It’s Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer’s compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. It’s Christmas week and I’ve got a few requests for jolly ole St. Nick. Hopefully, when I wake up Christmas morning, Santa Claus will grant me all my wishes for 2014 in boxing. Without further ado, in alphabetical order, check out the latest observations from The Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
A healthy, motivated James Kirkland. Imagine what Kirkland could do if he could figure out a way to stay out of trouble and out of his own way. There is no doubt that Anne Wolfe would become the first female trainer to lead a male fighter to a world title belt.
Abner Mares vs. Jhonny Gonzalez to last more than one round. This time, in February, let’s hope this slug-fest goes deep into the fight.
Adonis Stevenson vs. the winner of Lucian Bute/Jean Pascal. Inter-country battles are always the most passionate. It’s like watching an Olympic event.
Adrien Broner to bring back the hairbrush. Love him or hate him, Broner showed excellent heart in hanging tough with Marcos Maidana. Broner’s antics may be over the top, but the hairbrush is still one of my favorites. It’s a whole lot better than violating another fighter from behind in the ring.
Al Haymon to do an interview with anybody. Come on, Al. We’ll even let you predetermine the questions. Most fans have only seen your face once, and nobody has ever heard your voice. Just one interview…PRETTY PLEASE!
An American heavyweight champion to emerge. Chris Arreola has another chance against Bermane Stiverne, but I’m looking more at Deontay Wilder, Bryant Jennings, and even Amir Mansour.
Andre Berto to return to the ring. The guy is flat-out fun to watch and makes entertaining fights. Who wouldn’t want to watch that?
Andre Dirrell to announce his future plans. He is one of the world’s most talented fighters, and fans want to know whether or not he plans on moving forward with his career.
Andre Ward to move up to light heavyweight. There is no competition for Ward at super middleweight anymore. He has cleaned out the division. Time for a new challenge. The scary thing is that Ward might actually be a better light heavyweight because he is going to be much more comfortable at 175lbs. Ward has stated he struggles to make 168. Imagine how good he’ll look when he doesn’t have to kill himself to make weight.
Bernard Hopkins to be a world champion when he is 50. I know this cannot be accomplished until 2015, but if B-Hop keeps his world championship belt through the year 2014, his January birthday all but ensures he will hold a world title when he turns 50.
Boxing greats to officially announce their retirements. That goes for you Roy Jones Jr., James Toney, Evander Holyfield, Shane Mosley, Danny Williams (though not a great), etc.
Canelo Alvarez vs. James Kirkland. See “A healthy, motivated James Kirkland” above.
Danny Garcia vs. anyone. The more I watch Garcia, the easier he is to root for. I doubt he’ll be the underdog in very many more fights; unless he fights Floyd Mayweather that is.
Darren Barker to make a full recovery. I hate to see any fighter lose, and potentially end his/her career, due to a freak injury. Barker didn’t deserve to lose his world title the way he did.
David Haye to stay retired. Enough said.
Erislandy Lara vs. Floyd Mayweather or Canelo Alvarez. If Lara is motivated, he can beat anyone. A fight with Mayweather might be his toughest of Mayweather’s career. A fight with Canelo might end in Canelo’s 2nd pro loss. Lara has all the skills, but he needs to be consistent. Unfortunately, 2014 might be another year where Lara’s talents go unnoticed.
Floyd Mayweather to get some serious competition. Amir Khan (or whoever Mayweather chooses to fight in May) will not be a serious threat to his spot as the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Mayweather is the biggest reason boxing has stayed as popular as it has, and I think a Mayweather loss will actually hurt the sport’s appeal. I am just hoping he is in against a fighter who causes him trouble and creates some sort of controversy. The more people who talk about boxing, the better.
Gennady Golovkin vs. Sergio Martinez. After Martinez fights Miguel Cotto (reportedly set for June in New York City), a Golovkin fight near the end of 2014 should be Martinez’s swan song, win or lose. This will be a fight for the ages and will be remembered for a long time.
George Groves to get his rematch with Carl Froch. Anyone who watched that first fight knows Groves was cruising to victory before the fight was stopped prematurely. I don’t think Froch can handle Groves’ speed in a rematch, and a new super middleweight champion will be crowned.
Guillermo Rigondeaux to earn some respect. This guy is as good as anyone in the business. Just because his fighting style isn’t the most visually appealing, it is still a beautiful art form. Years from now, Rigondeaux will be remembered as one of the greatest fighters of all time. Just like a famous painter, it’s too bad he’s not being appreciated during his time.
HBO and Showtime to come to an agreement. If one company would be willing to take the first step toward a truce, we might finally see some of the fights between Golden Boy and Top Rank fighters. If the networks put the pressure on the promotional companies, eventually the promoters will have to give in. Right?
Independent promoters continued success. Every fan knows the big time promoters put on the glitzy, glamorous events, but it’s the small-time, independent promoters who help build fighter records and draw fans inside small buildings and gyms to create an old-school atmosphere reminiscent of the 1930’s.
Jermall and Jermell Charlo to have breakout years. These guys are uber-talented. It’s time to show out.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Erik Morales, and Brandon Rios to join an OA (Obesity Anonymous) class. Too soon?
Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero. Ummm, YES PLEASE!
Magomed Abdusalamov to make a full recovery. Word is that he is doing much better and is expected to live a full life (even though he’ll never fight again). Boxing has lost too many people, yet again, this year. Let’s pray for a healthy 2014.
