Can 'Kid Blast' Rances Barthelemy Launch Himself to the Top at 140 Pounds?

Some weight classes in boxing have a gravitational pull that seems to suck fighters up to meet their many challenges. Heavyweight has always been one, pulling names away from cruiserweight and light heavyweight in every era. Billy Conn, Bob Foster, Michael Spinks, Evander Holyfield and Roy Jones all succumbed to its siren call.

Today, of course, the heavyweight division is in shambles, no longer the class that dominates the sport at the box office. The sweet spot today is welterweight and junior welterweight, where names like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao attract fighters like flies to honey.

So it is we find Rances Barthelemy (22-0, 13 KOs, 1 NC) trying his hand at 140 pounds against veteran Antonio DeMarco (31-4-1, 23 KOs) on Sunday afternoon's CBS boxing showcase. A former champion at 130 pounds, Barthelemy will test the waters against a proven veteran, looking to put his name in the mix for a big fight.

Date	Sunday, June 21
Network	CBS (4 p.m. ET)
Location	MGM Grand (Las Vegas)
Undercard	Wale Omotoso vs. Sammy Vasquez

Barthelemy is a former world champion, a fact you very well could have missed. He won his super featherweight title 10 months ago in a rematch against Argenis Mendez in a lightly attended affair in Miami and promptly gave the belt up after making just a single defense.

Skipping a desperately shallow lightweight division, he appears now at 140 pounds looking to make an impact at the foothills of the welterweight division. Barthelemy is well-built for this mission; he's exceptionally tall for these weight classes at 5'11" and has well-honed skills stemming from his long education in the Cuban amateur system.

"I don't do predictions, but this is going to be an entertaining fight," Barthelemy told the press before the bout. "Unlike past Cuban fighters, I have power and can knock people out. In the amateurs, you don't need power. But in the pros, that's what it's all about."

DeMarco is no tomato can, though; he's a veteran fighter with impressive wins over the likes of John Molina Jr., Jorge Linares and Kid Diamond. DeMarco is not here to lie down by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he's in there to try to provide resistance to Barthelemy's technical style. This is the rare bout where promoters are actively trying to test their prospect. By the end of Sunday, the boxing world will know whether or not Barthelemy has what it takes to make it.

"I am treating it like another fight, but of course it is much more," DeMarco told the media. "Exposure-wise, you can't get better than network television."

Barthelemy is an active fighter who throws a lot of leather every round. But he's also been hit and even outworked. DeMarco will be the largest fighter he's faced, and the veteran has managed to push men like Jorge Linares and Edwin Valero during exchanges.

Just as importantly for Barthelemy's management, DeMarco ultimately lost most of his biggest battles.

This is a real "prove it" fight that should turn into a tough back-and-forth affair. Look for Barthelemy to announce his presence at 140 not with a blast but with a whimper. He has enough to get by the old warrior—but not to look good doing so.

Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report.