What's on the Line in the Biggest Boxing Fights Early in 2015
Like most boxing fans, I was very ready to kick 2014 out the door and welcome in 2015.
The 2014 boxing calendar for the most part was very lackluster and offered more mismatches, with the elite boxers facing guys who didn't have a prayer of winning those high-level 50-50 matchups that get fans excited and willing to spend their money.
I will fight people who claim that the sport is dying, but years like 2014 sure don't do boxing any favors. Not only do the matchups we saw last year fail to bring in the casual sports audience or make any new fans, but they also frustrate the hardcore fans like you and me who are eager to see great fights.
Who knows what will be put on the schedule from May until the end of the year, but so far the first several months of 2015 look promising without even a Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight being finalized; for the record I don't think that mega-fight gets made.
Lots at stake in those big upcoming matches which I'll break down over the following pages.
Mike Alvarado vs. Brandon Rios
1 of 6
When: January 24 on HBO
What's at Stake: An opportunity for another big fight for the winner and a career-ender for the loser.
Well not career-ending in the sense that the loser will retire or be relegated back to being a club fighter, but their days of landing major fights that headline cards on premium channels will be over.
Neither fighter has won a clean decision since they split their two matches in the fall of 2012 and spring of 2013. Mike Alvarado was stopped by Ruslan Provodnikov and blown out by Juan Manuel Marquez since his last victory, while Brandon Rios was outclassed by Manny Pacquiao and received a DQ win last August.
Both guys are all-action fighters who make exciting matches for TV, but perhaps that's their ceiling. Not sure either has what it takes to get over the hump that separates exciting co-feature for a premium-channel fight from being the A-side for a major main event match.
Nothing wrong with that as they can make a great living and carve out a solid career at that level, but the loser of this fight will have virtually no chance of getting to the next level. Not sure the winner will reach that next level either, but an impressive victory to win this exciting trilogy would sure help his cause.
Gennady Golovkin vs. Martin Murray
2 of 6
When: February 21 on HBO
What's at Stake: Gennady Golovkin's middleweight titles and opportunity to land a match with a major star.
Unfortunately the proposed match between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto fell through, so Golovkin's best chance to land a major fight in the short term could have disappeared.
Cotto will likely still be ordered to make the match at some point in 2015 since GGG is his mandatory challenger, but my gut feeling was always that Alvarez was more likely to take the fight. Dropping the belt seems unlikely, but it wouldn't be the first time that has happened, and Cotto is better suited for 147 or 154 pounds.
Regardless of what Cotto decides to do, Golovkin has to keep winning and knocking out opponents to continue to build his brand and star power to a point where the top fighters can't afford to avoid him.
As dangerous as he is, the only way other stars will face him is if it makes good business sense to take the risk. With a loss against a talented Martin Murray the appeal of fighting Golovkin would decrease dramatically.
If GGG keeps winning I'd be shocked if he didn't land a major fight this year whether it be against Andre Ward now that he's settled his promotional issues, Alvarez or Carl Froch. With a loss he'll have no chance in hell of landing those fights.
Keith Thurman vs. Robert Guerrero
3 of 6
When: March 7 on NBC
What's at Stake: bigger fights for more money
That will especially be the case if Keith Thurman wins the showdown on NBC coming up in March. If Thurman wins impressively, a signature win in a showcase event over a championship-level fighter like Robert Guerrero might be enough to get him the September fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
This fight could do for Thurman what the win over Adrien Broner did for Marcos Maidana.
Thurman is supremely talented and in the eyes of many the top young star for the future in the division, but his resume to this point doesn't include many impressive names. Whether or not Guerrero is still at the very top of his game is debatable, but by a landslide he'll be the best fighter Thurman has faced so far.
An impressive victory over Guerrero would go a long way toward confirming the hype surrounding Thurman while a loss would cause doubt and skepticism to hang over his head like a storm cloud.
Considering how lopsided their 2013 fight was, Guerrero would have virtually no chance of getting a rematch against Mayweather, but a win over Thurman would help maintain his status as a premiere fighter and would likely lead to more main event fights on the premium channels.
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Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal
4 of 6
When: March 14 on HBO
What's at Stake: three belts and the recognition of being the best boxer in the light heavyweight division
Adonis Stevenson is the lineal champion and deserves the respect that comes along with that, but my guess is most boxing fans would argue that Sergey Kovalev is the best in the world at 175 pounds.
Kovalev earned the title of best in the world when he dominated future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins last November to unify three of the four belts in the division. Since neither fighter has been successful in making a match against Stevenson, Kovalev and former champ Jean Pascal decided to fight each other.
Along with three belts and recognition as best in the world in their division, huge paydays also await Kovalev and Pascal with the fight taking place in Pascal's home country of Canada where he is a huge box-office draw.
Of the many exciting matchups scheduled to take place over the first quarter of 2015, Kovalev vs. Pascal might be the one I'm most intrigued by and anxious to see.
Danny Garcia vs. Lamont Peterson
5 of 6
When: April 11 on NBC
What's at Stake: unfortunately absolutely nothing is at stake; Al Haymon strikes again
Just when the boxing community was ready to thank Al Haymon—see what I did there—it turns out the signature match on the series of fights announced so far for his NBC deal will be a non-title match, according to ESPN.com's Dan Rafael.
Fans and media alike have been asking for Danny Garcia vs. Lamont Peterson for about a year now, but were force-fed poor substitute matches back in August when both guys fought on the same card but against inferior competition.
So after months and months of waiting when it was announced last week that they would finally meet I was genuinely excited as I'm sure many other fans were; unfortunately the carpet was ripped out from under our feet soon thereafter.
As it turns out Garcia and Peterson will meet at a catchweight of 143 pounds with none of the three titles they combine to hold up for grabs. Have to ask: What was the point of making this fight if the titles weren't going to be on the line?
Certainly you could argue that the winner would become the best junior welterweight in the world, but without the belts on the line this match has a very "preseason" or exhibition type feel to it for me.
We're all aware that Garcia plans to eventually move up to 147 pounds and the welterweight division, but by the time this fight against Peterson takes place in April it will have been more than a full calendar year since he last defended one of his belts including the title of being the lineal champion.
Of course you'll all remember that his last fight was against an opponent so awful and overmatched that the sanctioning bodies refused to accept it as a title defense. If Garcia is done defending his junior welterweight belts, why not just drop them and make the move up to 147 pounds already?
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings
6 of 6
When: April 25 on HBO
What's at Stake: three heavyweight belts and recognition as the best fighter in the division
It's possible that Bryant Jennings could pull off the major upset and still not be considered the best heavyweight in the world if people thought his victory was a fluke, but he would be the lineal heavyweight champion and own three of the four belts.
Deontay Wilder's accomplishment was impressive, but that would be a pebble next to the Himalayan Mountains compared to the buzz, headlines and history that would be made by Jennings shocking the boxing world with an upset victory over longtime champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Buster Douglas defeating Mike Tyson will probably always be considered the biggest upset in boxing history or at least in the heavyweight division, but Jennings defeating Klitschko would be close.
Jennings didn't start boxing until 2009, per ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, and turned professional just five years ago in 2010, whereas Klitschko will have been champion for nine years by the time this fight begins, having knocked out Chris Byrd in 2006.
Besides the gap in experience, Jennings also seems to be a ready-made Klitschko victim with severe disadvantages in height and punching power. An upset win by Jennings would be historic and maybe the thing that could pull the heavyweight scene in America out of its more-than-a-decade-long funk.
Follow me on Twitter for more opinion on boxing and live scoring of big fights: @sackedbybmac
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