Ivan Calderon
On December
10, 2004, Calderon retained the title again, this time with a twelve-round
unanimous decision over former world champion Daniel Reyes. Calderon
began 2006 by defending his title successfully on February 18, with
a twelve round unanimous decision over Isaac Bustos in Las Vegas.
He would defend his title successfully twice in 2006 after his fight
with Isaac Bustos. On April 29 against Miguel Tellez winning the fight
by technical knockout thus gaining his sixth knockout victory. He
finished his boxing year on October 21 by defeating Jose Luis Varela
of Venezuela by unanimous decision. Following this fight the World
Boxing Organization recognized him as a WBO Super Champion for reaching
ten successful title defenses. On his first fight of 2007 that took
place on March 28 in Baranquilla, Colombia Calderon defeated Ronald
Barrera by split decision. Following his fight against Barrera Calderon
announced that he was interested in changing weight and challenge
one of the champions in the light flyweight division thus finishing
minimum weight run after twelve successful defenses of the division’s
title.
During this timeframe, Freddie Roach selected Calderon
as a sparring partner for Oscar De La Hoya. The reason for this was
that the trainer was seeking a fast adversary. On November 16, 2008,
Roach rememorated the event in his blog for The Ring, stating that
“Calderon slapped Oscar around like it was unbelievable. The trainer
also noted that he asked De La Hoya to pursue the offense, but the
boxer’s attempts were unsuccessful. In response, Calderon expressed
that he participated in “three or four rounds” of sparring, during
which he “gave him problems” and “made him uncomfortable”, while De
La Hoya “tried to hit” but seemed “out of timing”. Similarly, Calderon
competed against Shane Mosley in a four round sparring match. The
session was in preparation, serving as training for the first of a
series of fights against Hugo Cazares. During the actual contest,
Mosley had problems landing punches due to his adversary’s speed.
While Calderon recognized that his opponent’s weight made the practice
feel like a complete workout. Subsequently, Mosley expressed that
“Ivan uses the angles very well and sparring against someone that
moves so much is fun.” Calderon noted that competing against a heavier
boxer helped him adjust to the pressure that could be presented by
Cazares.
Light flyweight division
On August 25, 2007, Calderon
defeated Hugo Cazares by split decision to become the WBO and Lineal
Light Flyweight Champion. Calderon entered the ring accompanied by
a display of fireworks, before a crowd that featured several media
personalities, including Oscar De La Hoya. The size difference between
both pugilists was evident since the moment that they stood next to
each other prior to the beginning of the fight. Early in the fight
Calderon’s tactic consisted of connecting fast consecutive combinations
while avoiding Cazares’ punches. With this strategy he managed to
stun Cazares with uppercuts and straight punches. During the fight
the crowd displayed support for Calderon, at one point chanting “Ole”
when his adversary’s punches missed.
