Most of us have had fun playing the game ?20 Questions? at some point in our lives. Here are 20 questions relating to the state of boxing as the year 2012 draws closer to its end.
Did Manny Pacquiao do the right thing in choosing Juan Manuel Marquez instead of Timothy Bradley as his next opponent? No. Bradley put an ?L? on Pacquiao?s record that hardly anyone thinks should be there. An immediate rematch with Bradley to set the record straight would seem to be a logical step. On the other hand, a fourth bout with Marquez is nothing but a rerun of a rerun of a rerun. Yes, a decisive victory over nemesis Marquez would be satisfying for Pacquiao and his fans. Even so, a Bradley rematch should have come first.
Will Pacquiao ever fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.? The chances of this pound-for-pound superstar matchup happening become dimmer by the day. So does its relevance, especially in the light of Pacquiao?s and Mayweather?s most recent performances, which have not been up to either man?s sterling standard. If these two (or their promoters) eventually stop playing games and make the match, only the fighters? hardcore fans will care. The rest of the boxing world will have moved on.
Will Andre Ward stay at super-middleweight? For what reason? He pretty well demolished the division during the Super Six tournament, and Carl Froch, whom Ward already beat, cleaned the clock of the only other 168-pounder who matters ? Lucian Bute. A rematch with Froch would be meaningless, as Ward has proven to be at a level above the feisty Brit talent-wise. Ward destroyed light-heavyweight king Chad Dawson, though they fought at super-middleweight. Ward?s best option is to move up to 175 lbs, as no other top light-heavy will be foolish enough to drop down in weight to face him.
Is there another division that could put on an exciting Super Six-style competition? Yes ? junior-welterweight. Imagine a round-robin competition featuring Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthyse, Amir Khan, Zab Judah, Juan Manuel Marquez and Mike Alvarado. What a mouth-watering mix of proven veterans and undefeated hotshots. As an indication of how deep the division is, Brandon Rios, Lamont Peterson and Ajose Olusegun would also be good candidates for a 140-lb Super Six. Such a tournament is not very likely, though, considering that Garcia has a title defense coming up against Erik Morales, and Marquez has some business to take care of with Manny Pacquiao. Still hope springs eternal.
Can Amir Khan still become a superstar? Yes, but only if he enters Emmanuel Steward?s Chinless Protection Program. Khan?s brutal knockout losses to Danny Garcia and Breidis Prescott demonstrated his fatal flaw ? a glass jaw. To compensate for that weakness, Khan will have to learn how to be a miniature version of Wladimir Klitschko, who has mastered the skill of winning while keeping his delicate mandible intact.
Will there be a changing-of-the-guard among the heavyweights in the near future? Yes. Even though it feels as if Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko will dominate the division forever, their era ? like all others ? will come to an end. Either they?ll retire, or they?ll be defeated by one of the young, hungry contenders springing up in Europe and the United States. It could happen as soon as next year. By the end of 2014, however, the Klitschkos? title belts will be in other fighters? hands.
Can David Haye displace the Klitschkos? Oh, please. Haye deserves a lot of credit for knocking out the usually durable Dereck Chisora after a year-long ?retirement.? Stopping Chisora is a feat even Vitali Klitschko couldn?t accomplish. But that doesn?t mean Haye will be able to improve on his dismal performance against Wladimir Klitschko, or beat Vitali. And any anyone who can beat the Klitschkos can also beat Haye.
Will Evander Holyfield retire anytime soon? Let?s hope so. ?The Real Deal? is only days away from his 50th birthday. His last fight was on May 7, 2011, in which he scored a 10-round TKO over fellow fossil Brian Nielsen. Boxrec.com shows no new fight scheduled for Holyfield. If he wants to go out with a win on his record, now is the time.
