Memo to Match Makers: Make These Five Fights Now!
By Jeffrey “Italian Medallion” Cellini
Canadian power-puncher Adonis Stevenson, 28-1, 23 KO’s, successfully defended his WBC light heavyweight title for the seventh time with a brutal fourth-round stoppage of Thomas Williams, JR. at the Videotron Center in Quebec, Canada, last Friday. Stevenson is currently ranked as the number one light heavyweight fighter in the world; however, many boxing observers are calling him out to face tougher competition. Is Stevenson really a rising superstar? Only time will tell.
On November 19th, Light Heavyweight champion (IBF/WBA/WBO) Sergey Kovalev, 30-0-1, 26 KO’s faces fellow top-ten pound-for-pound combatant Andre Ward, 29-0, 15 KO’s in a long anticipated clash. Hopefully, promoters will let the winner of this” superfight” square off with Adonis Stevenson in a unification fight.
Boxing can regain some of its popularity if promoters would just give the fans the fights that they want to see. With so much world-class talent in the sport today, let the fighter’s put aside their differences and give spectators the battles that they crave.
Top Five Match-maker’s fights for all boxing fans.
5) Deontay Wilder, 37-0, 36 KO’s Vs Anthony Joshua, 17-0 17 KO’s. The “Bronze Bomber” is not only the WBC Heavyweight champion, but is an American heavyweight that is dominating his opponents. Joshua is currently the IBF Heavyweight champion that has been crushing his foes in spectacular fashion as well. A unification fight between the two is already being discussed for late next year. Forget about one of these young exciting champions facing the winner of the Tyson Fury Vs Wladimir Klitschko rematch. The future of the heavyweight division belongs to the winner of this clash.
4) Gennady Golovkin, 35-0, 32 KO’s Vs Canelo Alvarez 47-1-1, 33 KO’s. “GGG”, who has been dominating the middleweight division for the last six years, holds WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF titles. He is currently the number three ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and is set to defend his crown for the seventieth time against welterweight champion Kell Brook. Canelo was the lineal middleweight champion but recently vacated his WBC title. He is ranked as the number sixth fighter in the world and is scheduled to fight Liam Smith for the WBO super welterweight title. Nobody seems on the horizon to end “GGG’s” long reign as the king of the division, except possibly the big puncher from Mexico. A fight between is scheduled to happen next year, as long as neither fighter suffers a setback.
3) Danny Garcia, 32-0, 18 KO’s Vs Keith Thurman, 27-0, 22 KO’s. Garcia is the reigning WBC Welterweight champion, who previously held the WBC, Ring and lineal light welterweight titles. He may also be boxing’s most under-rated champion. Thurman is the reigning WBA Welterweight champion and is considered the division’s best puncher. A matchup of these two undefeated welterweight kings makes sense, especially in a division that is known for epic unification battles. With undefeated Kell Brook (IBF titleholder) jumping up two weight classes to face “GGG” for the middleweight crown, there remains the potential for a great battle between the two champions to unify the belts.
2) Terence Crawford, 29-0, 22 KO’s Vs Manny Pacquiao, 58-6-2, 38 KO’s. Crawford is coming off a great victory over Viktor Postol that unified the Super Lightweight titles. Now is the time for the two-division champion to face a legendary fighter like Pacquiao to propel him to super stardom. Manny is boxing’s first eight- division title holder and ten-time world champion, and arguably was the best fighter in the world during his prime. However, the Pac-man’s skills have been eroding just enough for some younger fighters to risk a fight with him. Crawford, currently ranked number sixth in the world pound-for-pound, has dominated the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions. Time is now for the current WBC, WBO, Ring and lineal Super Lightweight champion to take the next step of his career. Talks are already in the works.
1) Adonis Stevenson, 28-1, 23 KO’s Vs Kovalev /Ward winner. The Light Heavyweight division has three of the top 15 pound-for-pound fighters in the world today. Stevenson is easily the biggest puncher in the division, but he has not been challenged by another top fighter. Kovalev and Ward are possibly two of the four best boxers in the sport today. Kovalev is currently ranked as the second-best fighter in the world, and holds the WBA, IBF and WBO Light Heavyweight titles. Ward is ranked as the fourth-best fighter in the world, and is the former WBA, WBC, Ring and lineal Super Middleweight champion. A great fight on November 19th will demand that the winner face Stevenson sometime next year.
Let’s hope that these fights are made over the next year. Boxing can once again become one of the most popular sports in the world if fighters and promoters can work together on accomplishing that goal.
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