Topic of the Week: Lightweight Lightning

This Saturday night at 9 PM EST, Golden Boy Promotions is putting on a unique pay per view event billed as Lightweight Lightning. The card features four scraps in the 135 pound lightweight division, with the idea being that the winners will move on to face each other in the future.

Australia's Michael Katsidis pictured right, Photo © Tim Barry / timbarry.wetpaint.com

The concept is an interesting one, and we asked our writers to chime in with their opinions on the show.

**Check out Lee Payton's recap of the show: "Lightweight Lightning" A Hit!**

Lightweight Lightning Schedule

Julio Diaz vs Rolando Reyes - 10
Carlos Hernandez vs Vincente Escobedo - 10
Jesus Chavez vs Michael Katsidis - 10
Edwin Valero vs Antonio Pitalua - 12

1. Do you like the idea of it? "Yes, putting on several fights in the same division on the same card is great for building interest in future fights and comparing the fighters." - John Vaci "I love the idea of it. Some sort of legitimate way of ranking is what the sport needs. Tournaments do that. If they could have split these bouts over two Saturdays on HBO it would have been perfect." - Jeff Pryor "I think the Lightweight PPV is a great idea. As it turned out, there's a nice mix of more obscure fighters like Valero, Escobedo, and Pitalua, with guys who have been on HBO and Showtime a number of times like Chavez, Hernandez, and Katsidis. Even though the original mix with Casamayor and Barrios had more mainstays, it promises action, and it's still a solid card. It'll be interesting to see who impresses." - Michael Nelson "I love it. Boxing could use more tournaments. It would be a helluva lot easier for the average sports fan to follow the sport, that's for sure. My main gripe is these types of events tend to only involve one promoter, which limits the participation of some other top fighters." - Lee Payton "I'm a fan of the idea." - Andrew Fruman

2. Are you looking forward to any of the fights? "Seeing Edwin Valero against a solid, if not spectacular opponent should be interesting. Any fight with Michael Kastidis is typically worth watching, especially if Chavez still has some fight left in him. The other two fights aren't amazing match-ups but are fairly even on paper and should be decent." - John Vaci "Katsidis-Chavez looks to be the best bout; two fighters, fighting. Valero is always worth watching, and Pitalua should be a solid foe for him." - Jeff Pryor "I'm always interested in seeing Valero fight, although I think his opponent may be over-matched. Katsidis and Chavez makes for a fight with guaranteed action." - Michael Nelson "At first I was most looking forward to watching how Edwin Valero was going to handle the always tough Jorge Barrios, but now I just want to see some good fights. I am hoping that Jesus Chavez' body holds up against Michael Katsidis. If he's right, that could be a war." - Lee Payton "I'm looking forward to the Valero/Pitalua fight. If Chavez was a little younger, I'd be more excited for his fight with Katsidis, but I have a feeling he's not going to have enough left to really push the tough Australian." - Andrew Fruman

3. Is the show good value and are you thinking of buying it? "It's an ok deal. If the card were free I'd definitely watch it. Or if the original line-up of fighters was still intact I'd be tempted to buy it. It's so/so as a pay-per-view, but it's good by Golden Boy's standards of the past few years. I always like being able to sit back and know I've got 3-4 competitive fights to watch, which unfortunately doesn't happen often in boxing. It's a step in the right direction by Golden Boy who are maybe waking up to the fact that their cards and others need to offer a better value to fans in a bad economy." - John Vaci "At $40 you're paying $10 a piece for each fight. That's not so bad, but it hurts that Casamayor and Barrios dropped out. I'm not going to buy it. If one of these fighters where "One of my guys" I would though. As it is the card is worth about $20 for me." - Jeff Pryor "It has solid value. It's reminiscent of the Golden Boy PPV a few years back with Barrera-Juarez, Gonzales-Vasquez, and Guzman-Barrios. I doubt it'll be quite as good as that, but it should make for an entertaining night of boxing. The only reason I may not be watching is because the competing Showtime card with Holt-Bradley interests me more." - Michael Nelson "I won't be buying this one. $30 would have been perfect for the original line-up. $40 for what we're left with is just too much. It would be a great card to see live though." - Lee Payton "While I really like the concept of the event, I think the price tag has been set a little too high. For $20, I'd say it's a definite purchase, but for $40, I'm not sure." - Andrew Fruman