by David P. Greisman

No year in boxing is without its upside. There will almost always be the thrills of great fights, impressively dominant performances, prospects and contenders rising toward stardom, and stars transcending toward superstardom.

Still, 2014 was far from a banner year.

Rafe Bartholomew wrote an amusing and depressing wrap-up of the year over at Grantland titled, fittingly and concisely, “Boxing: 2014, the Year of Suck.”

“Challenge one of the seen-it-all ringside scribes who has observed the sport for decades to come up with a year so chock-full of disgraceful mismatches, outrageous scorecards, and business moves that threaten to drive boxing further than ever from the American mainstream, and chances are he’ll come up empty,” Bartholomew wrote before putting forth a timeline of many of the hilarious, strange and head-shaking events of 2014. It can be read at http://es.pn/1zMyVnA

We’re now a handful of days beyond Christmas and just a few days away from ringing in the New Year. I got what I wanted from Santa on Dec. 25. Here’s what I’m hoping for from the Sweet Science in 2015:

Big Fights Between The Best in a Division

At light heavyweight is the battle between champion Adonis Stevenson and three-belt titleholder Sergey Kovalev, a fight we wanted to see a year ago and which is even more appealing after Kovalev’s surprisingly one-sided win over Bernard Hopkins.

At middleweight, Gennady Golovkin is once again left waiting for the other big names to show themselves willing to step into the ring against one of the sport’s biggest punchers. If we get a bout between lineal champ Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez — still a huge “if” at this moment — I’d hope that we’d see the winner defend against “GGG.” I won’t hold my breath, however.

At welterweight, there’s still Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. Sigh.

At junior-welterweight is Danny Garcia vs. Lamont Peterson. This seemed destined to happen when they shared a Showtime broadcast in August against gimme opponents, but no deal had been signed nor a guarantee made to put them together. Garcia’s mandatory challenger, Viktor Postol, was paid a step-aside fee. We’re yet to see whom Garcia will be facing instead. Meanwhile, Lucas Matthysse is still angling for a rematch with Garcia of their 2013 fight.

At featherweight are a handful of titleholders: Jhonny Gonzalez, who knocked off Abner Mares back in 2013; Nicholas Walters, who made a huge statement with his stoppage of Nonito Donaire; Vasyl Lomachenko, whose class is evident after an extended amateur career and very brief pro campaign; and Evgeny Gradovich, who may be the weak link of this foursome. With contenders like Abner Mares still out of the picture due to (what else?) the nature of the business, I’d love to se a continuation of an unofficial tournament producing a true top guy at 126.

At 115 pounds, we’re about to get a fight on Tuesday (Dec. 30) between aging longtime titleholder Omar Narvaez and young, rising 108-pound titleholder Naoya Inoue. It’d be great to see the winner take on another beltholder, power-punching Carlos Cuadras.

And at flyweight is a potential fight that makes us hardcore fans gleeful: a rematch between lineal champ Roman Gonzalez and two-belt titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada. They met in 2012 at 108 pounds, with Gonzalez winning a unanimous decision.

The Return of Ward, Chavez Jr. and Garcia

Andre Ward hasn’t fought since November 2013 and has only appeared in the ring twice since winning the “Super Six” tournament at the end of 2011. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. hasn’t fought since his rematch victory over Bryan Vera this past March. Mikey Garcia hasn’t fought since he outpointed Juan Carlos Burgos way back in January.

All three have been in disputes with their promoters, Ward with the late Dan Goossen, and Chavez and Garcia with Top Rank. Garcia and Top Rank look to be reconciling, while Chavez has signed with adviser Al Haymon and is still seeking to part with his promoter. Ward’s situation has been mentioned in rumors but little more.

Their situations have become punch lines, particularly those of Ward and Garcia, who were regarded as two of the best in the sport. That’s unfortunate. Boxing gains nothing from their absence, excepting those that feel Ward and Garcia are not entertaining in the ring. Chavez still pulls in very good ratings. His disappearing act last year left us without a potential fight with Gennady Golovkin. Super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch still wants to face Chavez in the United States in what could be a fun fight.

Success for Boxing’s Newer and Smaller Promoters

I’ve said it time and again: I don’t root for specific fighters and I don’t pull for one entity over another. With that said, I want boxing’s newer and smaller promoters to do well — for them to put on successful shows, cultivate significant prospects and contenders, and increase their respective footholds in the sport.

So many people take sides in the competitive rivalries between promoters and networks. I don’t get it. It doesn’t do boxing or the boxers themselves any better if one network wins while the other struggles. We should want many in the business to thrive, because that means more fights for us and more opportunities for the fighters.

Peace for Mike Tyson

The famed former heavyweight champion has remained in the public eye during his retirement, for necessity’s sake. He needs the money, having squandered his earnings. And so we’ve seen him in movies and television shows, on one-man stage performances and even in a cartoon. He also got involved with boxing promotion, a venture that apparently is falling apart.

Tyson’s struggles with drug abuse and mental health are well known. His name and image are still valuable. I’m hoping that he still sees himself as having something positive to contribute to the sport, and that he continues to win his internal battles one day at a time.

More Attention to Foreign Fighters, Women’s Boxing

International fighters used to be ignored or derided in the United States as not being worthy of attention unless and until they tested themselves against American talent, against whom they were inevitably expected to fall short. That’s silliness. Foreign boxers have shown themselves as being as good as and in several cases better than their U.S. counterparts. And they have also been in great fights and put together notable runs despite a lack of attention from American television.

You need look no further than many of the names mentioned above: Kovalev, Golovkin, Lomachenko, Walters, Gonzalez and Estrada. Never mind the talent of fighters such as Wladimir Klitschko, Adonis Stevenson, Carl Froch, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Carl Frampton, etc., etc. etc. And as has been the case, many of the best battles happen outside of the States and are being caught afterward on YouTube or other illicit avenues.

I hope boxing finds a way to give more attention to this global sport, and I also think we’re way past time to begin giving a spotlight to women’s boxing. Female fighters are increasingly getting attention in mixed martial arts, and they’re headlining boxing cards in other countries. There’s an admittedly limited number of slots available for promoters already struggling to get their fighters paid, but these women are working hard, fighting hard and well, and unfortunately are not being rewarded commensurate with their efforts.

More Prelim Fights Streamed Online or Aired Elsewhere

A few promoters continue to put undercard bouts up for free on their websites. Showtime has its “Showtime Extreme” broadcasts. These are good ideas. More promoters should take after them. I hope HBO soon joins in and puts prelim fights on one of its other channels.

Though a fraction of boxing fans will tune in, these shows help create an awareness of rising prospects as they develop, building fan bases for them if and when they arrive on the bigger stage.

Boxing to Take Its Ills Seriously

Another year has gone by and we can’t really say that boxing has taken significant strides in ensuring that referees and judges do better jobs and are held accountable when they don’t; that fighter safety is held in the highest regard with the scrutiny boxers must undergo to be licensed; and that the flawed drug testing isn’t just swept under the rug.

It’s shameful. And it’s a guarantee that 2015 will be no different in this regard than was 2014, and the year before, and the year before that, and so on…

The 10 Count will return next year.

“Fighting Words” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com