Home Columns Boxing Christmas wishlist: Top 10 things we’re wishing for 2015

Boxing Christmas wishlist: Top 10 things we’re wishing for 2015

Credit: Will Hart - HBO

Merry Christmas, fight fans! While everyone loves spending quality time with family and friends, you may need to sneak away for a few moments, or pull up the smartphone for a break.

We have you covered. Here, we have our Boxing Christmas Wishlist. It’s a very special collection of the top 10 things we’re wishing for in 2015. Take a look, chime in with your comments and own wishes, and then get back to quality time with the fam.

  1. Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez: The fight has been rumored, and it appears to be all but a done deal. But, it hasn’t been signed, sealed and delivered yet. Until it does, we have to keep wishing. If it does indeed come to fruition, then Cotto vs. Canelo is a mouth-watering match-up for fight fans to anticipate, and perhaps the best fight and biggest event of the year.
  2. Gennady Golovkin Gets the Winner: The only thing that might be more mouth-watering than that would be to see the winner step up against GGG. Golovkin routinely has been left out of the big-fight picture, but there’s only so long that can continue. Here’s to hoping GGG gets a big-time dance partner and an opportunity to shine against that level of opponent.
  3. A Real Heavyweight Threat & Star: Is it Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua? Is it Tyson Fury? Bermane Stiverne? It certainly wasn’t Kubrat Pulev. Here’s to wishing that someone, anyone, emerges as a real threat to Wladimir Klitschko, and he has created a big enough demand to garner real excitement for a challenge against the champ.
  4. A Real Welterweight Threat & Star: Who will be the man who takes the welterweight reins away from the likes of Floyd Mawyeather and Manny Pacquiao? Will it come from across the pond, in the form of Amir Khan or Kell Brook, or will Keith Thurman smash his way to stardom? Hopefully someone emerges and then gets the chance to actually take care of business. Speaking of Mayweather and Pacquiao…
  5. STFU About Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: I literally could not care less about the latest rumor or supposed source talking about this fight. Until, and unless, this fight is actually made… just shut it already!
  6. Top Fighters off the Shelf: Too many big names have been left to rot on the shelf due to promotional issues or other problems. It’s a travesty that Andre Ward didn’t fight in 2014, and Mikey Garcia fought once, in January. The people responsible for those messes should be ashamed.
  7. Next Wave Continues Shining: Terence Crawford became a force to be reckoned with in 2014. Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev further enhanced their must-see status, while growing their fan bases and gaining big wins. Let’s hope all of those guys, and all of the other young guns, continue shining on the big stage and generating excitement based on real fights, and real results, and not rumors and hype.
  8. Superman Puts on his Cape: Superman has been spending a bit too much time away in his fortress of solitude. While Kovalev took on Bernard Hopkins, and is now slated to face Jean Pascal, Stevenson has been biding his time doing not so much. Let’s hope that Stevenson emerges from his self-imposed slumber and faces the winner of Kovalev vs. Pascsal.
  9. Gonzalez vs. Estrada II: A rematch between Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada is a legit lower weight super fight. It pits the current Flyweight champ, Estrada, against the guy who beat him, Gonzalez, who happens to be a three-division titleholder, and a top 3 pound for pound fighter in the world.
  10. Junior Welterweight Revival: Despite still being stocked with talent, the Junior Welterweight division went from sizzle to fizzle in 2014. It didn’t help that Danny Garcia survived by a thread against Mauricio Herrera and then headlined one of the worst premium network cards in recent history, while Ruslan Provodnikov lost his luster against Chris Algieri, and others jumped ship to Welterweight. In 2015, let’s see Pacquiao drop back down, Crawford move up, and collectively inject some much-needed life into the scene, mixing it up with the likes of Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Lamont Peterson, and hell, even Adrien Broner.