Travis’ Plea for More Competitive Fights… Attention Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Deontay Wilder and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez

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By Travis Fleming

Why do we watch boxing? Is it to see competitive match ups with no predetermined winner, or to watch our favorite stars score highlight reel KO’s over sacrificial lambs who had no business being in the same ring as them? You would think the answer is easy, but judging by the massive amount of coverage that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 45-1-, 32 KO’s, and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, 32-0, 29 KO’s, have received for their most recent fights against pathetically weak opposition, that answer becomes different depending on who you are asking the question to.

Just last week, there were two incredibly evenly matched wars with Ricky Burns vs Omar Figueroa, and Jaime McDonnell vs Tomoki Kameda, and coming up on May 23 is the most competitive elite level matchup of the year when Andre Dirrell takes on James Degale. All three of these bouts are what the sport is all about, yet they get swept under the rug in favor of bigger names engaging in total mismatches where they score impressive looking knockouts and fool the casual fan base into being impressed.

I, for one, am completely sick of these mismatches, and the shine they receive. I believe that elite level fighters should be fighting other elite level fighters, or at least top ten guys, which is why I was beyond disappointed upon hearing the news that another terrible mismatch, to showcase a star fighter, was just signed for June 13th.

Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder, 33-0, 32 KO’s, just announced that the first defense of his WBC heavyweight title will be in his native Alabama against the underwhelming Eric Molina, 23-2, 17 KO’s, on June 13th, as a part of Al Haymon’s Premiere Boxing Champions series.

This is unacceptable opposition for a heavyweight champ. I’m a big fan of Wilder, I have sang his praises in several articles, and I truly believe he can beat any heavyweight alive including heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko (don’t get me wrong, I also feel Klitshcko, Alexander Povetkin, David Haye, and more could beat him as well). Wilder impressed in winning the title from Bermane Stiverne in a shutout decision where he showed he has boxing skill, and a decent chin, to add to his bone chilling power.

“GGG”, Wilder and Canelo should be ashamed of themselves. Canelo gets more of a pass though, as he tried getting Miguel Cotto and just went through a very difficult string of opponents including Austin Trout, Floyd Mayweather, JR.and Erislandy Lara. GGG and Wilder have absolutely no excuse for their weak mismatches.

Deontay Wilder broke his right hand early in the Stiverne fight, so he took longer than he had hoped for to make his first title defense. Wilder wants to stay busy as he awaits his shot at Wladimir Klitschko, and there’s nothing wrong with mixing it up with a few tune ups, but Molina hardly even qualifies for that!

It was announced last week that Wilder has healed and will be returning on June 13th for a homecoming title defense against an opponent yet to be determined. I knew right away that because of the short notice, the fight being part of PBC, and the fight being staged in Alabama as a showcase for the new champion, that we weren’t going to see a high profile opponent. Obviously Klitschko and Tyson Fury are out of the equation as they’re fighting each other, and obviously guys like Povetkin and Haye are too high profile to take a fight on short notice for short money, but there a plethora of better options for Wilder that are safe enough for a hometown showcase in a stay busy fight, ones that would have actually add some credibility to his resume.
He will gain absolutely nothing from a KO of Molina. Nothing! Molina’s shining moment was a first round KO loss to Chris Arreola who got whooped twice by Wilder’s last opponent Stiverne.

People criticized Wladimir Klitschko’s terrible opposition, with a couple exceptions, over the last few years and I’m in agreement with that criticism. By opting to fight Eric Molina, Wilder is making Klitschko’s pathetic opposition like Mariusz Wach, Alex Leapai, Francesco Pianeta and Jean Marc Mormeck, seem like high quality wins.

Already, three much better opponents have come out and criticized “The Bronze Bomber” for his opponent choice in this first title defense. The wily veteran Tony Thompson, who has made a late career out of upsetting highly touted prospects, was more than willing to fight Wilder, and would have been his best win to date. Rugged contender Amir Mansour also threw his name in the hat, in hopes of being named Wilder’s first defense opponent. Half crazy, former champ Shannon Briggs was also more than willing, and would have at least provided for a great pre-fight build up and an exciting three rounds.

Going through the heavyweight rankings of fighters that would be able and willing to take this Wilder homecoming fight on short notice for short money, just to get the chance to win a world
title is no shorter than 15 fighters long! 15 better options means there are absolutely no excuses for Eric Molina. I have listed them below:

Tony Thompson
Andy Ruiz, JR.
Gerald Washington
Bermane Stiverne (Rematch)
Bryant Jennings
Shannon Briggs
Eddie Chambers
Alex Leapai
Steve Cunningham
Antonio Tarver
Artur Szpilka
Derek Chisora
Amir Mansour
Chris Arreola
Carlos Takam