If we take out promotional conflicts, Television company conflicts, fighters ducking other fighters, fighters not willing to travel etc. Which fights are most needed in each division- if you can only pick a fighter for a single division (for example you have Mayweather v Pacquiao at Welter, you can't pick Mayweather again to fight Lara at 154). Here are mine: HEAVYWEIGHT: TYSON FURY v DEONTAY WILDER With Vitali out of the picture, nobody in HW is anywhere near Wlad, and with Haye retired, these are the two most talked about active Heavyweights. So let's have a glass shattering exhibition to create the most marketable opponent between these two clowns, then feed the surviving circus act to Wlad. Predicted winner- 50/50 but it defo ends by KO. I'll go for Wilder to find Fury's chin first. CRUISERWEIGHT: YOAN PABLO HERNANDEZ v MARCO HUCK With Jones win over Lebedev getting a big astrix next to it following his drug bust, it was a choice of three matches involving these two and Wlodarczyk. These two are more universally recognized as numbers 1 and 2, and would create a TBR champion and solve the controversy of The Ring bypassing Huck to award Hernandez the title after beating Cunningham. Not likely to happen as they share trainers though. Predicted winner- Another hard one to call. Huck is entirely beatable but Hernandez's chin's pretty poor. I'd edge toward Hernandez outboxing Huck to a close UD. LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: ADONIS STEVENSON v SERGEY KOVALEV Petty much everyone wants to see this. My reasoning would not to see the winner take divisional supremacy (as Hopkins would still have a claim) but to see Stevenson brutally KO'd :yep Predicted winner- Kovaelv by brutal KO within 3 rounds. SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT: CARL FROCH v GEORGE GROVES II These two had a great first fight, robbed off it's natural conclusion by over anxious referring. Predicted winner- Carl Froch late TKO. I thought Froch may have been jobbed worse than Groves in the first fight- I envisaged Froch, being a lethal finisher would've Bute'd Groves over the next couple of rounds and got a legit TKO. I feel that's what will happen in the rematch too. MIDDLEWEIGHT: SERGIO MARTINEZ v GENNADY GOLOVKIN Golovkin is the heir apparent to Martinez's throne, and Martinez will be the first truly elite fighter to give GGG a chance. Predicted winner- Golovkin late stoppage by Martinez's corner, but with Martinez putting up a fight before passing the torch. JR MIDDLEWEIGHT: SAUL ALVAREZ v MIGUEL COTTO The two biggest names at 154 outside of Mayweather, makes for a big PPV event and probably a decent fight. Predicted winner- Hard to call and depends how Alvarez responds to his first loss. My gut reaction is to say Canelo by close debatable decision. WELTERWEIGHT: FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR v MANNY PACQUIAO Still the biggest fight that can be made in boxing even if it should've been done ages ago. Predicted winner- Mayweather close but clear UD. JR. WELTERWEIGHT: DANNY GARCIA v RUSLAN PROVODNIKOV Garcia, following his win over Matthysse, has pretty much cleared out the top fighters at 140 less the Siberian Rocky. Great action fight. Predicted winner- Danny Garcia in a very hard fought career shorting decision win. LIGHTWEIGHT: YURIORKIS GAMBOA v MIGUEL VAZQUEZ/ DENIS SHAFIKOV WINNER Gamboa is the biggest name in the division and whoever emerges out of Vazquez and Shafikov will be the number 1 guy in the division. Predicted winner- I think Shafikov will beat Vazquez on points and do the same with Gamboa. JR LIGHTWEIGHT: MIKEY GARCIA v TAKASHI UCHIYAMA While I said earlier that the Kovalev-Stevenson fight doesn't necessarily mean that nobody else can claim to be number 1 in the division, this one would and Uchiyama is probably the only guy currently campaigning in the weight class who is a threat to Garcia. Predicted winner: Garcia survives a few scary moments and wins a late TKO. FEATHERWEIGHT: NONITO DONAIRE v JHONNY GONZALEZ/ ABNER MARES II WINNER While Simpiwe Vetyeka and the winner of Orlando Salido/ Vasyl Lomachenko are still major players at Featherweight, this would make for the biggest (and possibly best) fight: Predicted winner: