In Case You Missed 'Em (And Many Probably Did...)

Photo Credit: TopRank.com

A fight-of-the-year candidate between two lightweight warriors in the main event. A top bantamweight showing off his talent on the undercard. All on an independent pay-per-view that likely received far less attention once its original main event attraction, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., dropped off the card.

And on the same night, a popular but relatively untested welterweight/junior middleweight prospect performed under his own spotlight. Except that spotlight was limited to HBO Latino – not quite the same as "World Championship Boxing" or "Boxing After Dark."

And so the battle between Humberto Soto and Urbano Antillon likely went unseen by the many who did not order Top Rank's pay-per-view this past Saturday. The same could be said for Nonito Donaire's beatdown of Wladimir Sidorenko.

Ditto Saul Alvarez's unanimous decision win over Lovemore N'Dou, which aired after midnight on HBO Latino.

Here are the writers on those fighters.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com recapped Soto-Antillon:

It took all the way until virtually the last notable fight of the year, but it looks as though we have an honest-to-goodness leader in the fight of the year sweepstakes. Soto and Antillon turned in a brutal, back-and-forth slugfest that was a raging, competitive battle from the first bell to the last.

And...

Antillon's best chance to win was to make it an all-out brawl against Soto, a quicker and better boxer. Soto can mix it up, so when Antillon did drag him into a toe-to-toe battle, he had answers. By the third round, the fight had blown up into a true slugfest, as both men scored repeatedly.

And...

There were numerous heated exchanges in which both fighters landed hard shots, but neither backed down. In the end, it was a great fight with Soto getting the tight but deserved decision based on the point deduction. It was the fitting finale to what turned out to be a highly-entertaining Top Rank pay-per-view card from top to bottom.

Doug Fischer of RingTV.com had this on Donaire-Sidorenko:

Simply put, Donaire was too fast, too big, too strong and too powerful for the game but over-matched Ukrainian fighter.

He repeatedly rocked Sidorenko with left hooks and lead right hands in the opening round before putting the tough former beltholder down with a left uppercut-right cross combination just before the bell.

And...

It was arguably Donaire’s best performance since he scored THE RING’s KO and Upset of the Year by knocking then-undefeated Vic Darchinyan cold in 2007. The 28-year-old boxer-puncher says the Sidorenko fight is definitely his best showing.

“The Darchinyan fight was one punch,” he said. “This was by far my best performance.”

Meanwhile, Bart Barry of 15rounds.com wasn't quite effusive in crowning Saul Alvarez as the next big thing:

That old saw about nothing attracting a crowd like a crowd perfectly captures the reflexivity that feeds the hype machine and so, too, aptly captures Alvarez’s celebrity. Fight aficionados, of course, want an organic star, someone who learns his craft in obscurity before emerging properly seasoned, preferably in an upset – someone like Michael Medina, Dmitry Pirog or Sergio Martinez. Promoters, and the casual fans they hope to feed, want something else entirely.

They want someone who’s equipped for immediate stardom if not pugilistic excellence. Someone like, say, Alvarez.

And...

Alvarez showed characteristics of a young fighter accustomed to blowing through overmatched opponents. He threw lead hooks and paused after they landed, expecting N’dou to be felled instantly.

Perhaps Alvarez will become Mexico’s next legend. Right now, though, his celebrity feels wholly manufactured.

We now move on from a weekend in which much went unseen to a weekend where there might be too much to see. Saturday offers Wladimir Klitschko defending his heavyweight championship against Dereck Chisora on ESPN3.com, the bantamweight tournament doubleheader on Showtime, and Amir Khan facing 140-pound challenger Marcos Maidana on HBO.