The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of December 11
Hopefully you've all recovered from a loaded weekend of boxing!
Both HBO and Showtime put on cards stacked with significant fighters, so we'll take some time to look at the major storylines that emerged.
As expected, Terence Crawford thrashed an overweight John Molina for an easy third win of the year.
Does he deserve consideration for Fighter of the Year?
Abner Mares won his fourth world title after the majority of the boxing community left him for dead because of injuries and uneven performances the last couple of years?
Was he the star of the weekend?
All that, plus, we look at Joseph Parker's title-winning effort, Bernard Hopkins' final fight and Oleksandy Usyk's chances of mainstreaming the cruiserweight division in America.
These are the week's hottest boxing storylines!
Can Bernard Hopkins Write a Fitting Final Chapter?
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Hopkins is a living legend.
His list of accolades is too numerous to list, and his ability to continually defy Father Time—achieving more past his 40th birthday than most fighters do in a career—is among the greatest all-time accomplishments in all of sports.
Hopkins, who will turn 52 years old next month, will fight for what he says is the final time in his career Saturday night against rising light heavyweight contender Joe Smith Jr.
Smith isn't exactly a household name, though he upped his status quite a bit when he scored a stunning first-round knockout of top contender Andrzej Fonfara in June. That win put him on the map and could well be the "2016 Upset of the Year."
But the task and moment in front of him are immense.
Hopkins began his career 28 years ago with a majority-decision loss to Clinton Mitchell.
He's won 55 fights since then and will be looking to bookend a truly historic career by taking down one more young buck on the rise for No. 56.
Boxing doesn't usually do happy endings. Fighters walk away because they have no other option. Many stick around long past the time when they're competitive in the endless pursuit of one last opportunity or one last paycheck.
Hopkins, despite his age, isn't that guy.
He's done things his own way in this sport and will get to walk away on his own terms, even if at a more advanced age than we're used to seeing.
And that, among so many other things, is remarkable.
Does Crawford Deserve FOY Consideration?
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With all due respect to Crawford, who is one of the brightest young stars in boxing and had a very solid 2016 campaign, he should not really crack the upper tier of the Fighter of the Year conversation. He took care of Molina with extreme force on Saturday night in Nebraska for his third win of the year, but there are other fighters who have done more.
Crawford was too smart, fast and precise for Molina, who came into the fight badly overweight and seemed to employ a drunken pub-fighting style that required him to chase and uncork the occasional bomb in hopes of felling his man.
Maybe that was the game plan all along, or maybe Molina just realized early on that his only chance of victory was to get lucky land a home run shot.
Either way, it wasn't meant to be.
Crawford closes out 2016 as a fighter who definitely belongs inside the top five of all pound-for-pound lists (you could argue his case for No. 1 if you'd like) and will be looking for a defining bout in the new year.
Not that he did anything wrong by shredding Molina, Hank Lundy and Viktor Postol—in a fight considered by many to be a 50-50 contest going in—but there's something a Manny Pacquiao brings to the table that those guys don't.
That's a fight which will certainly be in high demand now, and boxing fans can only hope it comes together.
Was Abner Mares the Star of the Weekend?
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Mares was largely left for dead as a top fighter in the sport with uneven performances and injuries making up the bulk of his story for the past couple of years.
It's not surprising, then, that not very many people gave him a huge chance of unseating Jesus Cuellar for a featherweight title on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Not only did he unseat him, but he also looked better than he has in years and was rewarded with a split decision that by all rights should've been unanimous.
Kermit Bayless' (brother of referee Kenny Bayless) scorecard of 115-113 for the Argentine just didn't make very much sense.
Mares was making his first start under veteran California-based trainer Robert Garcia.
He boxed effectively and scored the only knockdown in the fight (where he wasn't expected to be the puncher) when he put Cuellar on the canvas in Round 11. It's hard to overstate the impact of this win for the now-four-time champ.
A loss likely would've signaled the end of his career at or near the top of the sport.
By taking an impressive win, and looking a lot like the fighter who not long back was on many P4P lists, Mares is right back in a top-heavy featherweight mix.
Suddenly matches with Carl Frampton or a rematch with Leo Santa Cruz—should he overcome Frampton in their second tilt in January—not only don't seem ridiculous, they'd be in high demand.
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Did Parker Put the Heavyweights on Notice?
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Parker made history on Saturday in New Zealand.
The unbeaten Kiwi defeated Andy Ruiz Jr. by majority decision to win the WBO Heavyweight Championship and become the first fighter from New Zealand to capture a share of the heavyweight crown.
It wasn't his best performance, but it was effective enough to win, and the verdict was fair.
The contest was close enough that both men can stake a legitimate claim to victory.
It was the type of fight where the scoring of any one particular round (and there were a couple that were close) swung your final tally in one direction or the other.
Ruiz was at his best in the early rounds when he let his hands go against Parker, who seemed a tad tentative and took a some time to settle into the fight.
Parker came on strong in the middle rounds to narrow the fight or take a slight lead (depending on your perspective) and the fight seemed to be on the table heading into the championship rounds.
He did enough to win, but it's not likely that any of the other big men will be quaking in their boots off this performance. But sometimes that's exactly what the doctor ordered.
We don't award style points in boxing—you don't always need to impress—sometimes you just need to win.
Will Usyk Mainstream the Hot Cruiserweight Division?
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The cruiserweight division is one of the hottest in boxing right now, and Usyk might just be the brightest star in what's become a weight class brimming with talent and potential high-level fights.
Last week Murat Gassiev pounded out a tough decision win over Denis Lebedev to capture the IBF Cruiserweight Championship in a fight that could've gone either way and demands a rematch.
This week it will be Usyk, who took his belt by battering previously unbeaten Kryzstof Glowacki, that showcases the division just to the south of the heavyweights.
Usyk is unbeaten in 10 professional bouts with nine knockouts plus an Olympic gold medal. That's a pretty solid pedigree.
He defends his title for the first time in a high-profile HBO bout against South Africa's Thabiso Mchunu as the co-feature for Hopkins vs. Smith. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to see him fight, we suggest you tune in and catch a glimpse.
The Ukrainian is built like an ox and hits like a train.
He has the potential—along with guys like Gassiev and Lebedev—to make the cruiserweights must-see TV, even in the United States, where the division has flown under the radar for many years.
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