Last weekend saw two underdogs overcome pound-for-pound rated opposition to shock and surprise viewers and commentators, and upset the natural order of odds-making and star grooming. Except, in 2011, it seems that plucky underdogs upsetting stars––and stars in the making––is the natural order of the sport.

Despite the accusations of “home cooking,” Washington D.C’s Lamont Peterson turned in the best performance of his career to take two alphabet titles from Bolton, UK’s Amir Khan. On the same night, in a different hemisphere, “Hawaiian Punch” Brian Viloria knocked out the rangy Giovanni Segura in the Philippines to continue a remarkable career rejuvenation.

Both Viloria and Peterson seemed to be destined to act as stepping-stones for elite fighters. There are several fighters like this in today’s boxing landscape, talented slicksters like Paulie Malignaggi, and Carlos Quintana and rugged pugs like Glen Johnson and Edison Miranda. These men act as the test that elite fighters need to pass in order to be considered elite. Call them lie detectors, when you need to prove that your prospect is the truth, put him in there with a Demarcus Corley, or a Juan Urango, if he loses, he was overrated.