Less than one month in, and 2011 is already on the way to showcasing both the best and worst of world boxing, with ace light-welterweights and aged heavyweights jostling for the pay-per-view spotlight.
This weekend brings the bad bit, with 48-year-old Evander Holyfield fighting on in his futile quest to regain the undisputed world heavyweight title when he takes on veteran journeyman Sherman Williams.
The pair will square off in the boxing hotbed of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and Holyfield’s World Boxing Federation crown – previously held by such luminaries as Audley Harrison and Joe Bugner, will be on the line.
Holyfield, banned for a time five years ago by the New York State Athletic Commission on account of his “diminishing skills” insists he will not stop until he crowns his career by becoming undisputed champion again.
“I didn’t get discouraged for long and I will try to get my title shot,” insists Holyfield. “I want to finish my 26-year career as a champion. If it were left to me I’d fight the Klitschkos and David Haye, then that would be it.”
Preposterous as it may sound, there are few boxing people willing to bet against Holyfield one day clambering in the ring to face one of those on his most-wanted list, a fight which would surely set the credibility of the sport back years.
Having Holyfield hogging the early 2011 headlines is a shame given the positivity with which the sport started the new year, first with the news that bantamweight greats Fernando Montiel and Nonito Donaire will clash next month.
First, at the end of this month, and with Holyfield no doubt still gasping to recover his breath after his latest exertions, the world’s two best light-welterweights, Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander, face off.
The pair are both unbeaten world champions and what makes the fight great is that it is precisely the kind of contest that would not have been made had not the sport’s newly urgent need for super-fights forced the hands of worried promoters.
Bradley and Alexander could happily have followed the examples set by the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and the Klitschkos and David Haye, and talked their way out of a fight the boxing world wanted to see.
Instead, they are relishing the prospect of making history. “In every interview I hear it’s ‘boxing is dying, MMA (mixed martial arts) is taking over,” said Bradley. “But here you’ve got two young unbeaten world champions in their prime.
“He doesn’t know how to lose and I don’t know how to lose. But on January 29, somebody’s zero has got to go. It’s great for boxing, it’s great for our careers and great for the public.
“It’s the way they used to do it in the old days. You saw Duran and Leonard go at it a couple of times and Hearns and Hagler; Arguello and Pryor. That’s what boxing needs to bring back.”
“This fight brings back a lot of the roots of boxing,” said Alexander. “It means a lot to have two unbeaten champions fight in this day and age, because most fighters these days just want the money to fight the least skilled fighter.”
The plan is for the winner to face Amir Khan. It would be another marquee contest in a year which is shaping up nicely. Even the heavyweights have got in the act, with Odlanier Solis finally given his deserved chance against Vitali Klitschko.
In West Virginia on Saturday night, Holyfield will continue doing himself and his sport more harm than good. He should quit with his head held high as a mighty champion, and leave the stage to the stars of 2011 and beyond.
