If McWilliams Arroyo was robbed against Ruenrong, then in a way, Chocolatito has already cleaned out the division. He has beaten Estrada and Viloria. I hope he goes up to 115 to face Inoue. The Ruenrong fight would be dull anyway, and the Thai fighter is pretty good at lateral movement. Therefore, he will likely run for the hills against Gonzalez. Who else is there at 112? Zou Shiming? No way Arum let's that fight happen, until he has milked every penny from the over-hyped Chinese amateur star. We missed out on the first 2 1/2 divisions of Chocolatito's career, so we may only have 12 or so fights left to enjoy. Let's make it memorable.
Speaking of memorable, I am glad Amir Khan is getting credit for taking the fight against Canelo, and for doing well until the brutal KO we all predicted actually occurred. However, I also remember many of the same people who are crediting Khan, being the ones who blasted Adrien Broner for losing to Marcos Maidana. At the time, Broner had moved up from 135 to 147 only months earlier, and had never taken on anyone at welterweight with power. He also got up twice, and made the fight somewhat competitive. I understand Khan is a lot more likeable than Broner, but appreciating accomplishment should be done with non-hypocritical integrity.
Speaking of integrity, the WBC needs to investigate every single judge that works a Canelo fight. It seems in every fight, he is given at least two rounds he did not earn. Trout, Lara, Mayweather, Cotto, and now Khan. In every fight, the right man still managed to get the decision (or have it rendered unimportant), so the outcry has been small. However, given this trend, and the WBC's history of favoritism involving Mexican fighters, it is only a matter of time until a highway robbery occurs. Let's hope it is not against GGG, but I can already see that coming. If it is remotely close, expect a screw-job decision. There is too much money in a rematch.
Speaking of officials and Canelo, it is not simply the judges we should be worried about. Referees have a tendency to stop fights at odd times in favor of the Mexican star. Alfonso Gomez, Ryan Rhodes, Kermit Cintron, Alfredo Angulo, and Josesito Lopez all had referees choose to wave it off at a time when they were on their feet, fighting back. Once again, in every case, Canelo was dominant, and would have won anyway, but it is a potentially worrisome trend that the officials are so consistently in one fighter's pocket.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com