The Biggest Boxing Storylines to Watch in the Remainder of 2015
If the year were a boxing match, it would be six rounds down with six still lying ahead for us. For the first time in half a decade, boxing writers and fans will not spend the majority of their energy over the summer months endlessly speculating about whether Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will finally get together for a scrap in the fall.
There might be a bit of chatter about the likelihood of a rematch, of course. But for the first time in years, there is finally room for some fresh storylines to take over.
Most of the entries on this list contain multiple sub-storylines inside of them. There are a lot of fighters out there right now worthy of notice.
With a bit of cooperation from the promoters, networks and sanctioning bodies, we will see a good string of fights over the next six months.
8. The Potential Superfight Below Bantamweight
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The majority of the time the fighters in the smallest weight classes just don't get the kind of recognition they deserve. Even a high number of sincere boxing enthusiasts struggle to stay on top of the most relevant fights that happen below 118 pounds.
But some fighters do end up forcing their way into the limelight through true greatness. And Roman Gonzalez has developed into that kind of star.
The three-division world champion is 43-0 with 37 KOs. The Ring now ranks him No. 2 pound-for-pound.
Gonzalez has been a word-of-mouth YouTube star in the United States over the past few years, but last March he finally appeared on HBO, battering former world champion Edgar Sosa in two rounds on a Gennady Golovkin undercard.
Fortunately, Gonzalez has an ideal opponent for a superfight: Japanese phenom Naoya Inoue. At 22 and with only eight professional fights, Inoue is already a two-division world champion.
He captured the WBC light flyweight title from veteran champion Adrian Hernandez in just six rounds in April 2014. In December, he jumped to 115 pounds and knocked out longtime WBO super flyweight champion Omar Narvaez, something not even Nonito Donaire was able to accomplish.
Gonzalez and Inoue share a promoter in Japan, so this fight seems very possible. Hopefully HBO will pick up the rights on it and broadcast it to the United States because it will be a can't-miss fight.
7. The Possibilities at Featherweight
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Featherweight has been one of the hottest divisions in boxing over the past year. Vasyl Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters emerged as champions with impressive performances. And after losing to Lomachenko, Gary Russell Jr. captured the WBC strap against veteran Jhonny Gonzalez with one of the year's best stoppages.
Walters lost his WBA belt on the scales before beating Miguel Marriaga in June. But I have to think a fight with WBO champion Lomachenko would be an attractive enough fight for him to take another run at the scales at 126 pounds.
If not, I wouldn't mind seeing Lomachenko face Russell again in a rematch.
I'd watch either of them in a unification bout with IBF champion Lee Selby, who captured the belt in May with a technical decision over Evgeny Gradovich.
Sooner or later, Guillermo Rigondeaux is going to have to move up from 122 pounds and test his technical wizardry against bigger fighters if he wants to get a truly big fight.
And at some point the undefeated but overprotected Leo Santa Cruz is going to have to face a true test. Nobody at 126 pounds should overlook former three-division champion Abner Mares.
6. The Quest for Unification at 175 Pounds
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Sergey Kovalev's Round 8 TKO of Jean Pascal last March demonstrated once more that the Russian Krusher is one of the sport's most dangerous offensive fighters. He's a patient and intelligent boxer with staggering power in both hands.
While Kovalev holds the IBF, WBA and WBO title belts at 175 pounds, WBC champion Adonis Stevenson remains the lineal champion.
After the performance that Kovalev put on in Stevenson's home city of Montreal against Pascal, the pressure will be on to make the fight that would truly establish the top fighter at light heavyweight.
Kovalev has a mandatory defense against Nadjib Mohammedi in July. That will be a short night of work for him. Hopefully Stevenson will sign on to fight him sometime this fall.
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5. The Legitimacy of Deontay Wilder's Belt
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Deontay Wilder's claim to a share of the heavyweight championship stands on shaky historical ground. He won it by turning in an impressive decision against Bermane Stiverne last January.
Stiverne had made his claim to world-title status by virtue of knocking out Chris Arreola for Vitali Klitschko's vacated WBC belt.
So Wilder didn't beat the man who beat the man. Rather, he beat a man who beat a man.
It won't help his reputation as a belt holder that he made his first defense against lightly regarded Eric Molina, who managed to make the fight a bit of a scrap before getting knocked out in Round 9.
Molina was essentially a step back to the level of competition Wilder fattened his record with for years prior to finally challenging for a newly vacated belt last January.
To fully earn the kind of respect that comes with being called the heavyweight champion, at some point Wilder is going to need to beat another top-ranked fighter, whether it be Alexander Povetkin or Tyson Fury.
And even if he did that, he'd still have to beat Wladimir Klitschko in order to truly be called the man.
4. Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury
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On June 27, ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported that the WBA had ordered a purse bid for Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury to be held on July 6. There's good reason to hope that this fight will happen in the fall in England.
If this does happen, I am inclined to believe that Klitschko will pick Fury apart and stop him. Fury just isn't skilled enough to hang with the longtime champ.
But it's an intriguing matchup just the same. For one thing, Fury deserves a title shot. The 6'9" giant is 24-0 with 18 KOs and has beaten a better collection of opponents than WBC belt holder Deontay Wilder.
Fury is also a big talker who will likely pop off at press conferences and otherwise help build interest for this bout.
3. The Young Lions at 147 and 154 Pounds
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Although it failed to deliver on even the most modest hopes for drama and excitement, the fact that the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight finally happened was still a great thing for the sport. At long last, some of the attention can shift to a long list of emerging stars.
Mayweather remains the lineal champion at welterweight and junior middleweight. But with his career winding down, the race is on among the young stars of those divisions to step in and replace him at the top of the rankings.
IBF champion Kell Brook won his belt with an impressive victory over the rugged and athletic Shawn Porter. Keith Thurman beat Robert Guerrero as decisively as Mayweather did but in a far more exciting fight. Former Olympian Errol Spence has looked better with each performance.
At 154 pounds, the Charlo twins, Jermell and Jermall, join Julian Williams and WBO titlist Demetrius Andrade as undefeated young contenders.
2. The 'Big Drama Show' at Middleweight
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With a KO streak that now stretches to 20 fights, undefeated WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has officially scored a hit with his long-running "big drama show."
Miguel Cotto is the lineal champion at middleweight, and he looked sharp in his stoppage victory over Daniel Geale in June. By rights, any world title at middleweight that isn't defended against GGG should be vacated, but if Cotto bypassed him solely for the purpose of facing Canelo Alvarez, it would be understandable.
Cotto-Alvarez would be a mega-event and almost surely a great fight as well.
Still, once that fight is done, if the winner doesn't face Golovkin, his belt won't count for much.
1. The Floyd Mayweather Watch
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In May, Floyd Mayweather Jr. finally beat his longtime rival, Manny Pacquiao, leaving the Filipino congressman looking completely overmatched. He also shattered his own records for getting paid.
With one fight remaining on his contract, Mayweather is very likely nearing the end of his career. I have to think he will want to go out with as much style as possible, once again generating a big-time pay-per-view event.
But to truly rouse the fans one last time, he's going to need to find a compelling opponent. It might not be easy.
I'd be curious to see Mayweather fight Timothy Bradley or a young star like Kell Brook or Keith Thurman.
I'd also be interested in seeing him fight Erislandy Lara, who is a southpaw with serious technical skill.
And like any fan, I'd be excited to see him take on Gennady Golovkin if he's willing to move up and risk facing a puncher that big.
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