The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of April 5
Another week has come and gone, drawing us even closer to the big night of May 2 in the Las Vegas desert when pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will finally tango to settle their half-decade-or-better rivalry.
With that in mind, that is the last time you will hear us mention that fight in this week's edition of the hottest boxing storylines.
Instead, we focus on the happenings of the past week and look at a couple of big fights on the horizon.
Who will take the next step when Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson meet Saturday night at the Barclays Center?
Can Peter Quillin regain the middleweight title he never lost? And can we conclusively now say that his decision to vacate and turn down boatloads of cash was a bad idea?
Did Adonis Stevenson impress in his debut on Premier Boxing Champions?
All that, plus the latest on Amir Khan—what's he doing?—and Miguel Cotto.
Who Takes the Next Step, Danny Garcia or Lamont Peterson?
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Garcia had a banner 2013, dominating Zab Judah and coming through with a minor upset in a title defense against Argentine knockout machine Lucas Matthysse on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez undercard.
He came into 2014 with all sorts of momentum as one of the sport's top young stars, but much of that was erased by one underwhelming performance and one gross, borderline criminal—slight hyperbole, of course—mismatch.
Garcia escaped a return to his ancestral homeland of Puerto Rico with a decision derided by many as a gift over Mauricio Herrera in March. He followed up with an August knockout of ridiculously overmatched Rod Salka at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Peterson also appeared on the Barclays card—which could have been labeled the night of mismatches—and stopped Edgar Santana to defend his 140-pound title.
The two men, widely regarded as the top two junior welterweights in the world, will do battle Saturday night at Barclays in a catchweight bout contested in the welterweight division with no belts on the line.
The lack of belts certainly takes a bit of the luster off this contest, but it presents both fighters with the marquee matchup, exposure and potential star-making performance that Premier Boxing Champions on NBC prime time provides.
Garcia badly needs this win to remind fans why he came into last year in the conversation for a fight with Mayweather. He has to prove he's one of the top young guns in the game and not being protected against second- and even third-tier competition.
Peterson needs the victory to make his name and get into the mix for fights against the upper crust of the sport.
These are the types of fights that fans want to see—two high-level fighters battling for high stakes.
What Is Amir Khan Thinking?
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Khan just can't seem to get out of his own way.
He announced last week that he will face former junior welterweight champion Chris Algieri in his next fight, per Edward Chaykovsky of BoxingScene.com:
"The next opponent will be Chris Algieri. We'll be taking that fight at 147 pounds. He's from New York. He's had 21 fights. Only lost one fight. He's the same height as me. He's 5'10". Ranked number 8 in the world. You know his last fight, which he lost, which is the only fight he lost was against Manny Pacquiao - which was in Macau. That fight led Pacquiao to go on and fight Floyd Mayweather
"
Khan has been fruitlessly chasing both Mayweather and Pacquiao for years now. But if he thinks for one second that a win over Algieri—a competent pro and heck of a nice guy but not an elite fighter—earned Manny his shot at Floyd, then he'd better get his head examined.
He has since taken back that statement, after being forced to defend it against some pretty hostile comments, telling Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com that the fight with Algieri is not yet finalized and he's still negotiating with Adrien Broner as well.
According to BoxingScene.com, Khan has also been forced to respond to rumors that Showtime has rejected Algieri as an opponent and he turned down a fight with former welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. He denies both.
One man who is understandably upset is current IBF junior welterweight champion Kell Brook, who had this to say, per BoxingScene.com:
"He's [Khan] fighting Algieri who didn't win a round against Pacquiao, a feather puncher, not a big puncher. It doesn't make sense to me. I'm world champion, I'm calling him out, we want the fight, there's a word title and a bagful of money and it doesn't make sense that he's fighting this guy who's bringing nothing to the table
"
Brook is 100 percent right. An all-Brit clash at Wembley Stadium with a world title on the line would be huge box office in the United Kingdom, and Khan's selecting Algieri only makes sense if you believe he's otherwise motivated.
There's a perception, growing by the day, among fans and media that Khan is taking softer opponents in the hopes of hanging around long enough to land one of boxing's big fish.
You can decide whether or not to fault him for that, but it's definitely not a good look, and it's one that would find some fertile ground if he faces Algieri.
Did Adonis Stevenson Impress on PBC?
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Stevenson had little trouble taking care of former super middleweight titlist Sakio Bika Saturday afternoon, dropping the mauling veteran twice en route to a surprisingly close unanimous decision.
It was surprisingly close because the 115-111, 116-110, 115-111 scorecards turned in by the judges didn't reflect the reality of the one-sided fight.
Stevenson fought a smart and efficient, if not overly satisfying, fight. He kept the fight at a safe distance, used his length and range to land powerful left hands at will and neutralized the rugged Bika's often dirty tactics.
He knocked his man down twice, but did he impress?
Different question.
Stevenson didn't vary his offensive attack very much. It followed the same form round after round, and that worked mainly because Bika—while tough and rugged—is limited in terms of his in-ring ability. Tough and rugged can take you far, but talent rises to the top at this level.
You can't fault Stevenson for not getting Bika out of there. The Scorpion has been down a bunch of times in his many fights against quality opposition, making it even more impressive that he's never been stopped.
Could Stevenson have taken more chances?
Perhaps, but the job was done, so that's just a minor complaint.
The bigger complaint was CBS' post-fight "interview" with the WBC and lineal light heavyweight champion.
No mention of a unification match with Sergey Kovalev?
Heck, not even a mention of rising knockout sensation Artur Beterbiev, who stopped Gabriel Campillo in four rounds in the co-feature?
Bad look, CBS.
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Will Kid Chocolate Regain His Middleweight Title?
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Quillin elected to vacate the WBO Middleweight Championship and a career-high payday to avoid facing Russian No. 1 contender Matt Korobov last fall.
The 31-year-old, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, gave up the belt with the intention—which was questionable at the time and has now been proved wrong—of seeking out and landing bigger fights against the upper-tier fighters in the middleweight division.
Korobov went on to get knocked out by veteran contender Andy Lee with the vacant belt on the line, and Quillin hasn't fought in nearly a year since taking a ho-hum decision from little-known Lukas Konecny last April.
Which leads us to Lee vs. Quillin for the WBO belt Saturday night at the Barclays Center.
A boon for both guys?
Certainly for Lee, but Quillin?
Kid Chocolate gave up a belt, a $1.4 million payday and a year of his career to find himself in the position of challenging for the same title he voluntarily handed away.
Not exactly what he was hoping for, or so you'd have to expect.
Oh, and Irish Andy can win this fight.
Is Miguel Cotto Picking Up GGG's Leftovers?
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Cotto doesn't want to fight Gennady Golovkin.
OK...we get it.
But then, please, just do us the favor of dropping down and not continuing this charade against second-tier—at least in terms of public perception—opponents.
Cotto will return to the ring on June 6, presumably to defend his WBC Middleweight Championship, against an opponent yet to be named. Early speculation seemed to favor 154-pound titlist Cornelius "K9" Bundrage and fringe middleweight contender Jorge Sebastian Heiland.
Now it seems that the leading candidate to land that coveted spot opposite the Puerto Rican legend is former middleweight champion Daniel Geale, per Steve Kim of BoxingScene.com.
Geale is a more credible name at 160 pounds than either K9 or Heiland, but he has one significant drawback: Golovkin knocked him silly in just three rounds last summer, quite possibly in the very same ring that Cotto would face him in June.
And that's the only thing that comes across our minds right now when thinking of this potential fight.
Geale is a solid pro, a former two-time middleweight champion and still a top-10 fighter in the division.
But three rounds.
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