A lot of boxing pundits, as well as fight fans, start out the year with a fight wish list, and I’m no exception. Before I begin one thing deserves special comment – one wish you won’t see on my list this year is Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
I’m sick to death of the whole Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao drama. It is a fight that should have happened four or five years ago, and now the idea is as worn out as a vintage tire from the set of The Road Warrior. I half-heartedly await the day that one or the other of these guys retires, and solely because it will end talk of a fight between them once and for all. If the fight happens, I won’t watch it. The day has passed. Too little, too late. Boxing needs to move on.
1) Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez
I actually want to see this more than Cotto vs. Golovkin, because I see that as being a shoo-win for GGG. Cotto started his career at 140, and is an even smaller middleweight than former champ Sergio Martinez was.
Alvarez, on the other hand, is a better match, and better matches produce better fights. Besides, if Cotto can get past a young, tough, world class guy like Alvarez, maybe he has enough to weather a Golovkining after all.
2) Carl Froch vs. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.
Chavez, Jr. is the best possible opponent for Froch since Jean Pascal. This would be a fight to establish which is better to have, cahones or bullocks, and it says a lot about Chavez that it would be Froch who would be the more skillful and technically gifted in the match-up. I have little expectation of Chavez even seeing the final bell, but hot damn if it won’t be a fun fight to watch while it lasts.
3) Danny Garcia vs. Adrien Broner
I never get tired of recalling how Adrien Broner got the snot knocked out of him by Marcos Maidana, so much so that I want to see someone else do it. Danny Garcia is that guy. If these two meet, Garcia will wipe The Problem off the chalkboard. I’d pay serious money to see that.
4) Nicholas Waters vs. Vasyl Lomachenko
These two guys are mega-exciting and both exploded onto the scene in stellar fashion last year. What could be better than to put two red hot featherweights in the ring together? It could set the stage for returning the 126 lbs weight class to the glories of the Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barerra days.
5) Andre Ward vs. Gennady Golovkin or Sergey Kovalev
The sport’s current 168 lbs phenom and heir to the Roy Jones legacy, Andre Ward, is about to resume his career after some time off, and in the meantime his position has been bracketed by the rise of two Slavic wrecking machines.
In the weight division below him is Gennady Golovkin, and in the weight division above is Sergey Kovalev. Either Golovkin should go up or Ward should go up, and a clash between the sport’s craftiest tactical wizard and one of its most devastating hitters should take
