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I doubt Haymon puts Wilder in with Klitchko. They will milk the belt for all its worth before putting Deontay in with him. They will wait as long as possible and try to let father time beat Wlad before the fight gets made. Floyd wants no part of Thurman. That's why he wants to retire. We saw him do this when he had prime Cotto, Margarito and Paul Williams as his biggest threats in the division a few years back. Now he has Brook, Porter and Thurman all looking like legitimate threats and none of those fights will be a walk in the park. Time to call it a day and retire fighting a sparring session against Berto. Absolutely nothing Floyd has said has indicated any desire to fight Keith. It won't happen. All the other fights have a better chance to be madeComment
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1) Cotto-Canelo is happening late November, with the likely rematch due May/June 2016, shifting the likelihood of the fight till at least September 2016; Golovkin fights again in October, but he's not going to be able to hide from Andre Ward long enough to get to September 2016, especially with Ward possibly fighting on the Cotto-Canelo PPV (that's what he gets for letting his camp talk so much mess).
2) I might be the only one, but I sincerely believe that Floyd is walking away from the sport after Sept 12; Floyd would be 39 years of age by the time the fight would be an option, and Keith Thurman basically brings him only his guarantee with little upside on the take. Floyd has his budding promotional company, will likely end up with a "Welcome to Las Vegas" type of long-term endorsement deal, and will likely also continue on his relationship with MGM Resorts, establishing his company as the PBC promoter for the Vegas fight cards (with Klitschko-Wilder and Wilder-Povetkin as two shows that could land in his lap).
3) Klitschko-Wilder, for all the belts, is the only heavyweight fight that will likely ever end up on US PPV in the near future, aside from possibly Wilder-Joshua, if it gets properly built (Klitschko-Wilder is a bigger fight than even the $4m that PBC could possibly allocate for the terrestrial broadcast rights); you ass the UK/Germany money that would come for the fight, and it's basically a no brainer.
4) Frampton-Quigg is a gigantic fight in the UK, Hearn(Quigg) and Haymon(Frampton) have a ton of business together, and Frampton/Quigg have styles that meld so well that you could end up with a trilogy that sets up both fighters for life, and put more money in their pocket in more meaningful fights than basically anything else I can think of (Frampton-Quigg at the 18,000-seat MEN Arena this November/December, Frampton-Quigg II at a massive venue in Northern Ireland March/April 2016, with the capper at Wembley Stadium [as the co-feature if Khan-Brook happens, or headlining the show otherwise])
5) Will basically come down to the timing of the fight and what standing Kovalev has left after the PBC fallout (where I see him vacating two belts). If the rumors are true, Ward is fighting on the Cotto-Canelo PPV in November at 168. Rust fully knocked off, Ward is going to keep his face out in the public, and the media pressure is going to start falling on Team Golovkin heavy; especially is the say to heck with Cotto's stepaside deal and simply pursue the vacant WBC title early 2016. Golovkin would have the WBA/IBF/WBC belts and no shot at getting the WBO belt (WBO champ Andy Lee is openly signed to DiBella Entertainment, in essence New York promoter for the PBC brand), with no interesting fights to look forward to. Ward-Golovkin happens May/June 2016 on PPV.
With Golovkin out of the way (and the WBC/WBA/IBF all working together to try and unify the sanctioning rules, likely giving Golovkin leeway to head back to 160 and rule that division), Ward is looking toward his next big fight, like for the Fall at the soonest.
Kovalev has his fight in November, owing the IBF a mandatory defense reasonably soon after (Braehmer defending his title in September, with Fonfara-Cleverly happening in October, and those two likely facing off before the year is out, will likely put Kovalev's WBA title in jeopardy as well).
Would Andre Ward be willing to go up to the full 175 for Sergey Kovalev, a fighter who will likely walking into the ring over 190, for only the WBO belt (lineal title/WBC belt with Stevenson, IBF belt with Beterbiev, WBA belt with Fonfara, and "WBO rules" demanding that he vacate his WBA 168 belt before even challenging Kovalev for the WBO's belt)? I wouldn't be so sure.Comment
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#1 could happpen, cotto/canelo won't necessarily have a rematch. Even if they do, they might still have the fight later on in the year.
#2 not particularly likely
#3 definitely could happen. If Wilder keeps his title and Klitschko beats Fury, this matchup is almost assured for 2016.
#4 another one I expect to happen
#5 certainly could happen too, not sure.
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