Possibilities: Nicholas Walters Just Another One As Top Rank Moves Into a New Year
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Possibilities: Nicholas Walters just another one as Top Rank moves into a New Year By Norm Frauenheim- Top Rank’s December agenda has been about finding new stars, resurrecting a couple of old ones and creating business possibilities in 2016, the beginning of what could be the post-Manny Pacquiao era. As of Thursday, the promotional company was still waiting to hear on whether Pacquiao will fight Terence Crawford or Timothy Bradley or some name we’ve yet to hear. The repeated postponements make you wonder whether the Filipino Congressman has some other running mate, — or alternate plan — in mind for what is believed to be his April farewell. But, as it must, the business moves forward, especially at a time when the changing-of-the-guard is moving at a rapid rate. There is heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko’s loss to Tyson Fury. There are continuing assurances from those close to Floyd Mayweather Jr. that he is happily retired and has no desire to come back. It’s a game looking to re-load. Over the last month, Top Rank has strung together – week after week, night after night– reasons to be optimistic about the New Year. First, there was unbeaten junior welterweight and 2012 Olympian Jose Ramirez in a gritty decision on Dec. 5. Then, there was lightweight Felix Verdejo, Puerto Rico’s heir apparent to Miguel Cotto, in a definitive second-round stoppage on Dec.11 on a San Juan card that included former Fighter of the Year Nonito Donaire in tough, yet back in the 122-pound title mix with a rugged decision. The following night in Tucson, two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez was back in his boyhood home with a dramatic third- round stoppage that stamped him as legitimate contender. The fourth item in Top Rank’s run-up to next year is now in the dangerous hands of Nicholas Walters, who like Donaire is trying to re-capture the momentum he had in October 2014 after a powerful stoppage that sent Donaire’s career spinning into recession. Walters’ task Saturday night in Verona, N.Y., on HBO After Dark (10:15 p.m./ET/PT) looms as the toughest against Jason Sosa at 130 pounds, four heavier than the featherweight mandatory he failed to make in relinquishing his title in June before beating Miguel Marriaga. Walters won a decision over Marriaga, but it was forgettable, so much so that he was too, despite an unbeaten record (26-0, 21 KOs). “Looking to fight the big fights,’’ Walters said Thursday during a conference call. He hopes for three or four of them in 2016, including perhaps one against Ukrainian prodigy Vasyl Lomachenko. First, however, there is Sosa (18-1-3, 14 KOs), a Camden, N.J., fighter who remains a relative unknown despite a run of 17-straight victories, including 13 successive stoppages, since 2012. Sosa, who had only three amateur fights and lost two of them, appears to be a late bloomer. His relative anonymity in terms of international rankings and network appearances is among his greatest assets. “Anytime you don’t know much about a fighter, that’s a dangerous fighter,’’ said Walters, a wise man. The buzz is about Sosa’s power. At 27, it looks as if he has learned how to use it in every lethal way. That, perhaps, helps explain why 13 of his 14 stoppages have come over the tail end of 17-fight run during the last four years. His promoter, Philadelphia Russell Peltz, believes that Walters has never felt a punch with the kind whack Sosa can deliver. Peltz also argues that Walters’ unbeaten record and world-class pedigree can be overrated. “There are undefeated fighters on every street corner and that means they haven’t fought anybody,’’ Peltz said. However, Walters, a smart and entertaining Jamaican, enters the ring Saturday understanding the stakes and determined to get fans talking about him again. He’s pursuing a big stoppage. “Knockout of the Year,’’ he says. Then, he says he can pursue opportunities at junior- lightweight (130) and featherweight (126). “It’s not like I was at 128, or 129 the last time,’’ Walters said. “I was at 127. I can make 126. There are a lot of possibilities at 130. In 2016, anything is possible.’’ More so, it seems, than in any recent year.