigan bout is the cherry on top of my belief that boxing has always been perceived as a half-empty sport while in the moment. Any boxing fan my age, 52 or older, will sit you down and tell you that the period between 1985 and 1986 was a golden era in boxing. It would go something like this, ‘Unlike now, we had real champions, and everyone fought each other.’

And they would be right, for the most part. Still, the writers of one of the most prominent boxing magazines used the phrase ‘Don’t say you have nothing to look forward to.’ to address the complaints of the boxing community that were undoubtedly happening at the time. Nelson vs. McGuigan was used as an attempt at an adrenaline shot for a future in boxing that was perceived to be bleak. Nothing to look forward to. Of course, it was not true.

Having said that, Juvenal Ordenes and Barnard Taylor were Azumah Nelson and Barry McGuigan’s first title defenses at featherweight. Looking at these fights through a critical lens, neither Ordenes nor Taylor defeated any fighter of note to earn a title shot. Taylor fought to a draw with Pedroza in 1982 and did not beat a top ten contender after that. Ordenes is especially questionable; since 1983, he has fought five boxers with a losing record, with three fighters failing to record a win.

Since a fighter with such a resume in 1985 can come within one victory of becoming a champion, can we ease the breaks of the rhetoric of how much easier it is to win a title in boxing today? Just ease off a little?

Nevertheless, the main point that should be stressed is that back in 1986, boxing was just fine. And such a statement in hyping up a featherweight unification showdown was unwarranted.

Case in point. The highest-rated fight for KO Magazine in the February 1986 issue was an ESPN clash between Baby Joe Ruelaz and Tommy Cordova. It happened to be a NABF title fight in the, wait for it… featherweight division. I would bet my retirement fund that in 1986, most boxing fans did not care about or appreciate Ruelaz, Cordova, or the NABF featherweight championship. If you are wondering, KO Magazine reported that Ruelaz won a questionable majority decision.  

The more things change…

The hope is that the boxing community embraces Kholmotav vs. Ford, and it delivers. Joining the long list of classic featherweight battles this enthralling sport offers. Whether it is Pep vs Saddler, Ruelaz vs. Cordova, or Kholmatov vs. Ford, they are all 126-pounders who laced them up for our entertainment and deserve our respect. 

And that is not all. The IBF featherweight championship is on the line on that same card. Luis Alberto Lopez defends against Reiya Abe. Anticipation of a unification fight between the victors is bound to gain steam. Especially if both fights produce an A rating.

Let us hope that happens. If not, well, it would not be the first time.