By Jake Donovan
Once upon a time, the phrase ‘Wait ‘till next year’ was coined by the late Leo Durocher during his years spent as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, back when the famed baseball squad was still in Brooklyn, of course. Three years before moving to Los Angeles, 1955 finally became “next year” for the perennial bridesmaid, claiming its first World Series.
For most of 2014, “wait ‘till next year” has befit a boxing fraternity in hopes that a steady stream of meaningful fights were on the horizon. This past calendar was nothing like its predecessor; while 2013 was a year to remember, 2014 has – with the exception of a few key moments - largely been a year to forget.
The past few weeks, however, have given boxing fans reason to believe that 2015 will be “our” year.
Even without the fight yet signed and sealed (if ever), there is already plenty to look forward to once we enter the New Year.
The latest announcement came down Tuesday evening, as Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado agreed to terms for a rubber match to settle the tie in their current two-fight series. The bout will air live on HBO, taking place on January 24 at 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, a suburb of Denver and just outside of Alvarado’s hometown in Thornton, Colorado.
Each of their previous two fights versus one another easily ranked as among the year’s best in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Rios came up big in the first fight, rallying to stop Alvarado in the 7th round of their Oct. ’12 war at the Home Depot Center (now known as StubHub Center) in Carson, California.
The bout served as Alvarado’s first career loss, though returning the favor as he outboxed the then-unbeaten Rios just five months later in Las Vegas.
It’s been a rough road for both fighters since then. Rios suffered a second straight loss in a 12-round rout at the hands of Manny Pacquiao last November, adding insult to injury in testing positive for a banned substance. The California-based slugger has since returned to the win column, though in an ugly, at times unwatchable 9th round disqualification win over Diego Chaves in August.
Alvarado has lost two straight since posting a career-best win in the rematch with Rios. A homecoming showdown proved disastrous, suffering a 10th round knockout loss to Ruslan Provodnikov last October in the very same 1st Bank Center venue that will host next month’s rubber match.
The former amateur wrestling standout-turned-boxer was noble in defeat in his most recent ring appearance in May, dropping a decision to Juan Manuel Marquez in a bout that saw both fighters hit the deck.
News of the third entry of their thrilling series came one day after news initially broke of a pending light heavyweight showdown between unbeaten three-belt titlist Sergey Kovalev and former lineal champion Jean Pascal. The bout is tentatively set for March 14 in either Montreal or Quebec, with final terms contingent upon Pascal getting past Italy’s Roberto Bolonti this weekend in Montreal.
At this time last year, the one light heavyweight bout most fans craved was a clash between Kovalev and reigning light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson. The two appeared on the same card last Thanksgiving weekend, with one more showcase bout planned for each before moving to a head-on collision that was to take place in the fall.
Stevenson dramatically changed those plans by going in another direction entirely, but that hasn’t prevented Kovalev from pursuing his dream of cleaning out the rest of the light heavyweight division. Unbeaten and already with one belt in tow, the Russian knockout artist added two more trinkets to his collection with a 12-round shutout of legendary Bernard Hopkins in November.
Given his exclusive contract with HBO and Stevenson fighting for rival Showtime these days, the only lingering concern for Kovalev was whom he would be able to fight next that was relevant enough to properly pique interest.
Pascal was in the best position any light heavyweight contender could wish to be in at the time. The Haiti-born, Canada-based former champ is among his nation’s biggest draw, and an unrestricted free agent in terms of stateside network affiliation.
On the back burner was a mandatory title shot versus Stevenson, which he was promised for some time in 2015. Stevenson’s promoter, Yvon Michel even planned to reserve an arena for an intended April showdown, providing that his light heavyweight come up victorious in a scheduled Dec. 19 mandatory defense versus Dmitry Sukhotsky.
While Pascal and Stevenson wasted no time trading insults through social media, the war of words is the only fight to come of their growing rivalry. Instead, Pascal willingly signed on to face Kovalev in what currently serves as the centerpiece of HBO’s boxing schedule for the 1st quarter of 2015.
Wedged in between those two bouts, Gennady Golovkin is already set for his first fight of 2015. The unbeaten middleweight titlist will face Martin Murray on February 21 in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
HBO will make the trek overseas for fight, already working out all of the details to prevent avoiding the very issues the network encountered in failing to air Golovkin’s stoppage win over Osumana Adama earlier this year. A restructured contract with the Kazakh knockout artist included terms to travel abroad for his planned one fight per year beyond U.S. borders.
Golovkin is promoted by K2 Promotions, which gets additional love at the very top from HBO as the network has restored its faith and interest in Wladimir Klitschko. The longtime reigning World heavyweight king enjoyed his first appearance on HBO in more than a year in stopping top-rated unbeaten challenger Kubrat Pulev in five rounds this past November.
The bout was the first of a new deal between the network and the best heavyweight on the planet, with the next potentially coming on April 25. ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael reported earlier Tuesday of the possibility of Klitschko next facing unbeaten American heavyweight Bryant Jennings on April 25 in the United States. Should the bout happen, it will mark Klitschko’s first stateside appearance since pitching a virtual shutout of Sultan Ibragimov in Feb. ’08 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The world’s most famous arena would likely host a targeted defense versus Jennings.
One heavyweight fight that is officially in the books is a long overdue clash between defending titlist Bermane Stiverne and unbeaten contender Deontay Wilder. Plans have been in place since early summer for such a bout, but both sides dragged out negotiations for months before finally landing on a date (January 17) and location (MGM Grand in Las Vegas).
Showtime will air the heavyweight title fight, which marks the first defense of the belt won by Stiverne in a 6th round knockout over Chris Arreola in their rematch this past May. The feat made him the first-ever Haiti-born heavyweight to claim a piece of the heavyweight crown.
Wilder currently serves as the last American boxer to have claimed an Olympic medal, earning the bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His feat spared the ’08 squad the embarrassment of being shut out at the medal table, an infamous fate that was ultimately realized in the 2012 London Olympics.
The winner of Stiverne-Wilder will undoubtedly gain recognition as the best option for a future crack at Klitschko – or Jennings, should he first land the fight and bump off the reigning heavyweight champ.
Also waiting in the wings, World middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former 154 lb. titlist Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez continue to negotiate terms for a planned showdown either in May or June.
The bout is being groomed as a Cinco de Mayo weekend headlining event, which would put the fight on May 2, likely in Las Vegas or Arlington, Texas. However, there also stands the chance of Cotto having the championship contest brought to his home away from home at Madison Square Garden on the first weekend of June, in conjunction with the annual Puerto Rican Day parade.
Then of course, there is the fight … or whatever comes of the next steps in the careers of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao should the two sides once again fumble the snap in bringing to fruition what would undoubtedly go down as the most lucrative event in boxing history. Either way, expect both fighters back in the ring within the first half of 2015.
Wait ‘till next year? Don’t mind if we do.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
