Next year for Joshua will start with the Klitschko bout in April. After that he will have to fight a mandatory, likely Pulev?
Fights we should see
The Mandatory Contenders James DeGale vs. Callum Smith Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Mikey Garcia vs. Jorge Linares Callum Smith is scheduled to fight the winner of the big unification fight between Badou Jack and James DeGale. Smith is an explosive talent with great power but DeGale may have a bit too much know-how. If DeGale puts himself up against the ropes and trusting his defense against the power of Smith, he is taking a huge risk. Brook enjoyed being at a heavier weight and as such this could be his last welterweight bout. Spence is lightning fast and has great reflexes. Could be the crowning of a new king? If Mikey Garcia can defeat Zlaticanin then a big showdown with champion in recess Jorge Linares lines itself up. Garcia will have to hope he has carried his power up through the weights.
Battles for Divisional Supremacy Jermall Charlo vs. Demetrius Andrade Oscar Valdez vs. Joseph Diaz Jr. Jamie McDonnell vs. Lee Haskins The men in these bouts are clashing to further their stake as the best in their divisions. Demetrius Andrade is the best light middle without a belt and ranked highly in the WBA, WBC and WBO. He has spoke before about clashing the Charlo Brothers and Canelo. Assuming he cannot get the Canelo fight then the Jermall Charlo makes sense for both to try and establish their names. Valdez and Diaz have history from the amateur days and both are young upcoming featherweights. Diaz is highly ranked in the WBO, the belt that Valdez holds. This would be fireworks. Haskins and McDonnell are two British boxers who both hold Bantamweight titles. The pair have mentioned this clash for a while and it would surely improve both their popularity.
Superstars Clash Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez Terence Crawford vs. Manny Pacquaio Vasyl Lomachenko v Yuriorkis Gamboa Roman Gonzalez vs. Naoya Inoue These are four of the biggest fights we could hope to see. Canelo will move up to middleweight towards the middle of 2017 and if this fight is not fought it will have been announced. Crawford taking on Pacquaio may be the best way for Arum to create a star. The switch hitting Omaha native will surely be too much for Pacman. Lomachenko has also been mentioned in connection with the Pacquaio bout, but he does not need it. He is a star in his own right and Gamboa is a worthy foe having similar amateur credentials. Gonzalez and Inoue are both top ten in pound-for-pound lists and absolutely explosive. They currently hold belts in the same weight and this would be a contender for fight of the year.
Fights we will not see
Negotiations are difficult Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward 2 Terry Flanagan vs. Anthony Crolla Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook Jalen Rose (NBA player) explained in his autobiography he could tell when a trade was going to happen as the local press would put feelers out. Andre Ward and his team have already been pushing away from the likelihood of a Kovalev rematch, suggesting negotiations will be hard. Hearn holds all the cards in the Crolla vs. Flanagan bouts and probably should not. This means the fight negotiations go nowhere. A similar scenario occurs with Khan and Brook, Khan believes he is the man with power, Brook has done enough in his career now that he can call the shots more than Khan will allow.
Negotiations will not start Anthony Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder Lee Selby vs. Josh Warrington Next year for Joshua will start with the Klitschko bout in April. After that he will have to fight a mandatory, likely Pulev. If he has three fights next year the final rival will either be a big domestic clash or maybe Parker. Selby also has a chance of much bigger domestic clashes than Warrington. Warrington to me is not much more than a domestic level fighter and Selby will aim higher
Domestic fights we should see
Prospect vs. Established Boxer Liam Smith vs. Liam Williams Frank Buglioni vs. Anthony Yarde Liam Williams is highly rated having won the Boxing Writers Young Boxer award while Liam Smith is coming off a world title loss to Canelo Alvarez. It is the level Williams wants to get to and the Smith fight is a good way to get there. Yarde is hugely hyped and Buglioni is the British title holder in his weight. What could stop this is Buglioni has left Frank Warren. It would be an intriguing clash and if Yarde could get a win then it would only increase the hype.
Prospects Clash Josh Taylor vs. Ohara Davies These two have clashed on Twitter lately. Davies has the Hearn machine behind him and Taylor thinks this has led to an overhyping of his opponent. Both are unbeaten and a win here could be a step to bigger things. It could be a difficult one at the negotiation table.
Big Domestic Clashes David Price vs. Dillian Whyte Sam Eggington vs. Bradley Skeete Dillian Whyte is busy clearing out the British heavyweight division. Price is next on his list and it?s a good bout. Whyte will not have the reach advantage here and is not a big puncher. Eggington and Skeete have thought before with Skeete coming out on top. Eggington has since beat Skeete conqueror, Frankie Gavin. A rematch would be big business and probably as intriguing as any bout on here. Follow us on Twitter@boxing_com to continue the discussion
