It?s the festive season, and thoughts turn not only backward, to a bumper year for our sport, but also forward to 2009 and all that it can bring. There?s much to be thankful for and more to get the juices rolling with the likes of the Klitschko?s, David Haye, Joe Calzaghe (possibly), Kelly Pavlik, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Paul Williams, Floyd Mayweather, JR.,(perhaps), Antonio Margarito and Vic Darchinyan and others all set to rock our boats in the coming year.
That said, it ain?t all rosy, and here?s a wish list, in no particular order, of things that can only get better.
Superfights ? Real Not Imaginary
2008 has seen some so-called Superfights not worthy of the name; fights that got the name simply because they featured some ?names.? I?m thinking Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins; Hopkins-Pavlik; Calzaghe-Roy Jones, JR., Oscar De La Hoya-Pacquiao. These weren?t Superfights folks ? they were commercially motivated circus shows designed to transfer hard-earned dollars out of the pockets of the many and into the pockets of big-name-over-the-hill-ego-centric-won?t-go-away-ex-stars of professional boxing. Let them stop. In 2009 let?s see Pacquiao-Hatton; Mayweather-Hatton/Pacquiao/Margarito; Calzaghe-Chad Dawson; Marquez-Pacquiao ?and any number of great fights ? not super ? but great.
Old-Timers Out, Newcomers In
Come on, we?ve had enough! Let the youngsters breathe the air. 40 is not the new 30, except where the 30 year old is only capable of performing like a 40 year old. Let?s hope in 2009 we say goodbye to Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, JR., and Riddick Bowe, Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech. Let?s see no more of these ghost-fighters eating up the dollars and the audiences and let the likes of Chad Dawson and David Haye and Carl Froch and Kelly Pavlik and Timothy Bradley come to the fore. Boxing needs fresh blood and fresh copy and all the column inches are being strangled by the 40-somethings.
The ?Ring? Championship Belt
A new-ish phenomenon reared its head in 2008 ? with an ephemeral ?Ring? Magazine Championship gaining impetus and settling in alongside the continuing proliferation of alpha-belts already out there. Now, never let it be said that this writer encourages or endorses the creation of any more of these life-sapping organizations, but if there is one organ that carries some weight in this game it is The Ring Magazine, if for no other reason than its longevity. In 2009, let?s all get behind the Ring?s Champion, and see if we can?t get close to having a universal view of a Champion in each weight class. What a refreshing change that would be.
Boxers Pension Fund
It?s been on the cards for years ? in 2009 let?s make it happen. With contributions from every promotion all over the world, let?s look after the brave and the good that step between the ropes for our enjoyment and give more of themselves than we have a right to expect. Every fighter who steps up deserves to be supported by the game.
Oscar One More Fight ? Recovers Reputation
I may be in a minority here, but I feel desperately sorry for Oscar. Sure, he?s rich beyond my wildest dreams, handsome and at the head of a perfect family, and with a fistic legacy that will repair itself in time. But still, to go out like that! After all the years and the hard work, to so grossly miscalculate his own body that he boxed like a ghost against a man near half his size. I want Oscar to come back, have a meaningful fight at a healthy weight, and prove to everyone that the Pacquiao affair was simply a big big mistake.
Heavyweights resolved
What is it with these Heavyweights? Every time a so-called ?Champion? steps into the ring he does everything in his power to prove he?s anything but! Hasim Rahman didn?t even manage a decent impression of a Champ in his surrender to Klitschko junior, and don?t even get me started on Sam Peter?s abject showing against the older Klitschko boy. We?re reduced to digging up the carcasses of Holyfield and Toney to try and drum up a decent fight in a division that even now rates John Ruiz as a decent contender. In 2009 let David Haye clean the whole mess up, dispatch each Klitschko one after the other, and let?s enter the 10?s with a single dominant heavyweight to give our sport the huge kick in the pants it needs.
Health over Money
Money is great. It translates into thousands of wonderful things you can touch and feel. It means not a jot however to the intangible stuff ? pride, dignity, honor, status, legacy. In 2008 we?ve seen great, great fighters sacrifice the latter in favor of the former too often. Either fights have been made when they shouldn?t have (De La Hoya-Pacquiao; Pavlik-Hopkins, Calzaghe-Jones, JR., Nikolay Valuev-Holyfield), or fighters have gone through with fights when palpably they shouldn?t have for reasons best known to themselves (De La Hoya, weight-weakened; Pavlik, ill-health; Jones, JR., tired; Holyfield, just plain old).
Hatton & Pacquiao Fight ? Mayweather Waits Turn
In 2009 let the series of great fights in the Welterweight/ Light-Welterweight arena play themselves out, and let the right thing be done ? that is that Hatton and Pacquiao get it in without interference from Floyd Mayweather, JR. He is retired and his crown is now in the highly capable hands of Antonio Margarito. If he can take his title back from Margarito, then let him into a fight with the winner of Hitman vs. Pacman. And who knows, if Bradley, or Kendall Holt, or Ricardo Torres, or Cotto, or even Witter can get back into the mix, that?d be great too. But please, no more Zab Judah ? that?s enough.
Calzaghe Fights On
In 2009 let Joe Calzaghe forever quiet the doubters by taking on and beating someone at the top of their game who is younger than he is. Sure, sure, you?re all shouting Mikkel Kessler at me, and I can?t argue that Calzaghe?s performance was great on the night, but just consider that the Danes have never been great boxing travelers, and Mikkel had to operate that night in front of 50,000 screaming Welshmen, and I felt he was just put off his stride by the occasion. Take him out of the mix, and Calzaghe?s legacy is based on two wins against forty-somethings (OK, Jones, JR., was nearly there) and a drubbing of a since discredited Jeff Lacy. I think Joe has to do more, so in 2009 let him turn back a Dawson or a Froch or a healthy Pavlik ? if he does so, I?ll get in line with all his worshippers and pay due homage.
Credit Where it?s Due
I?m looking over my list and there?s not enough here about the lower weights, so in 2009 let?s see more column inches devoted to the Darchinyan?s, the Nonito Donaire?s, the Sosa?s and the Munoz?s, who so often are over-shadowed, in more ways than one, by the headline grabbing bigger boys. I ask you, would you rather see a Klitschko fumble around a ring with a Hasim Rahman, or the giant Valuev beat up on a washed-up Holyfied, or would you rather salivate at the sublime skills of a Celestino Caballero? In 2009, let?s big it up for the little men.
And so here endeth the lesson. Merry Christmas to one and all, and may each of you get what you wish for in 2009!
