By Paul Strauss – There are always doomsayers hovering around the sport of boxing. They tend to exaggerate the negative and fret like old hags, trying to pass off every little hiccup as an impending calamity. But, unlike the sign holders who occasionally show up on street corners, these bearers of bad news never seem to go away. They present themselves as concerned fans of the sport, and argue that they just want the best. Then they go on to forecast the demise of their beloved sport. Thankfully their impact has been negligible. Boxing last rounds have been predicted more often than Mickey Rooney’s and Elizabeth Taylor’s divorces..
Currently, the naysayers portray boxing as its own worst enemy, and they predict it will destroy itself from within. There are those that say boxing is suffering greatly because boxing goes the way of the heavyweights, and currently we lack a champion with charisma. Another group says MMA is killing the sport, and that boxing needs to readjust its goals to cater more to needs of that crowd. There have always been allegations of corruption, set-ups,
record padding, crooked decisions, and plain old incompetence. But, somehow the sport survives, and much of the time silences, at least momentarily, its critics and goes on to even thrive.
Boxing enjoyed a great year in 2009 with record gates, huge fights in the lighter weight divisions, and the emergence of some new super stars. Oh sure there was controversy and some black eyes occurring outside of the ring, but often times what should have been a negative just generated more interest and brought attention and curiosity to the course of events. The sport continued to move forward and kept its fans and maybe even created a few more.
The doomsayers felt the failure of the Pac Man vs. Mayweather fight would ruin the upcoming year and once again possibly turn fans away. Don’t you believe it. Look closely at what has all ready been lined up for the coming months. Still this month we have JuanMa’s and Gamboa’s fights. Gamboa fights Mtagwa, who gave JuanMa so much trouble, and JuanMa faces the only once beaten Luevano. If both emerge victorious, then their clash is inevitable. John Duddy also shows up on that card, and it will be interesting to see if he can resume his push ahead for a title shot.
Still in January, ESPN will be headlining Jesse Brinkley from The Contender show and his eight win streak will be on the line against Curtis Stevens, who has only tasted defeat twice in his twenty-three fight career. That will be coming to you from the Reno Arena, Reno, NV. Then Showtime will be featuring bantamweights Chris Avalos vs. Jose Nieves on a card in Albuquerque, NM.
Minnesota’s Matt Vanda has been reinventing himself, winning his last three and coming off of a big upset win over the then undefeated super middleweight knockout artist Phil Williams. Vanda will be facing Peter Manfredo, Jr. at the Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut. They might not be the cream of the crop, but they will undoubtedly put on an exciting main event.
Wait a minute, January is still not done. Next we go to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV to get another look at the rocket like rise of Erislandy Lara. He is matched up against the tough and dangerous Grady Brewer. Lara is undefeated and Brewer has won his last eight.
Throw in a heavyweight bout here and there, and what is always an exciting appearance by Jorge Arce, and then we have the huge matchup between Allan Green and Sakio Bika.
The winner of that one will move on to fight Andre Ward in the Super Six Tournament. That gives us two big fights, plus the other matchups in that tournament between Froch and Kessler and Dirrell and Abraham.
There’s Adamek and Estrada, Klitschko and Chambers, Urango and Alexander, a PPV with Fernando Montiel, and Nonito Donaire, and heavyweights Danny Williams and David Tua will also see action. Dallas will showcase its new (billion dollar plus) stadium when it hosts the extravaganza between Pac Man and Clottey in March. Despite those lamenting the demise of the big fight, this one will prove to be both memorable inside the ring and at the gate. Then we have a fourth fight between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vasquez (quit drooling).
To top things off, we now have the very real possibility of the long awaited matchup between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Sugar Shane Mosley. That could happen as soon as the March 13th date, but look for it to probably take place in May in Las Vegas. That will be a lollapalooza, and it takes us through less than half the year. You’ve got to admit there’s a lot of potential excitement packed into that schedule, and just as one punch sets up another, these fights will set up winning combinations for the second half of 2010. Boxing might have some scars and bruises, and every year has to weather some set backs, but it has and will continue to fight off any attempt at a submission hold and will remain alive and well. Happy New Year boxing fans.