By Jake Donovan

Ten fighters, ten fights.

The aforementioned formula represents how many times those in Boxingscene.com’s present pound-for-pound list ( CLICK HERE if you don’t already know them by heart) have participated in a prize fight through the first eight months of 2009.

Barring injuries or other unforeseen postponements or cancellations, another seven should be added to that tally by the end of November. There’s also a possibility of two more sometime in the fourth quarter, depending on what can be worked out in the careers of Shane Mosley and Hozumi Hasegawa.
 
That would bring the year-end total to 19 fights, not even two per top-ten fighter per year.

If something is wrong, the first place we look to are our leaders. If boxing is to be judged by how our very best carry it, then it’s no wonder we’re often mistaken for a dying breed.

An immediately defensive response would be that Boxingscene’s rankings aren’t official and are wide open to subjectivity. This much is true, but the results don’t change by much as you glance around the industry.

The fighters in ESPN.com’s Top Ten have only fought 11 times in 2009, with only eight more currently scheduled between now and the end of the year. The Ring’s list differs from Boxingscene.com, yet features the same formula – 10 fights so far, just seven more guaranteed in the final four months of 2009.

No matter where you look, you will be hard pressed to find a list of fighters who have been terribly active this year.

The most noticeable absence of the sport’s elite came in what was as dry of a summer as any other in recent memory, leaving all of the heavy lifting to the next tier.

Now it’s time for the very best to do something other than claim to be the very best. 

Short-term help is on the way. The next three months are loaded with fights that have boxing fans feeling good about the sport they long ago fell in love with.

The Showtime Super Six super middleweight round-robin tournament officially kicks off in October, but next weekend offers a prelude to the series in the form of future opponents Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward appearing on the same telecast in separate showcase bouts (September 12, Showtime – Herning, Denmark and Temecula, California).

A heavyweight fight worth tuning into is a rare commodity these days. As luck would have it, one graces the fall schedule, when undefeated Cris Arreola gets the homecoming opportunity of a lifetime in the form of a heavyweight title shot against Vitali Klitschko at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles (September 26, HBO)

Separate catchweight bouts hovering around the welterweight division could serve as a potential Final Four if the promoters involve can find a way to put the sport first and their egos in the rearview mirror. Until then, there’s still plenty of value to be found in HBO’s remaining two pay-per-view events of the year.

Originally slated as a summer showcase which drew moderate interest at best, the rescheduled “Number One/Numero Uno” pay-per-view event slowly but surely has the boxing world buzzing (September 19, HBO PPV).

The main event between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Juan Manuel Marquez is still taking its hits, with much of the criticism directed towards Mayweather’s continued reluctance to face the world’s best welterweights. He instead ends his 20-month hiatus against Juan Manuel Marquez, one of the world’s very best, but whom has never fought above the lightweight limit, a weight class in which he’s only logged two career fights to date.

All credit to Golden Boy Promotions, who shifted the focus from the potential mismatch in the catchweight bout of 144 lb or so, onto a loaded undercard which includes a rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez, as well as a lightweight eliminator between Vicente Escobedo and Michael Katsidis in what could become the year’s most entertaining crossroads match.

Not to be outdone, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum has big plans for the November 14 event (MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, HBO PPV) that figures to be the year’s most anticipated show.

With a main event like Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, fans are guaranteed to get their money’s worth no matter what undercard bouts precede it. Sadly, that line of thinking has polluted far too many pay-per-view telecasts in recent years, to the point of numbers rapidly declining beyond “the big event.”

But progress begins with a first step. Two bouts have already been included on the show; Jesus Soto Karass-Alfonso Gomez and Daniel Santos-Yuri Foreman. One will be more exciting than the other, but neither figures to be particularly lopsided, which is already a major improvement from the undercard of the last two shows headlined by Pacquaio.

The pièce de résistance is still being worked on, but if all of the kinks can be ironed out, expect a terrific co-feature in a lightweight showdown between alphabet beltholder Edwin Valero and top junior lightweight Humberto Soto.

One week prior to perhaps the biggest event of the year comes a light heavyweight fight with major ramifications when Chad Dawson faces Glen Johnson (November 7, HBO). Their bout is a rematch to their April 2008 clash, in which Dawson barely escaped with a decision that many felt should’ve went to Johnson, a former lineal champ and Fighter of the Year.

In a perfect world, the Dawson-Johnson II winner would gain universal recognition as light heavyweight kingpin. However, two road blocks exist; an already existing lineal champ in Zsolt Erdei; and Bernard Hopkins holding his lofty top contender status hostage as he remains indecisive over his next move, or if there is even one to make.

Regardless, Dawson-Johnson II remains the very best light heavyweight match that could be made at this time, in regards to the best available fighters facing one another. Fortunately for boxing fans, such a bout graces our fall schedule.

All told, there are only four open weekends between September 12 and December 5.

HBO and its pay-per-view arm have five shows in the hopper over that stretch, after having aired just three cards over the past three months.

Showtime has three super middleweight-related cards, though airing from five different locations. Also on tap, at least two more Shobox shows (certainly with more to come) and a December 5 tripleheader, including the return of top junior bantamweight Vic Darchinyan, albeit after an unsuccessful bid at bantamweight in his most recent fight.

For once, the timing is perfect for HBO and Showtime to pick up the pace. The summer saw its best moments captured on ESPN2 and Telemundo, with HBO going all but dark, while Showtime’s two Championship Boxing entries turned out to be better on paper than in reality.

But ESPN2 Friday Night Fights is done for the year, save for a special edition show on September 18. Versus will be all but out of the boxing business by the end of the year.

Now more than ever, the sport’s very best need to bring their A-game if we are to get through the year and try to build towards a better future.

For now, we’ll gladly settle for the sport’s very best simply bringing it to the ring at all.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .