2020 Q1: shaping up as ...frankly, a load of caca.

Honestly the forum server upgrade could have lasted a few months instead of a few days (let alone the "few hours" the admins claimed ) and it'd be fine. The only really big event that would've been ruined is Wilder vs. Fury II, and CST or I can always do the RBR on Twitter.

 

Here is Boxrec's top p4p boxer in each division, and what they have planned in the next few months:

1. HW: Anthony Joshua - nothing. Fair enough, he fought Ruiz in December and is a twice annual fighter at this stage of his career. Pulev match rumored for late spring. (yuck)
2. CW: Mairis Briedis - nothing. Really kind of inexcusable; he last fought in June.
3. LHW: Dmitry Bivol - nothing. Eh, borderline unacceptable. He fought Castillo in October, so if he waits until April or May that means he's down to a twice annual schedule himself - really not ideal for a prime 29 year old light heavyweight.
4. SMW: Callum Smith - nothing. Fair enough, he just had a grueling match with Ryder in late November (and should've lost, but that's another story). Canelo match rumored for sometime mid-2020; if that comes off it would certainly excuse 6-7 months' absence.
5. MW: Canelo - nothing official yet. That's fine. He fought Kovalev in November and there's already whispering about his next match (versus a shortlist of candidates), probably on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
6. JMW/SWW: Jaime Munguía - fighting Spike O'Sullivan on Saturday in his middleweight debut. Alright, cool - but as of then he's officially no longer the man at 154. That would leave J-Rock (competing next week) or, I hate to say it, Jermell Charlo (who just fought the Harrison rematch a few weeks ago) to inherit his throne.
7. WW: Terence Crawford - nothing. Fair enough, he just fought Kavaliauskas in mid-December. Social media war of words against Spence could hopefully pave the way for a 2020 grudge match. Has openly ducked Shawn Porter.
8. LWW/SLW: Josh Taylor - nothing. Okay for now, he just went a hard 12 against the very good Rougarou in late October. He'll need to have something lined up soon though. Fighting just twice as he did in 2019 would be a bad look for a 29 year old on the verge of making p4p lists.
9. LW: Vasiliy Lomachenko - nothing. Come on, time's a wasting, Hi-Tek. You fought Campbell in late August. Teófimo Andrés López in April would indicate an emergent pattern of fighting once in spring and once in fall. I guess that's fine. Making us wait until April for some Ricky Burns crap, however, wouldn't be cool.
10. SFW: Miguel Berchelt - nothing. He just fought Sosa in November. The Scorpion has been calling for Valdez, which might be worth a wait of several months.
11. FW: Josh Warrington - nothing. He just fought Sofiane Takoucht in October. A unification with Shakur Stevenon in May seems to be gaining traction behind the scenes but still not official.
12. SBW: Emanuel Navarrete - nothing. He just fought Horta in December. Nothing even being hinted at yet. He's sort of a low-profile champ, doesn't go around calling people out.
13. BW: Naoya Inoue - nothing. He just fought Donaire in November. Rumors of a Casimero fight in April.
14. JBW/SFLW: Juan Francisco Estrada - nothing. He fought Dewayne Beamon in August. Possibly waiting in the wings for the Yafai vs. Chocolatito winner.
15. FLW: Kōsei Tanaka - nothing. He just fought Tuolehazi on NYE. WBO pickings are slim. He already beat #2 Acosta. Honestly anything short of unification might be a disappointment in 2020.
16. LFW: Kenshiro Teraji - nothing. He just fought Petalcorin a couple of days before Christmas. Rumors have swirled about possibly meeting Hekkie Budler since last fall.
17. StrW/MnW: Seansuree Moonsuree - nothing. He fought Khonkco in late October. I'm not sure who is being eyed for Wanheng, but hazarding a guess it won't be Ginjiro Shigeoka in the near future if they wanna keep that cherry intact.

So there you go. 2020 Q1 takes a hit because 2019 Q3/4 was so lit. Zero-sum game, baby.

 

^ can't believe, across seventeen divisions, the p4p #1 in sixteen of those (if you accept BoxRec's computerized rankings; if not then at the very least guys that are in that ballpark, at least top 5 p4p in their respective divisions on anybody's list) has no plans to compete in the first three or four months of the year.

And of the seventeen the one that we are going to see in action (Munguía) is a) by far the p4p worst and b) debuting in another division.

 

Even the best & biggest ones coming up (Wilder vs. Fury II, Román vs. Akhmadaliev, Farmer vs. Díaz, Ramírez vs. Postol, Russell, Jr. vs. Nyambayar and potentially Martínez vs. Harris) don't have all that special a feel, to me, nor do they rise to quite the level of "very good". The most glittering prize there is one that we've already seen before...and while it was quite good for a present era heavyweight fight, it wasn't anything close to a p4p FOTY contender IMO.

Put it this way: there's nothing on the docket that, were it happening in my own town, I'd be willing to purchase a ticket and go attend without even knowing the undercard, sight unseen.