by James Slater – This Friday, in Puerto in his native Colombia, former WBO light-welterweight champion Ricardo Torres returns to the ring. The 29-year-old is scheduled to fight a ten rounder up at welterweight, and it will be the former champ’s first fight since his exciting yet controversial one-round loss to Kendall Holt..
There is some confusion as to who Torres, 32-2(28) will face. According to ESPN’s schedule, Torres will face the 6-2-1(3) Derwin Medina of Venezuela, while BoxRec have Torres going up against the 16-2(15) Raul Pinzon of Colombia. Either way, and whichever of these two largely if not completely unknown fighters Torres winds up facing, it’s fair to say the bout is nothing much more than a rust-removing tune-up type of bout for the warrior from Barranquilla. It’s good to see him back.
Due to face Holt in a December 2008 rubber match, Torres had to pull out due to illness and “Rated R” fought and defeated Demetrius Hopkins instead. Indeed, quite a lot has happened on the 140-pound front while Torres has been away. Timothy Bradley went on to beat Holt in April of this year – very much making a name for himself as a top player in the division – and then Holt fell foul of the law and is now undergoing an intervention program due to his (small) part in a drug money laundering crime.
So who will Torres be gunning for once he gets his win on Friday? And will we ever get to see the third instalment of his rivalry with Holt?
At age 29 and after suffering only two pro defeats (one of which came, Torres insists, because of the head-butt Holt landed on him in that wild first round last July. The other, in yet another classic, against Miguel Cotto), Torres is definitely a fighter with plenty still to offer his sport. And though he fights up at 147 or thereabouts on Friday night, it’s likely “Mochuelo’s” days as a light-welterweight will resume once a big fight is offered to him at the weight. A fight with the unbeaten Bradley would be an interesting match-up, as would a clash with the phenomenon that is Manny Pacquiao.
Freddy Roach, in speaking to Ring magazine online, spoke about the possibility of his all-time great fighter taking an “interim” fight before he lands his next mega-fight, so as to keep him busy. Torres would maybe fit the bill perfectly. Or maybe the exciting Colombian WILL decide to fight as a welterweight from now on – heaven knows there is no shortage of big-money fights for him to pursue in that weight class.
Ten months has gone by since Torres lost in that astonishing one-round battle with Holt, and it has been too long. The fans have missed Torres but now at last he is back. Let’s hope he takes care of business on Friday, sheds some rust in doing so and then gets right back in the big fight mix at whichever weight he chooses to fight on at.
Torres is sure to feature in some more dramatic fights before he’s through, that’s for sure. And, let us not forget, many fans the world over still want to see how the sensational series with Holt winds up!