There are many fights we would love to see become a reality in 2020, here I look at five match ups that I would like to see as a new year approaches.
Anthony Joshua v Deontay Wilder/Tyson Fury
Unifying all four major heavyweight title belts has been the goal for fans since the days of Lennox Lewis, and 2020, in all honesty, doesn’t look like will be the year that this happens. Anthony Joshua wrestled the WBA (Super) IBF and WBO belts back from Andy Ruiz in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, and is already a marked man with the governing bodies.
The IBF are likely to order him to box Kubrat Pulev, while the WBO seem keen on Oleksandr Usyk being made mandatory challenger for their belt. Nevertheless, fans would love to see “AJ” take on the winner of the February 2020 rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury for the WBC title, or at least one of the contestants of that match.
The build up for a Joshua v Wilder/Fury contest would be intense and absorbing, and the three are now clearly out on their own as the premier heavyweights at this point in time. It remains to be seen whether a deal could be done to entice either man to face Joshua, as negotiations have previously proved difficult. It’s not a match that’s expected for 2020, but it’s one that fans would absolutely love to happen.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez v Gennady Golovkin III
A trilogy match between Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin has long been courted by fans, but lately the fight seems to be held up by Team Alvarez, who demand the lion’s share of purse and revenue for a third meeting.
The first two contest were thrillers, with the first a controversial draw, and the second a controversial Canelo majority decision victory. The third fight is a natural, but Alvarez has been busy going up the weights in search of more gold, winning the WBA super-middleweight title last December by stopping Rocky Fielding, defending his middleweight crowns with a points win against Daniel Jacobs, and then picking the WBO light-heavyweight belt up with a stoppage win over Sergey Kovalev in October.
“GGG” has won twice since his first career defeat, and regained his old IBF middleweight title last time out, with a points win against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, so he does have collateral to bring to the table. If Golovkin can see the rewards of winning, by settling for significant financial second best by taking a Canelo trilogy fight, then a mouth-watering third match can surely be made.
Vasyl Lomachenko v Teofimo Lopez
Teofimo Lopez catapulted himself into stardom last Saturday, when crushing the respected IBF lightweight champion, Richard Comney inside two rounds at Madison Square Garden.
Talk has now turned to a clash in April with pound for pound superstar, Vasyl Lomachenko, who holds the WBC, WBA (Super) and WBO belts. The Ukrainian is quite simply sublime, and has won titles from featherweight to lightweight in just a fifteen fight paid career. This followed one of the best amateur careers that the sport has ever seen. He was last seen dazzling in a dominant points win against Hull’s Luke Campbell at the end of August in London.
This match should be straightforward to make, with both men promoted by Top Rank and Bob Arum, and is an exciting prospect for 2020.
Josh Taylor v Jose Carlos Ramirez
Another big undisputed affair would be at ten stone, where Josh Taylor has taken his career to a new level after winning the World Boxing Super Series in October, defeating the excellent Regis Prograis in a thriller to add the WBA title to his IBF belt.
Undefeated Californian Jose Carlos Ramirez is the current WBC and WBO boss, after adding the WBO crown with an impressive sixth round stoppage of Maurice Hooker in his last outing in July.
This would be another blockbuster match, with the winner a tough one to call.
Terence Crawford v Errol Spence Junior
Last, but by no means least, two men riding high in the mythical pound for pound lists, would be a great match to make for 2020.
Terence Crawford and Errol Spence have been on a collision course for a while, but promotional red tape may scupper any chance of the pair meeting any time soon.
Crawford has come from Lightweight to establish himself as one of the elite Welterweights. A former Undisputed ten stone champion, Crawford has been WBO Welterweight champion since June last year, and last weekend he stopped the dangerous Egidijus Kavaliauskas in nine rounds at Madison Square Garden.
Spence has impressed since ripping the IBF belt from Kell Brook in Sheffield two years ago. He won every round in beating the blown up undefeated lightweight, Mikey Garcia in March, and last time out, he was dropped by Shawn Porter, before edging a split decision to add the WBC belt to his collection.
The chances of the two meeting in 2020 are slim, as Al Haymon and Bob Arum aren’t exactly on each other’s Christmas card lists.
