The weekend's main action involves two major fights at WCOB's 108lbs division, containing both the strawweight and light flyweight divisions. And one thing is already certain: we will have a new number one in the WCup ranking.

Both fights take place on the same card, at the Aladdin in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Sydney Olympian Brian Viloria (#2, 1800 pts) makes the first defence of his WBC light flyweight belt against Jose Antonio Aguirre (#11, 490 pts). The Hawaiian punch won last year's 108lbs World Cup thanks to his first-round knock-out win over Eric Ortiz, which delivered him the WBC title. The undefeated Viloria, 18-0 with 12 KOs, had moved down from flyweight where he campaigned before.
Former WBC strawweight champ Aguirre had 2 fights last year, and on each occasion he found himself on the losing end: in March he was stopped by Eric Ortiz in round seven in a fight for the vacant WBC light flyweight crown, and five months later he suffered a fourth-round stoppage loss at the hand of WBA champ Roberto Vasquez. Currently Aguirre is 33-4-1 (20 KOs).

Also at the Aladdin, undefeated WBO strawweight titleholder Ivan Calderon (#3, 1600 pts) defends against Isaac Bustos (#35, 252 pts). The Puerto Rico fighter, 24-0/5, finished 2005 in tenth position with 459 points. His last fight came in December, when he outpointed Daniel Reyes over twelve rounds.
Bustos is actually a former WBC strawweight titleholder as well. The 24-7-3/13 Meixcan won the title in December 2004, as his opponent, 2004 World Cup winner Eagle Kyowa, got injured in his shoulder and the fight was halted (WTKO4). He went on to defend against Katsunari Takayama, who beat him on a unanimous points decision; this was in fact Bustos' only contest last year.

Current WCup leader at 108lbs is Thailand's Kaichon Sor Vorapin with 330 points. With this in mind, we can be certain of a new WCup leader after the two fights:

• If Aguirre can get past Viloria, he collects 1800 WCup points and becomes the new WCup leader at 108lbs, no matter what happens in the other contest.
• The same goes for a a Bustos win over Calderon: whatever the outcome of the other fight, the Mexican will take the lead with 1600 points.
• If both Viloria and Calderon retain their titles, Viloria scores 490 points, enough for the Hawaii boxer to top the ranking.

In the 108lbs total ranking, the winner of Viloria-Aguiirre is sure to up his number of total points to 2290, in fact 290 more than current leader Kyowa. The winner of Calderon-Bustos will complete the top-3 with 1852 points.

In the Las Vegas main event, Antonio Margarito (#5, 1400 pts) defens his WBO wwelterweight laurels against Manuel Gomez (#55, 150 pts). If Margarito, now 32-4-0/23 and seventh in last year's World Cup with 782 points, defeats Gomez, he enters the 147lbs WCup ranking in fourth spot with 150 points. However, if Gomez, 28-10-2 with 19 knockouts, comes out as the winner, he grabs 1400 points and becomes second, 600 points behind leader and WBC champ Carlos Manuel Baldomir.
In the welterweight total ranking, the winner improves his number of total points to 1550, good for rank 5. Baldomir heads this ranking as well, with 2460 points.

Over to Edinburgh, Scotland, where Alex Arthur (#6, 1000 pts) defends his European super featherweight title for the first time against Ricky Burns (#33, 292 pts at 135lbs). Arthur has 21 wins and only 1 loss on his record, with 17 KOs. He won the title in July of 2005 thanks to a wide unanimous points victory over Russian Boris Sinitsin. Earlier he had knocked out Craig Docherty in round nine, totalling 800 WCup points and seventh spot in the final ranking of 2005.
Burns, undefeated with 13 wins, 2 of which came inside the distance, finished last year's lightweight series with 385 WCup points out of 4 contests, sufficient for fifteenth spot.

Where the winner of this EBU titlefight ends up in the WCup ranking depends on the outcome of the main event in Cicero, IL, the day before.
Juan Carlos Ramirez (#30, 300 pts) faces Kevin Kelley (#8, 800 pts), currently 57-6-2 with 38 KOs. In his last outing, four-time world champ Kelley stopped Sandro Marcos in the fourth round in November of last year. In his turn, Marcos had defeated Johnny Tapia earlier that year (WKO2). Kelley finished the 2005 World Cup competition at rank 5 with 1150 points.
Ranchero Ramirez, of Mexico, is 37-8 with 16 knockouts. In 2005 The Mexican had to be content with three fivepointers, after he was stopped by Sydney Olympain Ricardo Juarez in the opening round in March.
If Burns causes an upset, he collects 1000 points and is sure of a temporary second spot in the super featherweight WCup ranking, 800 points behind leader Manny Pacquiao. If Ramirez beats The Flushing Flash, he collects 800 points and enters the ranking in second or third spot. If Kelley wins against Ramirez, he becomes second or third but with 300 points. Arthur can only get third with 292 points.
After both super featherweight encounters, the winner of Arthur vs. Burns will be fifth in the total ranking with 1292 points. The winner of Kelley-Ramirez will reach seventh spot as he will up his number of total points to 1100. Leader Manny Pacquiao stays well in control with 3400 total points.

In Los Mochis, Mexico, 2005 featherweight World Cup winner Humberto Soto (#3, 1600 pts) makes the first defense of his WBC Interim featherweight crown against Colombian Oscar Leon (#14, 490 pts) on Friday. The Mexican, who boosts a record of 38-5-2 with 22 knockouts, won the interim title as he scored a unanimous points decision over Ricardo Juarez in August of last year.
The challenger brings a record to the table of 27 wins, 4 losses with 18 KOs. Last year he scored 460 WCup points thanks to a third-round Ko win over Jairo Tagliaferro; he finished the year in ninth spot.
If Leon can get the better of Soto, he becomes the new WCup leader at 126lbs with 1600 points. Current leader is WBC titleholder Takashi Koshimoto with 900 points. If Soto comes out victorious, he scores 490 points, sufficient for a temporary runner-up spot in the WCup ranking.
And whoever wins this bout will top the featherweight total ranking with 2090 points, 90 points more than current leader and WBO titlist Scott Harrison.

On the undercard, unranked Francisco Paredes can grab second spot in the bantamweight WCup ranking. That is, if he wins against Heriberto Ruiz (#40, 236 pts). Current WCup leader is Martin Castillo with 480 points.

One day earlier, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (#3, 1600 pts) defends his WBC flyweight title against Mexico's Gilberto Keb Baas (#66, 86 pts) in Chainart, Thailand. The Thai fighter, currently 59-2 with 31 KOs, finished fourth in last year's 112lbs WCup ranking with 820 points.
If Wonjongkam prevails, he scores 86 points, good for third spot in the WCup ranking and 34 points behind leader and 2002 light flyweight World Cup winner Jorge Arce. He will also stay in third spot in the total ranking. However, if Keb Baas (26-12-1/15) manages to force the upset, he becomes the new WCup leader at flyweight with 1600 points and replaces Wonjongkam at rank 3 in the TR. Current TR leader is last year's World Cup winner Lorenzo Parra (2000 pts), the WBA titleholder.

CN