Boxing Stars Who Need a Big Fight to Stay in the Spotlight
The window of opportunity can close quickly for a prizefighter. Careers are almost always short, and to maximize revenue in their peak earning years, boxers need to perform in high-profile bouts.
So when a star like Andre Ward or Mikey Garcia spends an entire year inactive while still in his prime, he takes a big risk. No matter how talented the fighter, he's easy to forget about if he isn't fighting.
A boxer has only so many years to notch big fights. The names on this list all need one this year.
10. Juan Manuel Marquez
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Juan Manuel Marquez's status as a boxing legend was cemented long ago. He is one of the top few Mexican fighters of all time.
But to stay relevant as an active pound-for-pound star, he's going to need a major fight in 2015. The one big accomplishment left for Marquez is to capture a world title at welterweight, which would make him Mexico's first five-division champion.
His greatest rival, Manny Pacquiao, holds the WBO strap at 147. I'd love to see them fight a fifth time. All four of their previous fights were highly entertaining, and three were classics.
The other likely option for Marquez is IBF champion Kell Brook. As reported by RingTV's Lem Satterfield on Jan. 27, Marquez will be in London for Brook's first defense in March and will meet with Eddie Hearn to discuss a possible fight for later this year.
As much as I'm a fan of Marquez, a bout with him and Brook might end up like Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Terry Norris, when a legendary star lost hard against a very good, younger and bigger fighter.
Still, if Marquez is hungry to stay relevant, it's the kind of fight he needs to make.
9. Evgeny Gradovich
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Evgeny Gradovich is the longest-reigning belt holder in the featherweight division. He captured the IBF 126-pound strap in March 2013, when he took a fight against Billy Dib on a month's notice. He won by split decision in just his 16th professional fight. Gradovich won the rematch by TKO.
Trained by Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California, Gradovich's gritty pressure style and relentless work ethic have earned him the nickname "The Mexican Russian" from his training partners.
Gradovich has a lot going for him, but still seems in danger of getting lost in the shuffle at featherweight, where Nicholas Walters and Vasyl Lomachenko emerged last year as exciting new belt holders. When you throw in WBC champion Jhonny Gonzalez and three-division champion Abner Mares, the 126-pound class is clearly a crowded one.
Gradovich needs a high-profile fight this year to remind fans that he remains very much in the mix. He was robbed in his final fight of 2014 against fellow unbeaten Jayson Velez. While he somehow came away with only a split-decision draw, I thought judge Tom Schreck's 117-111 card in favor of Gradovich was about right.
8. George Groves
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Super middleweight George Groves entered the spotlight in a major way in November 2013. Against fellow Brit Carl Froch, Groves took the fight to the champion and was up on the cards when he fell victim to what seemed like a premature stoppage in Round 9.
Groves' rematch with Froch was the biggest boxing event in England last year, drawing an astonishing 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in May. Once again, Groves got off to a fast start, only to get caught big and put away in the later rounds.
This time, though, there was no doubt about the punch Froch landed to stop the upstart Groves in Round 8. It was arguably the knockout of the year.
Groves finished the year with two strong comeback performances against Christopher Rebrasse and Denis Douglin. But in 2015, he should return to action in a major fight.
Two great potential bouts for him domestically in England would be a rematch with James DeGale or a fight with unbeaten Callum Smith.
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7. Ruslan Provodnikov
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In 2013, Ruslan Provodnikov emerged as one of the sport's hottest stars. In March of that year, he brutalized Timothy Bradley while losing a close decision in the best fight of the year.
In October 2013, he hammered Mike Alvarado with a Round 10 TKO to capture the WBO light welterweight belt. But in his first defense last year, he lost a very close split decision to Chris Algieri.
With that loss, Provodnikov nearly dropped off the boxing map in the U.S. In November, he knocked out a frayed and faded Jose Luis Castillo in Russia.
Provodnikov should be back in the spotlight this year, though. Brandon Rios mentioned the Russian as a potential opponent he'd like to face in his post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman after his TKO of Mike Alvarado on Jan. 24. The Ring's Lem Satterfield also reported earlier this month that there are talks underway for a potential fight with Provodnikov and Argentine brawler Lucas Matthysse.
Either of those fights would be among the most highly anticipated in 2015.
6. Austin Trout
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By all rights, Austin Trout should still rank among the biggest stars in the light middleweight division. He completely trounced lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in 2012.