Will Bernard Hopkins retire anytime soon? Hard to say. On April 28 of this year, the 47-year-old lost a majority decision to Chad Dawson in a rematch of the weird bout in which Hopkins dislocated a shoulder after Dawson threw him to the canvas in the second round. Although Hopkins was not disgraced, he was clearly outboxed. He has nothing left to prove. Tellingly, he?s been quiet of late, and he has no fight on tap ? at least according to Boxrec. So it?s likely that he?ll wait five years, then compose a speech for his induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Will Roy Jones Jr. retire anytime soon? Not likely, even though at 43, he is less than a facsimile of the exceptional talent who cast such a long shadow from his amateur days in the late 1980s to his championship rise from the middleweight to the heavyweight divisions. His last fight, in June of this year, was a disputed split decision win over one Pawel Glazewski. Sadly, Jones simply doesn?t seem to know when to quit.
Should Ricky Hatton have come out of retirement? No. Although he was much more than a face-first brawler, Hatton was not averse to taking a punch in the process of landing one. He absorbed punishment even in victories, and his knockout losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao were brutal. But Hatton likes to fight, so it will likely take a few more beatings to convince him to hang up his gloves for good.
Has Mike Tyson achieved redemption? Surprisingly, yes. The once-in-a-generation heavyweight who had it all in the 1980s, blew it all in the 1990s, and slid even further downhill in the 2000s, has regained a great deal of lost ground in the early 2010s. Not all that long ago, ?Iron Mike? seemed destined for either serious prison time or an early grave. Now, he?s relatively popular again, having succeeded in keeping his personal demons at bay while opening a one-man show on Broadway. More power to him.
Does Arturo Gatti belong in The International Boxing Hall of Fame? Put it this way: If Sylvester Stallone can make it to Canastota by playing Rocky Balboa, a thrilling ring warrior who gives it all in the ring, then so should Gatti, who was the real thing.
How about Antonio Margarito? Put it this way: If it hadn?t been for the doctored-handwraps scandal in his fight with Shane Mosley, Margarito would have been only a marginal candidate for election to the Hall. The scandal takes away that margin.
Should open scoring be made mandatory? No. If judges are already susceptible to influence by crowd reactions during a bout when the scoring is not known until the fight is over, they will be even more susceptible if their scoring is announced after every three or four rounds. Closed scoring is not perfect. Open scoring is even less so.
Will the scrapping of the push-button scoring system save Olympic boxing? It will be a step in the right direction. After two decades of usage, the method in which points are determined by a computer count of judges? button-pushes has proven a dismal failure. In the 2016 Games, judges will score bouts in the traditional way. Let?s not forget, though, that traditional judges robbed Roy Jones Jr. of a gold medal in the 1988 Games. The ensuing outrage led to the development of the push-button system. Better-quality judging, not gimmicks, will save Olympic and amateur boxing.
Is Sergio Martinez slipping? Yes, if his last three fights are any indication. The talented middleweight champion was pushed to the limit in defenses against British challengers Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin, even though he eventually stopped both opponents. In his most recent contest, Martinez was almost knocked out in the 12th round by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The good news for Martinez is that he handily outpointed Chavez despite the knockdown he suffered. The bad news is, there?s a wolfpack of hungry young contenders nipping at his heels.
Has Chavez Jr. learned his lesson after failing his drug test? He?s better. True, it was marijuana that was found in his system rather than some performance-enhancing substance such as steroids or human growth hormone. But still ? imagine the consequences if Martinez had not risen from the last-round knockdown Chavez laid on him. A come-from-behind victory for the ages would have been tainted. Junior shows plenty of grit in the ring. If only he could display an equal level of discipline outside the ropes.
Has women?s boxing come of age? Yes, and it took the 2012 Olympics to complete the process. The reception and performance level of the newly introduced women?s competition was the highlight of boxing in the London Games. Women?s boxing has been around in earnest since the 1970s, but it has been regarded primarily as a sideshow. Big names like Christy Martin, Lucia Rijker and Laila Ali would emerge, but the sport as a whole didn?t catch fire. The Olympics made it clear, though: women?s boxing is here to stay.
Is the sport of boxing as a whole in its death throes? With doping scandals, incompetent officiating, and serious competition from mixed martial arts, it sure seems as though boxing is on the ropes. But this is a sport that managed to survive being illegal back the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As long as young men ? and women ? are willing to fight with their hands and not their feet, and people are willing to pay to see them do it, the ?sweet science? will endure, if not thrive.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His award-winning novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at Amazon.com.
