Boxing history tells us that every once in a while a special fighter comes along. Well, we have been graced with several this era. And are we so spoiled that we don’t recognize or appreciate greatness until it’s gone? Then again, that same lack of appreciation is what often times drives a special fighter to greatness.
This generation we’ve had truly gifted fighters, such as Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Manny Pacquaio, and Marco Antonio Barrera. It’s amazing that all of these fighters are still active, yet we still choose to say that boxing is in a bad state. Let me tell you, the thing that really hurts boxing currently is the lack of network coverage and rivaling promoters. The lack of fights on network television leads to a lack of coverage on the daily sports shows, newspapers, and other media outlets. That puts the burden on the promoters to put together the truly important fights to draw in the public to cable television and pay per view. That’s where the rivalries become a problem and boxing suffers.
Having said all of that, I now put my prediction skills to work and attempt to inform you all who will rise, stay, and fall in 2007. Enjoy!
Who Will Rise?
Joe Calzaghe – When you hear guys like Vernon Forrest, Vivian Harris, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Antonio Margarito (to name a few) marketing themselves as a ‘Ducked Fighters’ that none of the name fighters want to fight, most of the time it’s simply a “Campaign.” Often times, that campaign is launched by a promoter trying to create a buzz for their fighter, but in the case of Calzaghe, he truly has been a ducked fighter. He’s been a champion for almost a decade and he’s currently the top fighter at 168. So in theory, many of the top fighters around himshould’ve been calling him out, right?
For years, when Roy Jones Jr., Bernard Hopkins and HBO were looking for credible opponents, Calzaghe was waiting in the wings calling for the opportunity but to no avail. Since Calzaghe was unknown to the American public for a significant portion of his championship reign, fighters like RJJ and B-Hop conveniently used that excuse to look past the Welshman.
Fortunately, last year Joe was finally presented with the opportunity to showcase his skills on Showtime against a high profile American fighter named Jeff Lacy. Lacy was also a champion and many favored him to win the fight. However, Joe made his case as he won a very lopsided decision in a bout where he thoroughly outclassed the former Olympian.
The question that still exists is, will Hopkins, Jones, Tarver or Johnson finally step up to the plate this year? Either way, Calzaghe should still be undefeated when the sun sets in 2007.
Samuel Peter – Despite close fights in 06’ with Wlad Klitschko and James Toney, Samuel Peter has continued to grow. Those were just the types of fights that he needed. Against Wlad he was able to see exactly what he could do against the giants of today, and against Toney, the experience gained was immeasurable. In the rematch, I believe Peter will prevail more convincingly. While I believe Toney still has the skills and the will to compete with the top fighters at heavyweight, I just don’t think he has enough left in the tank to derail a young, hungry lion like Peter again. Should Peter gets by Toney, I believe he will be the man to finally clean up the stagnant heavyweight division.
Shane Mosley – How ironic is it that Sugar Shane’s downside at the height of his career was due to bad management decisions? The proof lies in 2006 where his career was revitalized as a result of good management decisions. After both of Shane’s career defining wins over De La Hoya, Shane’s father and ex-manager chose to fight high-risk, low-reward fights both times. The first was against amateur nemesis, Vernon Forrest, then the second against the problematic southpaw, Winky Wright. We all know what happened next as Shane would go 0-4 against those two. Now with his wife doing the managing, Shane’s career has been resurrected with two consecutive, back to back KO wins over Fernado Vargas. These were 2 big PPV wins over a once elite fighter and he looked extremely good in the process. Another good decision Team Mosley has made is the decision to move back down to 147 where he is now scheduled to square off against either Kermin Cintron or Luis Collazo.
Juan Diaz – What a prospect this kid has proven to be. For all the natural gifts he lacks, he makes up for it with hard work and a non-stop, uncompromising attack. Diaz may be on the verge of stardom. He’s a clean cut, hard working, personable kid with a solid amateur background, and an undefeated professional record which makes his promoter’s job that much easier. At lightweight, he is surrounded by aging, veteran fighters waiting to be taken by a young, hungry fighter like Diaz. Established veterans like Joel Casamayor, Diego Corrales, Julio Diaz, and Jesus Chavez would all be hard pressed to match Diaz’s work rate. Also, the big name fighters at 130 potentially looking to move up to 135 would have their hands full against the bigger and younger “Baby Bull.”
Miguel Cotto – Cotto appears to be back on the path to Superstardom. After a meteoric start to his career, Cotto seemed to be soul searching after being hurt in back to back fights against “Chop Chop” Corley and Ricardo Torres. Last year he restored his reputation and found his mojo again with a dominant decision victory over undefeated Paul Malignaggi, and a wipeout of also undefeated, Joel Julio conqueror, Carlos Quintana, to take back command of center stage in Puerto Rico. Now campaigning as a welterweight, Arum seems to have him on a collision course with Antonio Margarito in a fight which I believe he’ll look spectacular in.
Almost made it:
Roy Jones – Expect one last charge from the future Hall of Famer.
Joan Guzman – Ask Barrios why he’s here.
Edwin Valero – If not for his ban in America, he’d already be there.