His only two losses were to the 154-pound division's top rated fighters (besides Floyd Mayweather), Saul Alvarez and Erislandy Lara. And the Alvarez fight was extremely close.
I understand the excitement around young light middleweight stars like the Charlo twins and Julian Williams; I've hyped them plenty in my own columns. But Trout shouldn't get lost in the shuffle.
At 29, he's an experienced former champion. I hope to see him in a big fight again in 2015.
5. Adonis Stevenson
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In 2013, Adonis Stevenson stunned Chad Dawson with a Round 1 KO, capturing the WBC and lineal middleweight belt. For the year in 2013, Stevenson was 4-0 with four KOs. He entered 2014 as one of the sport's hottest fighters.
But last year he was eclipsed by his divisional rival Sergey Kovalev, who beat the legendary Bernard Hopkins in October to consolidate three of the four belts at 175. Kovalev's triumph underlined the fact that Stevenson had jumped to Showtime from HBO earlier in the year rather than face Kovalev.
Now Kovalev is set to face former champion Jean Pascal in Stevenson's home town of Montreal. A big performance for Kovalev in Canada will have even Stevenson's own fans calling him out to face the Russian.
Stevenson needs a big fight to stay relevant at 175 pounds. And at this point, only a fight with Kovalev meets that criteria.
4. Erislandy Lara
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I had Erislandy Lara winning in his split-decision loss to Saul Alvarez last July. But to be clear, I'd never call it a robbery. Lara's lack of offensive action for entire rounds of the fight allowed Alvarez to seize the roll of aggressor, and in a low-action fight, that will often sway judges.
Lara's evasive strategy made the fight less than exciting to the average fan, and that is ultimately more damaging to Lara's reputation than the loss. Promoters will not be anxious to build a big card around a fighter who isn't considered exciting.
Lara remains near the very top of the 154-pound division. He even holds a nominal belt, although the WBA "regular" title is a joke. Floyd Mayweather remains the WBA world champion, and Lara isn't likely to get a crack at him.
But Lara should get another big fight in 2015. So in his case, it's more a matter of needing to take advantage of that opportunity and employing more offensive firepower to make sure he wins in memorable fashion.
3. Guillermo Rigondeaux
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In April 2013, Guillermo Rigondeaux absolutely undressed Nonito Donaire in just his 12th professional fight. The win should have made Rigondeaux a star, but it hasn't really worked out that way.
HBO and Top Rank had invested a lot of time and effort into building up Donaire as an attraction. It almost seems like they have punished Rigo for derailing their hype train, because the Cuban star hasn't had a worthwhile fight since.
Rigondeaux is one of the greatest amateur boxers in history, having won two Olympic gold medals. However, his cerebral style has not exactly electrified fans.
In a sense, he's in a similar situation as his countryman, Erislandy Lara. He's clearly one of the most talented boxers in the sport, but promoters shy away from him.
Still, I hope to see him back in a major fight in 2015. He's one of boxing's best and deserves the chance to keep proving it.
2. Mikey Garcia
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A year ago, there's no way I would have predicted that Mikey Garcia would be so far off the boxing radar as we entered the second month of 2015. The younger brother of supertrainer Robert Garcia was a burgeoning superstar. He was a two-division world champion, undefeated in 34 fights with 28 KOs.
But it's now been over a year since he beat Juan Carlos Burgos by unanimous decision. Instead of spending 2014 in the ring and adding to his legacy, he spent it in the courtroom fighting against Top Rank.
Even in his prospect days, Garcia had a veteran's patience and a shark's killer instinct. His skill level should allow him to move to lightweight or light welterweight and remain one of the top fighters in the sport.
But he needs to put himself back into the spotlight in a high-profile fight. Even a very good fighter can quickly get lost in the shuffle in boxing.
1. Andre Ward
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Andre Ward spent the entire year of 2014 inactive. He fought just once in both 2012 and 2013. Although he's one of the most talented pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, fans can be forgiven if they've started to forget that fact.
The good news is that Ward should be back in action in 2015. Earlier this month, he signed with Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports.
Jay Z's track record in the entertainment business is outstanding, but he's relatively new to professional sports and Ward represents his first big move into boxing. Over the years, plenty of very smart people have floundered when trying to get involved in the fight game, so I hope the rap mogul is able to get his newly-signed fighter the opportunities that Ward deserves.
I will say that Ward has always struck me as one of the sport's more thoughtful athletes, so I doubt he rushed into this new deal without weighing it carefully. We should see the super middleweight star back in the ring where he belongs before long.
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