By Ted Sares – If anyone wasn’t convinced that ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is a future world champion, they have to be believers now…At just 20 years old, he knocked out a tough former world champion [Baldomir] who had only been knocked out one time in 64 fights and that was 16 years ago. He is going to be a star in this sport for a long time, and we’re proud to have him on our team. –Oscar De La Hoya
Here they come: Nonito Donaire, Andre Ward, Lucien Bute, Sergio Martinez, Koki Kameda, Saul Alvarez, Timothy Bradley, Juan Manuel Lopez, Abner Mares, Yonnhy Perez, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Amir Khan. There are many others who are or soon will be making their mark. Bruisers like Marcos Maidana, James Kirkland, Carl Froch, Gene Pascal, Chad Dawson, and perhaps even David Lemieux will join the new kids on the block as well and so might Andre Berto, Kazuto Ioka, Nathan Cleverly, Elio Rojas, and Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. In the lower weights, Giovani Segura, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, Toshiaki Nishioka, Anselmo Moreno, and Joseph Agbeko, while not exactly new names, are holding steady..
While my jury is still out on Jorge Linares, Beibut Shumenov, Matt Korobov, Frankie Gavin, and John Murray, I do have high hopes for them. However, I cannot yet say the same for Fernando Guerrero, Shawn Porter, or Mike Jones who seem more flash than substance, but I could well rue these remarks. Andre Dirrell remains a question mark because of an injury and Michael Katsidis has been too much of a warrior for his own good.
The Old Guard
Manny Pacquiao doesn’t have too many more fights left, Sugar Shane Mosley is pretty much done, Gerry Penalosa, Jermain Taylor, and Israel Vazquez are virtually gone, Floyd Mayweather Junior may now be through, Juan Manuel Marquez is on the backend of a great career and so is Glen Johnson and possibly even Ivan Calderon who is 36 year old. Zsolt Erdei is also 36 and Jan Zaveck is 34. Eric Morel is 35. Zab Judah is near the end as well. Even “The Raging Bull,” Vic Darchinyan is getting long in the tooth. Miguel Cotto has seen his best days and so has Jorge Arce, but Juan Manuel Lopez may just be approaching his. Cellestino Caballero was recently exposed by an inspired Jason Liatzu and so was the slow-starting Arthur Abraham who was schooled by a focused “Cobra,” Carl Froch.
Bernard Hopkins figures to retire this year—or so logic would seem to dictate, but then logic never figures in when it comes to Hopkins. Jhonny Gonzalez is clearly not yet ready to exit the scene, but he has been in a lot of wars. Kelly Pavlik may still have it in him to rise to the top once more, but the task will be tremendously daunting. Chris John, while in possession of a great record, simply doesn’t fight enough. Even the great Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (79-3-1) is 33 and has been in 83 fights, but he now stays fresh by fighting terrible opposition between important fights. One of these times, it may catch up to him.
The heavyweight scene is as abysmal as I have ever seen it with only three men (David Haye and the Klitschko brothers) at the top and the rest, seemingly churning in a downward swirl. Names like Povetkin, Chagaev, Johnson, Thompson, Solis, Gomez, Austin, Chambers, Valuev, and Dimitrenko are hardly compelling. Maybe Adamek and Arreola (if he is in shape) can ignite some spark, but regrettably, the competition is what it is and it’s simply not much to write about.
The future is now
It’s the natural progression of things and nothing can stop it. The future belongs to guys called The Cobra, S.O.G., Canelo, Juanma El Chino, the Mandingo Warrior, and others. The Hagler’s, Duran’s, Leonard’s and Hearn’s can’t be with us forever nor can the Vazquez’s , Marquez’s, Barrera’s and Morales’s. No, this is the new order of things in boxing and it doesn’t look bad.