Boxing Wish List For 2017: 10 Fights We Need To See

by Seamus McNally

The new year is upon us, so here are the 10 fights we want to see happen in 2017, along with two bonus wishes that would be great for boxing if they somehow came true.

1. Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin: The next super-fight in boxing has been the talk of the sport from the moment Canelo snatched the middleweight crown from Miguel Cotto in November 2015. Canelo and Golovkin each scored two knockout wins in 2016, which has only ramped up the anticipation for the bout. If the fight does happen, it will not take place in the first half of the year. Golovkin is scheduled to take on Broolyn contender Danny Jacobs on March 18th at Madison Square Garden and Canelo is in negotiations to face fellow Mexican superstar Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Cinco de Mayo weekend. The hope is the fight between Canelo and Golovkin finally comes to fruition for Mexican Independence Day, September 16th, at AT&T Stadium in Dallas (which can hold over 100,000), at the full middleweight limit of 160-lbs, for all the marbles, and live up to the hype by delivering the fireworks the last super-fight (Mayweather-Pacquiao) did not.
2. Adonis Stevenson vs. Andre Ward/Sergey Kovalev: Ever since Stevenson won the light heavyweight championship by knocking out Chad Dawson in June 2013, he has faced a list of uninspiring and undeserving challengers, while blatantly avoiding fighting the universally recognized top-ranked contender (until last month) Sergey Kovalev. On November 19th, Kovalev lost a controversial decision to former super middleweight champion Andre Ward, knocking himself down a peg to the #2 spot behind Ward at 175 lbs. There is a contracted rematch in place between Ward and Kovalev. Meanwhile, Stevenson will likely face undefeated contender Eleider Alvarez in the interim, but the hope is Stevenson finally defends his crown against one of the top-two contenders in the second half of 2017.
3. Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua/Wladimir Klitschko: After Joshua’s destruction of previous Wilder opponent Eric Molina on December 10th, former undisputed heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (who was sitting ringside) entered the ring and Joshua vs. Klitschko was announced for April 29th at Wembley Stadium, likely in front of a crowd of some 90,000. Wilder suffered a torn right bicep and broken right hand in his last fight on July 16th against Chris Arreola, so he is taking a tune-up bout on February 25th against the unheralded Andrzej Wawrzyk. But he has stated his desires to face the winner of Joshua-Klitschko as soon as possible. A bout between Wilder and Joshua, two undefeated knockout artists, would be the biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson. And if it is Wilder-Klitschko, it would pit Wilder against the former undisputed champion, who would be looking to knock off back-to-back undefeated fighters and re-establish his dominance as the premier heavyweight in the sport.
4. Roman Gonzalez vs. Naoya Inoue: This matchup is by far the best fight to be made in the lower weight divisions, and one of the best in all of boxing regardless of size. It pits the two best junior bantamweights in the world, both whom are undefeated. Gonzalez is the widely recognized pound-for-pound king, succeeding Floyd Mayweather Jr. after Mayweather announced his retirement. In September, Gonzalez vacated his flyweight crown, moved up to 115-lbs and edged out previously unbeaten #2 contender Carlos Cuadras. Inoue moved up to 115-lbs from 108-lbs in 2014, skipping flyweight. In his first fight at junior bantamweight, he knocked out then top-ranked contender Omar Narvaez in two rounds. Inoue has won four fights since, including just the other day when he handed contender Kohei Kono his first stoppage loss. A bout between Gonzalez and Inoue would likely be a scintillating affair, and produce not only the best little guy in the sport, but the best fighter in all of boxing.
5. Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan: The pair of British welterweights have been circling each other for years without stepping inside the same ring together. Both boxers bravely moved up in weight and challenged larger fighters in 2016. Khan was rendered unconcious by a Canelo Alvarez right hand in May and Brook’s corner threw in the towel against Gennady Golovkin in September after their charge suffered a broken orbital bone. With both men coming off losses and in need of a big fight, there is no better time then 2017 for these two arch-rivals to finally square off in a good-old-fashioned grudge match to determine British welterweight supremacy in a massive stadium fight in the United Kingdom.
6. Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Orlando Salido rematch: After an illustrious amateur career, where he compiled a 396–1 record with two Olympic gold medals, Lomachenko took on rugged 53-fight veteran Salido in just his second professional fight in March 2014. Salido came in 2.5-lbs over the featherweight limit of 126-lbs and used every veteran tactic in the book to combat Lomachenko’s incredible skills. The strategy paid off and Salido got the split decision nod over the ambitious Ukrainian. Since then, Salido has gone 1–1–2 in four absolute wars where he could arguably be 3–1 in those fights. Lomachenko has dazzled since the loss to Salido, going 6–0, 4 KOs against top-flight opposition including scoring a spectacular knockout of previous Salido adversary Rocky Martinez in June. Salido went 0–1–1 against Martinez in 2015, even though many thought he won the second fight, which was scored a draw. Both fighters are now campaigning at 130-lbs and have expressed interest in throwing down a second time.
7. Manny Pacquiao vs. Terence Crawford: Pacquiao took 11-months off after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their mega-fight on May 2nd, 2015. He came back in April and earned a unanimous decision victory over Tim Bradley in their trilogy fight. Crawford took on Viktor Postol for junior welterweight supremacy in July with the notion a win would secure a lucrative bout with Pacquiao, with whom he shares a promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank. But Crawford looked so good against Postol that Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, who also trains Postol, nixed the idea. After each fighter scored an impressive win in the final quarter of 2016, the demand is now even higher to see if future first-ballot Hall of Famer Pacquiao can stave off Father Time once more or if there will be a changing of the guard and a new superstar born in Crawford.
8. Gary Russell Jr. vs. Carl Frampton/Leo Santa Cruz: Russell is one of the most talented fighters in all of boxing, but he has faced mostly poor opposition and is far too inactive, with just one fight each in 2015 and 2016. Meanwhile, Frampton and Santa Cruz have engaged in major fights against rivals (Frampton-Quigg & Santa Cruz-Mares) and against each other in a Fight of the Year candidate on July 30th in Brooklyn. They are set to wage a pitched battle a second time on January 28th in Las Vegas. Russell is scheduled to take on contender Oscar Escandon on February 18th in Cincinnati. It would be great to finally see Russell test his mettle in a big fight by either matching his blazing hand speed against the skill of Frampton or the high-octane punch output of Santa Cruz.
9. Errol Spence Jr. vs Keith Thurman/Danny Garcia: Spence has looked destined for stardom since his march to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Olympics. As a pro, he has progressively faced better competition and opened a lot of eyes in 2016 with vicious knockout wins over Chris Algieri and Leonard Bundu. What makes those wins so impressive is Manny Pacquiao was unable to stop Algieri and Bundu went the distance with Thurman. Garcia and Thurman are set to tangle on March 4th in Brooklyn. A fight between the winner and Spence would be a matchup of the two best undefeated welterweights and create the heir apparent to Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the next great American welterweight star.
10. Jarrett Hurd vs. Erickson Lubin: The final fight on my wish list pits the two brightest young stars in the talent-laden junior middleweight division. Hurd burst into the conscience of boxing fans in November 2015 with an upset knockout win over previously undefeated Frank Galarza (though Stiff Jab readers have been following him for years, since he hails from the DMV). He propelled the win into even more success in 2016, with stoppage wins over undefeated Mexican Olympian Oscar Molina and 35-win veteran Jo Jo Dan. Lubin went 4–0 in 2016 against opponents with a combined record of 99–9–2. Both are young, undefeated, and on the cusp of major fights in 2017, and a fight between the two would be explosive.

