Your Thoughts on Boxing 2008 So Far?

[The Hammer]

2008 looks great, with barely 1/3 of the year scheduled so far.

Haye-Macca unification
Povetkin-Chambers
Hopkins-Calzaghe
Ibragimov-Wlad unification
Pavlik-Taylor II
Woods-Tarver
Dawson-Johnson

Better than the first few months of 2007!

[mrpain81]

so far the matchups are really good, but the fact that theyre practically all ppv is just horrible and disgusting. Am I ever going to be able to watch high level boxing for free anymore? the only chance I get is when Juan Diaz fights, and Calzaghe too but now even his ass is only going to do ppv fights from now on probebly ...and I still gotta find someone with HBO to see even those.

Marquez vs Vasquez 3

Peter vs Maskaev

Wlad vs Sultan

Calzaghe vs Hopkins

Delahoya vs Forbes

Cotto vs Gomez

All those fights will not be on PPV...I don't see the problem.

[HappyBoxingFan]

true but i think its to early tell how the years going turn out cause what if we getcotto vs williams or joec vs pavlik i think by the end of april we knew what they year will be like

Agreed. We'll see how everything shakes out in April/Mayish

[niceguy45]

Why should ANY of those bolded fights happen???

I agree with Cotto-Mayweather, thats the most meaningful fight in decades, and will be the most anticipated welterweight fight since Leonard-Hearns.

Pacquiao-Hatton is reasonable. Pacquiao moving up to challenge for Hattons belt, which Hatton should get before that fight. Has some real substance and is definetly worth watching

Cotto-Williams is Welterweight unification and would be a great fight

Forrest-Winky makes sense because nobody wants either of these guys, and it wouldnt be half bad.

The others make no sense

And believe it or not, the ones i mentioned above are all possible to happen late this year or early next.

They already said that Pac-Hatton will happen at the end of the year.

Who is Cotto gonna fight after Margarito???

And again, Winky and Forrest have no where else to go so i guess they will meet.

well i would rather see dlh vs margarito on 05/03 than dlh vs forbes...
margarito vs mayorga is good, mayorga is a trash talker it will be a slug fest,
i mean there are boring fights being made cotto/gomez, williams/quintana c'mon, mayweather/mayorga would be fun at press conferences at least, lol

[Steak]

Marquez vs Vasquez 3

Peter vs Maskaev

Wlad vs Sultan

Calzaghe vs Hopkins

Delahoya vs Forbes

Cotto vs Gomez

All those fights will not be on PPV...I don't see the problem.

wow, Calzaghe vs. Hopkins is really not going to be ppv?! now thats more like it!
So maybe I should take back a little of what I was saying. They are doing quite well

But I try to watch every fight live and in good condition, and the ppvs add up on me. although now that i mention it, i was lucky enough to catch Jones vs Trinidad in a ale house for free, which was awesome. but still...it gets pretty expenseive. I wish they would at least make it only 25 bucks, way more people would buy it if that was the case.

[the330ballers]

i understand that we're barely in January, the beginning of the year, but I cant help but think that the sport isnt headed in the best direction. It feels like the old timers are trying at a come back this year. Trinidad/Jones wasnt THAT bad but Tyson/Holyfield? Then De La Hoya who should really just retire is going for a rematch with Mayweather. i cant help but think that promoters/fighters are just gonna try to milk the minimal ressurection that boxing experienced. Greedy hands are going to be too busy this year.

Hopefully, the fights that do count will create enough noise to bring some shine some positive light on the sport.

those arent the fights that are being hyped up. i dont believe tyson is coming back. and de la hoya/mayweather is fine as long as mayweather KOs him.

and the upcoming fights will more than make up for it...
(marquezz vasquez, pavlik taylor, pacman marquez. etc etc)

[Boxingwizard]

March and April is going to be one hell of a month for boxing, forget everything else.

March

Isreal Vazquez vs Raphael Marquez
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez
Junior Witter vs DHop

April

Chad Dawson vs Glen Johnson
Clinton Woods vs Antonio Tarver
Joe Calzaghe vs Bernard Hopkins

[MELLY-MEL...]

arly, but i think it will be great! not sure if it can be as good as 07 though, but how could it?

[Mike_Dee]

i'm thinking that 2008 will be a solid year, overall. the first four months all have at least one big fight in it and will shape up the fall- winter season 2008. the only question is what fights are from May to Aug. so far, so good.

[JakeNDaBox]

i understand that we're barely in January, the beginning of the year, but I cant help but think that the sport isnt headed in the best direction. It feels like the old timers are trying at a come back this year. Trinidad/Jones wasnt THAT bad but Tyson/Holyfield? Then De La Hoya who should really just retire is going for a rematch with Mayweather. i cant help but think that promoters/fighters are just gonna try to milk the minimal ressurection that boxing experienced. Greedy hands are going to be too busy this year.

Hopefully, the fights that do count will create enough noise to bring some shine some positive light on the sport.

I agree, and even shared your skepticism in a recent rant, in the form of an editorial column posted on the site earlier in the week.

It seemed like the cancellation of Paul Williams-Kermit Cintron and Juan Diaz-Michael Katsidis threw off the early part of 2008's schedule, which otherwise had a nice flow to it all the way through mid-March. This weekend's fight is a nice treat for HBO, if only because it features fresh faces, but not sure it's anything I'd schedule my night around.

That said, so long as no cancellations/postponements arise, we might be singing a different tune come Feb. 9. as it will be the first of 10 straight weekends where either HBO, Showtime or their PPV arms will air major bouts.