Sure, it?s a little unusual to send Santa Claus a list requesting that specific people punch each other in the face.
But the jolly heavyweight has a much better track record of delivering what we want than Floyd Mayweather Jr., Al Haymon and Bob Arum. So it can?t hurt to seek his help with this list of the five fights we want for Christmas.
1. Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao. Despite ongoing, secretive discussions, boxing?s two biggest stars are much more likely to face other opponents in the spring. But Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) turned 36 last week and Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) will turn 38 in two months. With both fighters already past their physical primes, the biggest boxing match that can be made needs to occur before even more fatigued fans lose interest in it.
2. Sergey Kovalev-Adonis Stevenson. These hard-hitting light heavyweight champions don?t like each other and this grudge match would be fun to watch for however long it lasts. The WBC has ordered Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs) to face the winner of a March 14 bout in Montreal between Russia?s Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) and Quebec?s Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs, 1 NC). Unless Pascal upsets Kovalev, the only way Kovalev-Stevenson doesn?t happen is if Stevenson continues avoiding it.
3. Gennady Golovkin-Andre Ward. Golovkin?s greatness cannot truly be measured until he faces an elite opponent. The knockout artist from Kazakhstan would need to move up from 160 to 168 pounds to fight Ward (27-0, 14 KOs), who hasn?t boxed in 13 months. It is getting boring, however, watching Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) demolish overmatched middleweights three or four times per year.
4. Marcos Maidana-Lucas Matthysse. It?d be very interesting to see whose chin could withstand such devastating power if these two heavy-handed Argentines fought. Maidana (31-5, 31 KOs) and Matthysse (36-3, 34 KOs, 1 NC) compete in different divisions, but basically are the same age and same height, and have the same promoter. Fighting seven pounds apart shouldn?t prevent this slugfest from being made.
5. Danny Garcia-Ruslan Provodnikov. Philadelphia?s Garcia (29-0, 17 KOs) needs to get back to challenging himself. What better way to do that than defend his junior welterweight titles against a rugged Russian with whom he could produce an all-action brawl fans would love? Provodnikov (24-3, 17 KOs) has a great chin. How would he handle Garcia?s dangerous left hook?