Manny Pacquiao to pay off his debts and not have to fight until he is brain damaged. The way Pacquiao spends money, he clearly has no control of his finances. Pacquiao needs somebody, heck, anybody in his corner whom he can trust with his finances. Pacquiao is going to end up fighting just to pay his monthly bills at this rate. Please let this be a lesson to all young fighters. Look at Holyfield, Jones Jr., Tyson, and the laundry list of fighters who blew through their money. Save your money so you don’t have to get beat up until it’s too late.
Marcos Maidana vs. Lucas Matthysse in Argentina. If Sergio Martinez drew 50,000 fans in a soccer stadium, imagine what Maidana vs. Matthysse would bring! The world is ready for this fight and it is a pay-per-view worthy affair.
Mikey Garcia vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa. The winner could face Terence Crawford for the lightweight championship of the world (assuming Crawford defeats Ricky Burns, which I believe he will).
More Leo Santa Cruz! I would personally love to see him in a unification with Kiko Martinez, who just successfully defended his IBF super bantamweight title on Saturday with a 9th round KO of Jeffrey Mathebula. This would be a superb battle of wills.
Olympic-style, year-round blood testing for every professional fighter. If you want a clean sport, you have to do it right. This is the only way.
Omar Figueroa vs. Ray Beltran. If this fight can somehow come together, you can go ahead and give this fight the title of Fight of the Year!
Orlando Salido vs. Nonito Donaire. Wait a minute. I might have to retract my statement directly before this one about the Fight of the Year.
Oscar de La Hoya to truly get the help he needs to beat his addiction. Never mind the worthless tweets and random comments. Oscar is still one of the all-time greats and is the biggest reason Top Rank has competition which has created great fight cards (remember, it was ODLH who hired Richard Schaefer). Golden Boy Promotions is the leading boxing promotional company in the world (Top Rank is #2), and we have Oscar to thank for it.
Peter Quillin vs. James Kirkland. If Kirkland cannot land a Canelo fight, why not have Kirkland move up and challenge for a middleweight belt. Fight of the Year candidate for sure.
Sergey Kovalev vs. Beibut Shumenov. Promotional ties and network affiliations make this fight difficult to put together, but someone would be going to sleep very early. With Kovalev’s power, and Shumenov’s work rate, judges will not be necessary. Heck, even a referee might be pushing it. Just ring the bell and watch what happens.
The Cruiserweight division to get its just due. In Europe, cruiserweights are well compensated (although still not enough in my opinion) and well respected. It’s too bad the rest of the world sees the division as a poor man’s heavyweight division. Cruiserweights are some of the best fighters in the world, and the division is loaded with talent. It’s time for the rest of the world to take notice.
The little guys to get some notoriety. In Asia and South America, the junior bantamweight division, and lower, draw thousands of fans, seemingly every week, to watch these fighters beat the hell out of each other. If an American network would dedicate a monthly show to air an All-Little Men fight card, boxing fans would be exposed to some Fight of the Year candidates they may never have seen otherwise. Let’s give the little men some air time. It will be well worth fight fans’ time.
Timothy Bradley to get a shot at Floyd Mayweather. I don’t care what anyone else in the world thinks. Until Bradley loses, he is the most deserving fighter in the world who has earned a shot at the P4P king. Unfortunately, boxing politics are currently preventing this fight from happening, but if the rumors are true, and Bradley does only have one more fight left with Top Rank, it’s not unrealistic to think Bradley could stand opposite Mayweather in September 2014. If Bradley is a free agent, there is NO WAY that Al Haymon and/or Golden Boy Promotions don’t do everything in their power to lure Bradley away from re-signing with Top Rank.
Top Rank Promotions to stop taking 27% from his fighters. 27% is complete robbery. I understand that if a fighter is willing to sign a deal like that, it shouldn’t fall on Arum’s shoulders that the fighter didn’t know any better. However, it’s time for Top Rank to catch up with the times and realize that if they want any chance of getting back to #1, the company is going to have to make some adjustments. Top Rank still has some of the best talent in the world, and those fighters deserve to be fairly compensated.
Tyson Fury to finally get a shot at a world title. Don’t get me wrong, I think no matter who he faces, he’ll get knocked out. Wladimir Klitschko will certainly KO Fury, and so will the winner of Arroela vs. Stiverne. However, Fury does at least deserve a shot to prove his worth. Give him that chance.
USA Network to bring back Tuesday Night Fights. Is it too much to ask to have boxing programming almost every night of the week?
Vasyl Lomachencko to prove he is for real. Zou Shiming has proven he surely isn’t as championship ready as Top Rank had hoped for, but Lomachenko seems to be a more likely candidate to jump in and win a world title quickly. It would be extremely cool to see an amateur win a world title in 3 fights or less.
Victor Ortiz vs. Canelo Alvarez. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of Ortiz outside the ring, but inside the squared circle, the guy always leaves me wanting more. I don’t think he beats Canelo, but you know something crazy will happen, and there will be tons of interest in that fight.
Vitali Klitschko good luck in his run at the presidency in Ukraine. I’m not getting political with this post. I will not be donating to his campaign. I don’t have any idea about Vitali’s political views or the nature of the situation in the Ukraine. I’m just wishing the former heavyweight champion good luck.
Wladimir Klitschko to unify the heavyweight championship. Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola are fighting for Vitali’s vacant WBC title. The winner should fight Wladimir for all of his belts. That will give boxing its first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis. It’s been far too long.
That’s my boxing wish list for 2014. What’s on your list? Stay tuned for next week’s 2013 end of year awards. Send your thoughts to [email protected], follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to “Like” The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