Bonus Wishes:

For top level boxers to fight more often: For the sport of boxing to grow, the biggest names need to be more active. The way fighters and the sport as a whole become more popular is for the best boxers to fight frequently and be in the public spotlight as often as possible. There is a reason UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has become a household name. He fought four times in an 11-month span, unheard of for elite pugilists. Nowadays a top boxer is considered active if he fights twice a year.

The following boxers all fought once or not all in 2016: Devon Alexander, Demetrius Andrade, Andre Berto, Timothy Bradley, Adrien Broner, Jermell Charlo, Miguel Cotto, James DeGale, Andre Dirrell, Anthony Dirrell, Omar Figueroa Jr., Tyson Fury, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Badou Jack, Daniel Jacobs, Amir Khan, Wladimir Klitschko, Erislandy Lara, Abner Mares, Lucas Matthysse, Jose Pedraza, Lamont Peterson, Shawn Porter, Viktor Postol, Ruslan Provodnikov, Peter Quillin, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Brandon Rios, Gary Russell Jr., Adonis Stevenson, Keith Thurman, and Austin Trout.

Some inactivity was by choice, some due to injury, and some due to circumstances outside the fighter’s control, but that is a lot of talent being wasted, and a lot of good fights not being fought.

For every boxer to enroll in the WBC Clean Boxing Program: Year-round random drug testing is done by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) subject to those enrolled in the program. As the saying goes, “you don’t play boxing.” Boxing is a very dangerous sport as it is. Fighters put their lives on the line every time they step between the ropes. In 2011, Sergey Kovalev killed an opponent in the ring. Magomed Abdusalamov, Prichard Colon and Nick Blackwell all suffered traumatic brain injuries and ended up comatose due to blows sustained during fights.

Another black eye to the sport happened just two weeks ago in Russia when disgraceful Russian regulators allowed heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin to fight the day after testing positive for steroids, and sure enough, he scored a brutal knockout. Here’s to hoping steroids become weeded out of boxing and combat sports in general in the near future.

Happy New Year Boxing Fans!