Predictions are a lot like contract clauses, which is to say they are hard to fulfill. They fall apart faster than Jean Pascal. So don’t take them seriously, especially after a problematic 2010 left a fractured web of further trouble in 2011. But here goes anyway,15 predictions for every round in a New Year:
· Floyd Mayweather Jr. will only fight security guards and only if they undergo Olympic-style drug-testing.
· Filipino Congressman Manny Pacquiao thinks about becoming his own security guard, but decides he has better things to do. He writes and proposes legislation; raises funds for his presidential campaign; asks Freddie Roach to be his running mate; asks Bob Arum to be his Secretary of Defense; studies for a couple of movie roles; plays point guard, power forward, shooting guard, center, small forward and sixth man; negotiates for ownership of an NBA franchise; tries to sing; puts off singing lessons; speaks to the United Nations; writes his autobiography; visits Barack Obama; hosts a talk show and assures the faithful that he isn’t distracted. What, Manny, worry? He stops Shane Mosley within nine rounds on May 7.
· For a couple of rounds, Mosley looks better than expected. He pushes the Manny congregation to the edge of despair with an early knockdown of Pacquiao. A red-faced Arum can be heard screaming at Todd DuBoef, telling him to arrange an immediate rematch with either Joshua Clottey or Antonio Margarito. But like the T–Shirt says: Manny Knows. Translation: No worries. Wear and tear from a long career, combined with Pacquiao’s inexhaustible energy and speed, sap Mosley, turning him into the burned-out shell he was against Sergio Mora.
· Miguel Cotto gets in the last word against Ricardo Mayorga, everybody’s first choice for a tune-up, and then moves onto some unfinished business against Margarito. Cotto avenges his 2008 loss to Margarito. Cotto never mentions whether he suspects that Margarito wore the altered hand wraps that led to his license revocation after they were discovered loss to Mosley. He doesn’t have to. A one-sided victory says it all.
· The Arum-Oscar De La Hoya feud continues, also a safe for prediction for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and beyond, say, until sometime after Pacquiao’s term as the Filipino president ends.
· Pascal says he doesn’t do rematches, even though Bernard Hopkins earned one in a majority draw and a contract clause entitles Chad Dawson to one. Pascal doesn’t do late rounds either, a habit which would doom him in another go-round with either Hopkins or Dawson, who figures to be smarter and much tougher with trainer Emanuel Steward.
· Juan Manuel Marquez beats Andre Berto and again asks for a second rematch with Pacquiao. Arum, already in a never-ending battle with Marquez promoter De La Hoya, is running short on reasons to avoid Marquez. But Arum re-opens a forgotten front. He tells Marquez to dump trainer Nacho Beristain, who has been a forgotten in the ongoing saga. Beristain walked out of a news conference amid an exchange of obscenities after Pacquiao won a disputed decision in their last bout. Years ago, Beristain ended his relationship with Arum after an angry breakdown in negotiations.
· Sylvester Stallone opens and concludes his acceptance speech in June for induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame by saying “Yo.’’
· Mike Tyson tells the Hall of Fame audience in June that he doesn’t really belong in the Hall, but he has already been there in photos and memorabilia for several years anyway. Tyson’s induction, a worthy one despite the controversy surrounding him throughout his career, only makes it official.
· The Hall announces plans for a Hollywood wing. Mark Wahlberg is nominated for spot in Hall alongside Stallone for his starring role in The Fighter. Some critics continue to call The Fighter the best film ever about boxing. They must have never seen When We Were Kings, the poignant story about Muhammad Ali’s 1974 victory over George Foreman in Zaire. It’s a documentary, which means the drama is real in a sport that is so often its own screenplay.
· Evander Holyfield doesn’t retire. Hopkins, Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson don’t either.
· Beyond his boxing prime and a mixed-martial bust, James Toney has nowhere to go. He becomes a pro wrestler.
· Saul “Canelo” Alvarez calls out Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Canelo tells him: “Let’s fight at Azteca Stadium and see if we can do what your daddy did.’’ Chavez’ father, the legendary Julio Sr. and another 2011 Hall of Fame inductee, drew a record crowd of 132,247 to the Mexico City stadium for his 1993 victory over Greg Haugen..
· Amir Khan unifies the junior-welterweight title and begins talks about moving up in weight and class, possibly against Cotto.
· The heavyweights get a new name, the Euros, overrated and devalued.
