“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole” — Oscar Wilde.
Simply put, to date, 2010 has not been a great year for the sweet science. Much has been made — and written — about what could have been. The superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. never came to fruition. David Haye settled for bouts with John Ruiz and Audley Harrison instead of taking on one of the Klitschko brothers and one of boxing’s bright spots, Showtime’s Super Six tournament, has hit monumental speed bumps, perhaps discouraging promoters and fighters from entering tournaments in the future.
Further, negative press has cast a shadow over boxing in recent weeks as a direct result of misguided actions by boxers outside of the ring. We can hope it has all come to a head with the recent Mayweather debacle and Ricky Hatton drug-binge.
With regards to the action, like any year, there have been entertaining brawls and there have been snooze-fests. Recently, in back-to-back weekends, two Fight of the Year candidates took place outside of the United States. Ricky Burns upset Rocky Martinez in a twelve round slugfest in Scotland that saw Burns overcome a first round knockdown and ultimately capture the WBO super featherweight title in front of his hometown fans. The other took place a week prior when Giovanni Segura — playing the role of hunter — went into Ivan Calderon’s backyard of Puerto Rico where he stalked his prey for seven-plus rounds until the formerly undefeated Calderon was unable to continue after eating a barrage of devastating body shots. As a result, Segura and his team traveled back to Mexico with the WBO light flyweight and the WBA Super World light flyweight titles in tow.
Unfortunately, recent media coverage — including my own — has not focused on these two superb bouts. Rather, the recent focus on the sport of the boxing has primarily been dominated by the negative actions of both Mayweather and Hatton.
I, for one, do not subscribe to the theory that all press is good press. That is why the rest of this article will be dedicated to shining a light on fights to look forward to before the year’s end.
This upcoming weekend’s HBO Pay-Per-View card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is a decent fight card that is being marketed toward Mexican fans with the lure that on the weekend that celebrates Mexican Independence, three fighters of Mexican decent will look to provide their Mexican brethren with one more reason to celebrate.
Victor Ortiz looks to continue on the comeback trail after he was stopped by Marcos Maidana in June of last year when he faces off against veteran Vivian Harris, who in his last fight was the victim of an extremely premature stoppage in Mexico at the hands of Argentinian, Lucas Matthyse. Prized Mexican prospect Saul “Canelo” Alvarez confront his toughest challenge yet when he fights aged veteran Carlos Baldomir and the main event will feature Sergio Mora against Shane Mosley.
By no means is this a card to be thrilled about, but there is some intrigue with regards to both the Alvarez and Mosley bouts. Alvarez was rocked in the first round of his last fight against Jose Miguel Cotto, but ultimately recovered to get the TKO victory. We’ll have the chance to continue to watch him mature and see if he can stop the grizzled veteran Baldomir for the first time in sixteen years.
The Mosley fight is interesting because Las Vegas says it is interesting. The Sin City betting lines for this fight opened with Mora a +280 underdog. Since then, the action has moved in the “Latin Snake’s” direction changing the line to Mora a +220 underdog — meaning a majority of the betting public believes Mora pulls off the upset.
On Oct. 15, arguably the best super middleweight in the world, Lucian Bute, squares off against his mandatory challenger, Jesse Brinkley in a bout that can be seen on ESPN3.com. That same night, boxing fans can witness Antonio Tarver’s foray into the heavyweight division when he faces Nagy Aguilera in a fight televised on Showtime.
The next day, ESPN3.com will air Vitali Klitschko’s title fight with Shannon Briggs, live from Hamburg, Germany.
Nov. 6 is a big day for boxing when Juan Manuel Lopez (JuanMa) takes on Rafael Marquez live on Showtime from Las Vegas. If JuanMa successfully navigates by Marquez, it will hopefully set up a bout between him and Yuriorkis Gamboa for sometime in early 2011.
That same night, HBO will televise a “Boxing After Dark” card live from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center that will be headlined by Zab Judah against Lucas Matthyse. Judah looked extremely impressive on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” earlier in the year and one or two more dominating performances can make him a player at 140 lbs.
The Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout from Cowboys Stadium speaks for itself. HBO’s 24/7 will certainly drum up drama and help create storylines leading up to the November 13 PPV. Kelly Pavlik will battle with Daniel Edouard on the undercard. This marks Pavlik’s first time in the ring since he donned a stomach-churning crimson mask courtesy of Sergio Martinez back in April when he lost his title. We’ll get another glance at Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux and also get a peak at highly-touted welterweight prospect, Mike Jones.
On Nov. 27, Juan Manuel Marquez returns to the ring to take on battle-tested Michael Katsidas in a bout that should feature great action. An exciting Panamanian fighter, Celestino Cabellero will be featured on the undercard, and rumors continue to swirl that Andre Berto may be placed on this card as well, making it a triple-header.
A Nov. 20 fight in Atlantic City that has yet to be finalized would feature Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II and be shown on HBO.
Dec. 4 may play host to an interesting bout between Miguel Cotto and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Chavez Jr. is fresh off arguably his most impressive performance of his career against John Duddy and a win over Cotto will finally earn him the respect he has insisted he deserves.
Dec. 11 may mark the biggest night of all as Showtime kicks off the semi-finals of it’s bantamweight tournament when Abner Mares faces off against Vic Darchinyan and Yohnny Perez takes on Joseph Agbeko. This date is also a tentatively scheduled date for what would be a much talked about fight between Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana.
Finally, scheduled to take place on Dec. 18 in Quebec City is a bout between Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal. Pascal is fresh off his upset victory against Chad Dawson, while the “Executioner” looks to regain relevancy and prolong his outstanding career.
Perhaps it’s foolish to view the remaining 2010 fistic schedule as whole doughnuts. The doughnuts would have been the Super Six proceeding flawlessly, a bout between a Klitschko brother and David Haye, as opposed to Klitschko-Briggs and Haye-Harrison, and of course, the elusive super fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, among other wishes.
It is equally foolish to view the remainder of 2010 as the empty hole in the doughnut, failing to acknowledge the interesting fights that have yet to take place, and instead choosing to dwell on what could and should have been.
The remaining 2010 boxing schedule is the equivalent to munchkins — made popular by doughnut chain, Dunkin Donuts. They are not the whole doughnut, nor are the empty center of the pastry. However, they are born from the center of the doughnut and serve as a sample of the whole doughnut — an appetizer of sorts. They are enjoyable, but not filling. They are enough to hold you over until the bigger meals arrive.
You can reach Kyle Kinder at Twitter.com/KyleKinder
