Boxing's Biggest 'What Ifs' from 2016
As boxing fans, we must live with our "what ifs." There are always certain matchups that fail to materialize or fall through at the last minute.
But every year, certain near misses sting more than the rest.
We got some important matchups in multiple divisions during 2016. It was a memorable year, overall.
This list shows how much better it could have been.
'What If' Guillermo Rigondeaux Could Get a Big Fight?
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Guillermo Rigondeaux is in the The Ring's pound-for-pound top 10. He has been for more than three years now, since he handed a boxing lesson to Nonito Donaire in April 2013.
It has also been that long since Rigo has had a relevant fight.
Rigondeaux is the recognized lineal champion at 122 pounds and holds two of the four major belts. If I were going to rank all the fighters between 118 and 126 pounds, without regard for half weight classes, I would rate Rigondeaux as the best.
But his potential opponents are consistently unwilling to face him.
Rigo does not help his own cause by consistently putting on boring fights, which makes him a tough sell to networks and fans. I doubt promoters are pestering their 122- and 126-pound belt-holders to call Rigondeaux out.
Still, in sports, the ideal is for the best to face the best. And Rigondeaux is one of the best. So every year at this time, I find myself asking "what if" the guy could finally get a high-profile fight against another major talent such as Carl Frampton or Leo Santa Cruz?
'What If' Danny Garcia Fought an Elite Welterweight?
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Danny Garcia defeated Robert Guerrero for the vacant WBC belt last January. Garcia was an undefeated former WBC super lightweight champion. He has just defeated Paulie Malignaggi, a recent WBA welterweight title holder.
So Garcia was a very reasonable choice to compete for the vacant WBC belt. Guerrero was 2-2 in his last four fights, but the losses had come against Floyd Mayweather and Keith Thurman, so he was not out of place in the fight, either.
It is worth noting, though, that Guerrero lost his next fight after losing to Garcia against the utterly unheralded David Peralta. So the version of Guerrero that Garcia beat for his title is not exactly the same as the 2012-2013 edition of that fighter.
Still, it was a credible-enough title win in this era of Alphabet Soup nonsense.
What was not credible was Garcia's first action upon winning his title. Rather than defend against a worthy contender, Garcia opted to face Samuel Vargas in a non-title bout.
This was the same course of action Garcia followed in 2014, when instead of defending his super lightweight titles, he took on unranked lightweight Rod Salka.
In the era when champions might fight six to eight times a year, it was fair enough for them to fight some non-title bouts during the year. In an era when champions fight every six months, it is insulting the fans to treat a world title belt so casually.
'What If' Deontay Wilder Had Fought Alexander Povetkin?
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There are few fights I was more looking forward to in 2016 than Deontay Wilder vs. Alexander Povetkin. At long last, the undefeated Wilder was poised to face a top heavyweight with a well-developed resume.
Since losing to Wladimir Klitschko in October 2014, Povetkin had knocked out four straight contenders, with a combined record of 88-4. If Wilder could handle a talented veteran like Povetkin, it would truly establish him as a legitimate heavyweight star.
Unfortunately, days before the fight was due to take place, Povetkin failed a pre-fight performance-enhancing drugs test. At the last second, the fight was scuttled.
Instead, Wilder knocked out hard-traveled Chris Arreola, and boxing fans were once again left to spend the year wondering, "what if" Wilder fought somebody with the tools to really threaten him?
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'What If' Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev Had Been in Europe?
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I do not consider Andre Ward's victory over Sergey Kovalev a robbery. It was a close, competitive bout with momentum swings. A decision could have been reached for either man.
I was doing round-by-round recaps and analysis for this fight, which made it impossible for me to reliably score it while it was happening. Heading into the verdict, I really did not have a strong sense of who would get the decision.
When all three scores read 114-113, my first thought was the fight had been scored six rounds each, with Kovalev getting the victory due to his Round 2 knockdown. Still, I was hardly shocked when Ward won.
I scored the fight a week later, when I watched the rebroadcast. I do not believe scores from fight videos or rebroadcasts can be compared fairly to scores reached in live time, while sitting ringside. Regardless, I came up with six rounds for each man, and Kovalev winning by virtue of a knockdown.
I gave Kovalev Rounds 1-4, 6 and 10.
I think it is reasonable to have scored Round 3 and 10 for Ward, instead of Kovalev. So a judge could fairly and honestly have seven rounds to five for Ward.
However, it is somewhat unusual for all three judges to have scored all the close rounds in favor of the same fighter. Decisions like this do not deserve to be called robberies.
But it is natural to wonder if Ward didn't benefit from what boxing fans call "a little bit of home cooking" when the judges were making their decisions. And it is reasonable to ask "what if" Ward vs. Kovalev had been the exact same fight, but scored in Russia, or even Germany?
'What If' Tyson Fury Had Defended His Title Versus Wladimir Klitschko?
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Tyson Fury's decision victory over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 was an absolutely terrible fight. It was slow-paced and boring. But credit Fury with this much: He clearly deserved to win.
That victory made Fury the undefeated, lineal heavyweight champion. And as much as I did not expect a rematch with Klitschko to be any more exciting that the first fight, I still desperately wanted to see it happen.
From a historical perspective, I wanted to see if Klitschko was truly finished as the world's top heavyweight. I wanted to find out if Fury, one of history's more improbable champions, would be able to defend what he had earned.
Instead, the entire year has gone without the fight taking place. Instead, Klitschko will challenge IBF belt holder Anthony Joshua next year, with the vacant WBA belt up for grabs, too.
'What If' Manny Pacquiao Had Faced Terence Crawford
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When you look at what Manny Pacquiao did in 2016, from a purely objective perspective, it has to be admitted he had a pretty decent year. At 37, he defeated Timothy Bradley and Jessie Vargas.
Bradley was arguably top five at welterweight, and Vargas was top 10. Nobody else at 147 pounds beat two fighters so highly ranked.
But we judge a superstar like Pacquiao on a different standard. For a fighter of historic importance, we expect more history.
We do not want to merely see him defeat good opponents. We want to see him challenge himself against other potential superstars.
The obvious choice for Pacquiao in that regard was Terence Crawford, the WBO and WBC super lightweight champion. If Pacquiao had faced Crawford instead of Vargas, it would have been the biggest boxing event of the year and not just another "what if?"
'What If' Saul Alvarez Had Faced Gennady Golovkin?
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Almost a year ago, as 2015 was nearing an end, the majority of boxing fans were looking forward to one particular fight in 2016: Saul Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin.
After all, Golovkin had unified the WBA and IBF middleweight belts in October by stopping David Lemieux. Canelo had defeated Miguel Cotto in November to capture the lineal and WBC middleweight titles.
Golovkin and Alvarez were the two hottest fighters in the sport. It seemed inevitable they must face each other.
But 2016 has now come and all but gone without Canelo and GGG meeting in the ring. Worse, there is no indication the fight will take place any time soon.
And ultimately, the fact Alvarez and Golovkin did not fight is boxing's most disappointing "what if" for 2016.
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