ESPN Boxing

Friday chat wrap with boxing writer Dan Rafael

Quick, name a significant fight in the history of the cruiserweight division.

Perhaps if you strain, you'd come up with a few.

There's James Toney's title-winning brawl with Vassiliy Jirov in 2003. How about Evander Holyfield's epic 15-round decision over Dwight Muhammad Qawi to win his first world title in 1986? Maybe you'd even recall Holyfield's eighth-round knockout of Carlos De Leon in 1988 when Holyfield became the first (and still only) undisputed champ in the history of a division that was born in 1979 as a halfway house for small heavyweights and fat light heavyweights.

Three significant fights in 26 years is a pretty bleak track record for any division and perhaps one of the reasons that few care about the cruiserweights.

But there is a reason to care, at least this weekend. That's because champions Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite (21-0, 17 KOs) of Guyana and Jean-Marc Mormeck (30-2, 21 KOs) of France meet to unify titles Saturday night (Showtime, 11 ET/PT) at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.

"I think one of the problems [in the division] is that champions do not want to fight each other," said Braithwaite, who lives in Brooklyn. "Also, there is not a lot of money in the division. I am hoping that after this fight, the division will get a star and will generate a lot of excitement and a lot of money in the division."

Besides the sheer significance, the fight figures to be exciting to boot. Braithwaite, making his fourth defense, is a come-forward banger who has won 15 of his last 16 fights by knockout. Mormeck, also making his fourth defense, has won 27 consecutive fights, including a TKO of then-champ Virgil Hill and another win against Hill in a rematch last year.

Braithwaite understands that a fight like this can give him the springboard to the stardom he craves.

	“	I am the man in the division, and if I have to go through everybody to prove it, I will. This division needs a spark, and I am it. ”
		— Wayne Braithwaite

"I want to unify the belts. I am the man in the division, and if I have to go through everybody to prove it, I will. This division needs a spark, and I am it," he said.

Mormeck believes he will be the star to emerge: "I'm sure you'll see me again in the next unification. My goal is to be the unified champion. I want to fight the best so I can prove I belong with the sport's elite champions. Braithwaite is good, but I am better. I hope he has enjoyed his title and benefited from it because after our fight, it is going to be mine."

Although both fighters are polite sorts and respectful of each other, they can sling the barbs when prodded, especially because the wait to fight has been a long one. The bout has been delayed several times, most recently in October, when it was supposed to be on the Felix Trinidad-Ricardo Mayorga undercard until an injury to Mormeck forced another postponement.

Mormeck, through his translator, said of the fight: "The nickname of Wayne Braithwaite is 'Big Truck.' So maybe you will have a big truck in front of a train. When that happens, the train is going to go ahead and the truck is going to go behind."

Braithwaite, a southpaw, predicted he would be victorious in a terrific fight.

"Welcome to America, but I have bad news for you, Mormeck," he said. "You're not going home with your belt. I've been training since last year because we were supposed to fight Oct. 2. I trained in the [Florida] hurricanes. If hurricanes can't move me, Mormeck can't.

"I am going to make Mormeck's big head a punching bag. I guarantee that I will still be undefeated after the fight, but I am not going to box him. I am going to knock him out."

Prospect watch: Featherweight Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero, one of the sport's elite prospects, has the spotlight Friday night when he headlines on "ShoBox: The New Generation" (Showtime, 11 ET/PT). Guerrero (14-0-1, 7 KOs), promoted by Dan Goossen and now managed by Shelly Finkel, faces Adrian Valdez (16-3-3, 8 KOs) in a 12-rounder at the Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore, Calif.

Guerrero, who turned 22 last week, has shown an exciting style as his power has developed. He has scored six knockouts in his last seven fights, including stoppages against former champions Enrique Sanchez and Juan Polo Perez and solid veteran Cesar Figueroa. The only one that didn't end in a knockout was a technical draw in March 2004.

Valdez, who lost a tight decision to rising prospect Bernard Dunne last year, represents a stiff test for Guerrero.

"The fact that Valdez is a southpaw makes it more of a challenge to get up for, but it makes no difference to me. I am at the point where I want the tough fights so I can prove myself," said Guerrero, of Gilroy, Calif.

Also on the card is an eight-round heavyweight match: Malcolm Tann (14-1, 7 KOs) vs. Leroy Childs (11-0, 10 KOs).

Tua returns: Heavyweight contender David Tua, back in the ring after a two-year layoff, scored a TKO of Talmadge Griffis (22-6-3) with 26 seconds remaining in a 10-round fight in Auckland, New Zealand, on Thursday. Tua (43-3-1, 38 KOs) had not fought since a draw with Hasim Rahman in their March 2003 rematch. Tua has been embroiled in a lawsuit with former managers Kevin Barry and Martin Pugh. Tua-Griffis will be available on pay-per-view on a delayed basis in the United States beginning Saturday night ($19.95). Promoter Cedric Kushner said he'd like to arrange Tua's next bout within 90 days.

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.