Top Rank on ESPN returns this week with a special Friday night timeslot. Ray Beltran will make his fourth attempt at a world title in the main event when he meets former secondary titleholder Paulus Moses for the vacant WBO lightweight tbelt. Entertaining Lithuanian prospect Egidijus Kavaliauskas will take a nice step up against David Avanesyan in the co-main event as well.
Raymundo Beltran (34-7-1, 21 KOs) has had a colorful professional career. He turned professional in 1999 at age 17 with no real promotional backing or expectations. At the time, Ray Beltran was just another kid on the regional fight circuit. His early results did little to dispel that notion either. He lost a four round split decision in his third fight and was stopped in his seventh.
Beltran’s first big break in boxing came in 2004, but it wasn’t in a prize fight. Instead, it was in training. That was the year he became Manny Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner. While it took years to come to fruition, that year laid the foundation for his career as we know it today. Beltran would spend a decade in that role. His personal in ring career still didn’t really gain any notoriety at all until seven years later, however, when the Mexican born fighter was used as an opponent for rising prospect Sharif Bogere on ShoBox in 2011. Ray seemed to win that fight, but the judges didn’t agree.
While Beltran couldn’t capitalize on the momentum of the positive televised performance, losing again only two fights later, the combination of the two fights turned out to be a blessing. Beltran was deemed good enough, but not too threatening to meet once beaten Top Rank prospect Henry “Hank” Lundy on Friday Night Fights in 2012. Ray Beltran rose to the occasion that night, earning a tough fought majority decision win in a razor close fight. Suddenly, thirteen years into his professional career, Ray Beltran was a real player.
Three fights and one year later, now under the Top Rank banner that had been promoting his legendary employer Manny Pacquiao for years at this point, Ray Beltran got his first chance at a world title. He had to travel to the UK to meet Scottish titleholder Ricky Burns, but that didn’t stop him from putting on a career best performance. Ray Beltran battered Burns that night, breaking his jaw in the process. Unfortunately, much like in the Bogere fight, Beltran was once again robbed of a major win by inept judging.
Since then the Top Rank lightweight has had two more title shots. First was a hopeless task against Terence Crawford, arguably the best fighter in the sport. Next was a much more winnable opportunity, however, against lightly regarded Japanese fighter Takahiro Ao. Indeed, it only took two rounds to flatten his opponent, but the title still did not come. This time Ray Beltran had no one else to blame either. First, he missed weight. This not only made him ineligible to win the title, but he later failed a drug test for the fight as well.
Still, despite being a thrice failed title hopeful, Top Rank really began pushing Beltran hard at the end of 2016. His last three fights were featured on HBO and then ESPN when the promotional giant ended their relationship with the premium cable network. Two of those fights, stoppages of Jonathan Maicelo and Mason Menard, were nice stoppage wins. Beltran struggled a bit last time out against tricky Bryan Vasquez, but he still earned the win in August.
39 year old Paulus Moses (40-3, 25 KOs) hasn’t had the same level of a career, but he still has already accomplished what Beltran is so hungry to achieve. He is called a former world titleholder. After starting 23-0 with most of those fights coming in his native underrated boxing country of Namibia, Moses traveled to Japan in 2009 to lift the WBA belt off of Yusuke Kobori. Unfortunately, it was one of those secondary WBA belts pawned off as a world title. Nate Campbell held the sanctioning body’s “Super” world title at the time. The higher title illegitimizes his reign.
After being stopped and losing that secondary title in 2012 to Miguel Acosta, Paulus “The Hitman” Moses received one more shot at glory in 2016. Much like Ray Beltran would do the following year, the Namibian traveled to Scotland to meet Ricky Burns. Paulus wouldn’t find the same success, however, and he was soundly outboxed. Paulus Moses is 12-1 since that night, but he hasn’t faced top competition. The loss was to South African Malcom Klassen, a good fighter but a man well below the world title level.
On paper, this is more or less a made to be a lay up for Ray Beltran to finally get his world title at 36 years old. Yet, the Mexican contender has seemed to win two fights that would have netted him a belt previously and he is still without a belt on his resume. Beltran’s career has been eventful, but odd. That will likely change tonight, but then again it was likely to change when he outworked Ricky Burns or stopped Takahiro Ao too and it didn’t. Paulus Moses isn’t world class, exactly, but he is an experience and competent fighter. If that isn’t enough, Ray also may need the judges to see his fight correctly and then get out of his own way when it comes to the drug testing. I suspect Friday night is the night the star’s line up for Ray Beltran, but you can’t help but wonder given his somewhat strange history.
Of note, ESPN is sure to play up Beltran’s immigration status as a human interest piece during the broadcast. He is in the process of trying to become a US citizen and winning the world title will somehow help that. How, exactly, I am not sure, but I am sure they will tell us repeatedly. I wish Ray Beltran well in life, but I will avoid politics here beyond that.
The show’s co-main event features entertaining brawler Egidijus Kavaliauskas (18-0, 15 KOs) of Lithuania taking a real step up against Russian former secondary titleholder David Avanesyan (23-2-1, 11 KOs). Kavaliauskas isn’t just an fan friendly, come forward action fighter either. He also holds the best nickname in boxing. “The Mean Machine” will be well tested Friday night, however. While Avanesyan’s win over an aged Shane Mosley can be largely disregarded, he acquitted himself quite well in his loss to Lamont Peterson one year ago. This is a true step up for The Mean Machine as the Lithuanian has not previously fought on this level. In truth, this contest will probably turn out to be a more interesting fight than the main event.
The show begins at 9 PM on ESPN on Friday. If you care for more boxing than that, the WatchESPN.com broadcast begins two hours earlier at 7. Heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings as well as elite Olympic prospects Robson Conceicao and Shakur Stevenson will be in action and worth a watch, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Arum doesn’t sneak 2016 American silver medalist Shakur Stevenson onto the main card. Conceicao won gold for Brazil in 2016 at home in Rio.