Who Will Stay?
Wlad Klitschko – Could have arguably been chosen as the Fighter of the Year in 2006 with his big wins over Peter, Byrd, and Brock. Being that he’s beaten several top threats at heavyweight, he should be a safe bet to remain champion through 2007.
Manny Pacqauio – After the way he looked against Erik Morales in his last fight, who’s going stop this little buzzsaw right now?
Jermain Taylor – After matching wits with Bernard Hopkins (twice), Winky Wright, and Kasim Ouma in consecutive fights, Jermain is due for an easy defense. Sergio Mora won’t be the one to issue Jermain his first loss. Look for Taylor to finish 2007 still undefeated as he continues to improve.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. – It looks like Pretty Boy Floyd will only have one fight in 2007, if not one more fight, period. That’s if you put stock in his threats of retirement. Many believe Floyd will outbox the Golden Boy, and should that hold true, he’ll remain the #1 fighter in the world and reaffirm his superstar status.
Ricky Hatton – Hatton should get by his mandatory Juan Urango, and then face off against Jose Luis Castillo by this summer. While I think Castillo is a fabulous fighter, I think his biggest asset (his strength) will be negated by Hatton’s superior strength and intense, smothering style. Look for Hatton to do what Corrales did to Castillo in their epic first encounter.
Almost made it:
Winky Wright – I don’t think he can beat Taylor in a rematch, but itwon’t matter if he doesn’t fight him.
Bernard Hopkins – When you consider how easy he beat the top fighter at light heavyweight, it’s difficult to picture him having a problem with the #2 fighter in that weight class, especially when he’s already dominated him before.
Jorge Arce – Is it just me or does Arce seem to bring out the bitch in his opponents?
Who Will Fall?
Jeff Lacy – It’s sad when a fighter’s nickname goes to his head. Lacy was my favorite fighter from the 2002 Olympic team. In fact, he was the one I touted to be the class of the team. But somewhere along the way his improvement stagnated. I’m not sure if it happened when his opponents would pull out of fights after he’d take off his shirt at weigh-ins, or when he realized that he could turn the course of a fight with a single left hook or win fights on brute strength. Perhaps by winning a title so early, he was rushed to a level of fighting he wasn’t ready for. Whatever the case may have been, he certainly wasn’t ready for Joe Calzaghe. In watching his last fight, his first outing since the Calzaghe disaster, a rematch with Vitali Tsypko, he looked awful. At times he looked confused and discouraged. One could plainly see the redundancy in his attack. Sadly, he’s now been exploited and the slide down is always faster than the climb up.
James Toney – Toney is a true warrior in every sense of the word, and that is one of the reasons he will fall this year. It’s actually remarkable how long he’s fought and the level he continues to fight at, four divisions above his peak weight class while sporting the physique of a fighter that hardly trains. However, old warriors have to die sometimes. Marco Antonio Barrera found himself in this position a few years ago and he reinvented himself in order to prolong his shelf life. Toney hasn’t done that, and he can’t continue to go tit for tat with these big guys while not eventually showing some major wear and tear. As far as this writer is concerned, those wears have already begun to show. “Lights Out” hasn’t decisively won a fight against a top fighter in awhile now. And he hasn’t put anybody’s lights out since the Holyfield stoppage. The Rahman, Ruiz, and Peter fights have all been debatable for one reason or another. If Toney is going to go down, it would only be fitting if he goes down swinging. Look for that to happen in the rematch with Peter.
Antonio Tarver – The fact that Tarver isn’t truly disappointed about the one sided loss to Bernard Hopkins this year says it all. “The Magic Man” seems perfectly content to promote his role in the current installment of the Rocky series. I haven’t heard any mention of any upcoming fights for Antonio. If he can’t perform any better than he did against Hopkins, then maybe acting is a good idea.
Vernon Forrest – In a sense , Vernon Forrest already fell against Ike Quartey, but since the judges got it all wrong, he’ll get the chance to fall officially in 2007. When I look through the rankings at junior middleweight, I’m hard pressed to find a quality fighter that Vernon can beat. Unfortunately for him, If he’s going to cash in on the win over Quartey, he’ll have to fight a quality fighter, hence, cometh the end.
Diego Corrales – I’m not even going to talk about how ironic it was that “Chico” came in overweight for his fight with Casamayor. He and Tarver can write a book on how it feels to have an egg thrown on one’s face. Roy Jones Jr. and Jose Luis Castillo are probably out somewhere right now laughing about this. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Diego will fall this year because he no longer has the skills or because he isn’t motivated anymore. I think he will fall this year because he will finally be forced to face guys his own size where his size and power won’t be as effective. All of the wars and scar tissue won’t help him either.
Almost made it:
Marco Antonio Barrera – After watching Morales fall apart over the last several years, you get the feeling he’s not far behind.
Sergio Mora – Can a fighter actually fall before he’s risen?
Juan Manuel Marquez – A fighter has to step up at some point, and it’s unfortunate that he’s waited so long.
Antonio Margarito – Someone’s has to finish what Clottey started.
Any comments or questions, please contact Darnell Williams
