by James Slater – Former super-featherweight and lightweight ruler Joel Casamayor all but vanished after his September 2008 TKO loss to Juan Manuel Marquez. Due to his age, many felt we had perhaps seen the last of the Cuban southpaw. However, according to BoxRec, the skilled 38-year-old will make his return to the ring next month, on the same card as the scheduled battle between Zab Judah and Ramon Montano, to be held at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas on November 6th..
So far, no opponent has been named for the man known as “El Cepillo,” but the Cuban defector’s ten-round fight is to take place at 135-pounds. Whoever he winds up facing in what will be his first fight in almost fourteen months, it will be good to see the talented boxer back in action. Currently 36-4-1(22), Casamayor may be pretty long in the tooth, but if he hasn’t become a badly faded force, the crafty and hard-hitting lefty could figure in a few more big fights yet.
In a pro career that began back in September of 1996, Casamayor has been stopped just once, by Marquez. But even against “Dinamita,” the fight was close on the cards before the Mexican warrior caught up with the Cuban and TKO’d him in the 11th. Could Casamayor be hoping for a return fight with Marquez now that the 36-year-old’s short lived career as a welterweight is over with?
Another rematch that could come off is Casamayor-Michael Katsidis II. The fight between the Australian slugger and the Cuban stylist, which took place in March of last year, was a fight of the year candidate. We could surely all stand seeing a return of that multi-knockdown, great action fight. Maybe Casamayor, after having got himself one or two rust-removing comeback wins, will see what has happened with the WBO lightweight title. Katsidis has just won the interim version of the belt, and he will either fight Marquez to decide who the real champion is (if Marquez takes the fight) or the exciting Australian will be elevated to full champion anyway. Casamayor would surely feel he could beat Katsidis a second time, while “The Great” has said a few times how he would love a chance to get revenge.
So there are at the very least a couple of possibilities for former two-time world champion Casamayor, if he can still fight as well as he once could or close to it. In his prime, the southpaw who lives in Florida, warred with the late, great Diego Corrales (three times), Jose Luis Castillo, Acelino Freitas and Nate Campbell. Now coming back to the ring, it is perhaps asking too much of Casamayor to provide more thrills of that quality.
All the same, his return will be interesting to see.