By James Slater: It proves tough for one-time elite fighters to call it quits these days. We’ve all grown accustomed to seeing 40-something ex-champions soldiering on after short, or even long, layoffs – and two well known stars (or near stars) of the light-welter and welterweight divisions are set to engage in further battle soon.
On April 14th in his native Argentina, former welterweight king Carlos Baldomir will face unbeaten but largely untested Argentine Billi Facundo Godoy in a ten-rounder up at middleweight. “Tata,” currently 48-13-6(14) is now aged 40 and he hasn’t had a major fight since his 6th-round stoppage loss to new star “Canelo” Alvarez in September of 2010. Baldomir, who once defeated excellent fighters such as Zab Judah and the late Arturo Gatti, has picked up three low-key points wins since being stopped (for only the second time in his career) by Alvarez.
We don’t know how much Baldomir has to offer whilst fighting so far above his natural weight, but we also have no real idea how good 25-year-old Godoy is. At 24-0(13) “The Kid” has a nice-looking record, but many of Godoy’s wins have come against relative no-names in his homeland. Even a 40-year Baldomir will represent the young hope’s biggest test yet. Hard to pick a winner from this one.
Then, on April 26th, another ex-champ, this one from Colombia, will make a ring return of his own. “Iron Twin” Juan Urango, far more inactive than Baldomir, will face Mexican journeyman Cristian Chavez in Mexico over a scheduled ten-rounds at or around the welterweight limit. Still relatively young at age 31, southpaw Urango should win his comeback fight. 27-year-old Chavez has a modest record at 23-18(11) and he has been halted no less than 13 times.
Urango, who once battled the likes of Ricky Hatton, Andre Berto and who holds a win over Randall Bailey, last fought in March of 2010; when he was stopped in the 8th by Devon Alexander. Like Baldomir, we have no idea how much Urango, 22-3-1(17) has left but, unless he really has gone back, the Colombian should be able to pound out a relatively quick stoppage win at the end of the month.
But even if Urango and Baldomir both win, how much further can either guy possibly go today? Two proud ex-champs, unable to quit the sport they love.