Mares evens the score with Gonzalez stopping him late, Donaire stops Mares in the middle rounds. JR FEATHERWEIGHT: GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX v LEO SANTA CRUZ Simple battleof best boxer vs best brawler. Predicted winner: Rigondeaux fairly wide UD. BATAMWEIGHT: SHINSUKE YAMANAKA v ANSELMO MORENO As with Garcia-Uchiyama, these two are way out in front at the weight with not many close. Time to decide who is better: Predicted winner: Yamanaka close with a KD or two being the difference in the scores. JR BATAMWEIGHT: OMAR ANDRES NARVAEZ v CARLOS CUDRAS Not much in the way of big fights in this weight class. Naravez in the number 1 at the weight, with a few candidates for number 2. Pick Cudras because he's undefeated and the winner would crown a new Ring Champion. Predicted winner- Narvaez close on points. FLYWEIGHT: AKIRIA YAEGASHI v JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA Top two guys in the division (until Gonzalez moves up at least) and would make for a great action fight. Predicted winner- Fight goes the distance and Estrada gets the nod after a war. JR FLYWEIGHT: ROMAN GONZALEZ v KAZUTO IOKA Same reasons as above fight. Predicted winner- Gonzalez late TKO STRAWWEIGHT: KATSUNARI TAKAYAMA v HEKKIE BUDLER You will generally find most ranks one of these two as number 1 at the weight and fight would decide who is top out of the two. Predicted winner- Budler clear UD.
The only ones I give a decent chance of happening are: Fury v Wilder (after one of the two has already been stopped) Stevenson v Kovalev (after Stevenson is stopped by the Pascal/ Bute winner) Froch v Groves 2 Alvarez v Cotto Takayama v Budler :twisted:
He could lose the honor of being the Canadian champ, let alone World champ :yep Yeah its almost as if he doesn't want to fight Kovalev :twisted:
Perfect fight for GGG Whats the incentive for Mayweather? Money: He is making the same $ vs Khan & Maidana legacy: Not Mayweather priority & GGG brings no legacy, because his handlers didn't jump on Barker and Kid C for those easy belts...then pushed for Martinez WBC Lineal... it's a big risk, for no extra $, minor legacy...not enticing... GGG to blame for it...
heavyweight- stiverne-fury (vitali is emeritus, haye is injured, maybe done, arreola already lost to stiverne, and wilder hasn't fought anyone. this establishes a champion and builds a unification matchup with wlad.) cruiserweight- I don't know lhw- kovalev-stevenson (two of the top three punchers in boxing perhaps, in the same weight division, who may be at their respective physical peaks. enough said. smw- froch-groves 2 (this one needs to be cleared up, and the winner solidifies their case for a ward bout) mw- ggg-martinez (ggg is the heir apparent, the proverbial young lion, versus martinez, the aging champion. it's either a passing of the torch, a schooling, or something in between. either way it's compelling. lmw- canelo-cotto (floyd isn't involved in this situation because he already defeated both fighters. cotto is coming off a devastating win, and canelo a resounding loss. puerto rico vs. mexico angle? make this fight. ww- too many to name. it's a virtual grab bag. the best division in boxing.
All those variables make sence. Still its the biggest fight out there. And with the kind of marketing they have --- it would be a monster.
Not the biggest fight in terms of PPV buys :nono Mayweather v Pacquiao would still do bigger numbers, but GGG is the biggest threat to Mayweather at 160 or below no doubt about it.
Marketing is on Mayweather side, GGG is a risky fight. For it to happen, GGG needs to swiftly move against all 160 belt holders, including Martinez (Who himself wants Mayweather...So team GGG can't offer Martinez the $ he wants..) that's the first dead end The second option is to move to 154, which is sealed unless he signs with GBP...Also another dead end...because if he takes the mandatory route...Mayweather will be retired by then... His team should have had a strategy ahead of time...move to 154 blockade Mayweather as early as 2010...now its too late
If GGG wants a Mayweather fight it would have to be at 154. If GGG wanted it bad enough he would drop to 154 like he said he can and make a name for himself.