Top 10 Boxing Fights for a True Fight Fan in 2009

Being a huge boxing fan I was honored to be asked to write an article on the top 10 Boxing fights to watch in the up coming new year of 2009.  However because boxing is a sport that often gets blocked by greedy shady promoters and just plain corruption a lot of these fights are not officially inked as of yet, but are only rumored or even worse just plain wishful thinking. So without further a due here's my list for the top 10 Boxing fights to look out for in 2009.

Fight Number No. 1. Antonio Margarito VS Shane Mosely.This fight will take place on January 24th, 2009 in LA at the Staples Center. Right now the Tijuana Tornado aka Toney (Margarito) has so much buzz, hype, love and is riding high off his big win off of former top pound for pound Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto that his legion of fans are dying to see him back in the ring again no matter who it is.

Shane Mosely is a great boxer who's fast, even at this point of his career. Sugar Shane can very well outbox Toney all night or he can get caught and slaughtered by the Tijuana Tornado much like Cotto ended up that is why this is going to be a great fight to watch in the 09!

Fight Number No. 2. Antonio Margarito VS Miguel Cotto II. Cotto looks to avenge his only loss of his already great young career.  I am biased for I am a huge Miguel Cotto fan and whether you like him or not, one must agree that Cotto has not had an easy fight for awhile. He's been fighting the best and hardest fights out there and always gives us fans an exciting war. In their first match up Cotto did not fight like himself.

He fought like he was Sweet Pea Whitaker? Cotto did not unleash that demolishing signature left hook that he always dismantles all his previous opponents with against Margarito in their first bout, hopefully he can have that in his arsenal this time around thus possibly nullifying the constant oncoming Tornando.

Fight Number No. 3. Juan Manuel Marquez VS Juan Diaz.I am a big fan of Juan Diaz, he a crowd pleaser with his aggressive constant come forward throwing style. I respect how he's a full time student in college who makes the honor roll and who plans to go on to law school. I am an even bigger fan of Juan Manuel Marquez.

Marquez is the MAN! He is my favorite still active Mexican fighter and thats saying alot with so many great Mexican fighters who dominate the sport. "JMM" is a MASTER BOXER, sharp skilled tactical technician. I feel "JMM" is the most skilled fighter in the game right now.

It takes someone as naturally gifted, great, and unorthodox as Manny Pacquiao to beat "JMM" by only a razor thin margin.  "JMM" is the master counter puncher who I feel will counter punch Juan Diaz for the majority of this fight.

Fight Number No. 4.  Nonito Donaire VS Fernando Montiel. I am biased for I am a huge fan of Nonito Donaire. His knock out of the year of Vic Darchinyan still gives me goose bumps. The Filipino Flash, Donaire is a highly skilled fighter who has it all speed, great defense and POWER.

If I have to keep it real, Donaire's even a more complete fighter than his more well known internationally famous country man Manny Pacquiao. I've met Donaire a few times at the Pacquiao fights and he's a great humble real guy who has what it takes to fill in the very large shoes of the PAC MAN once Pacquiao retires and gets into politics.

With all due respect to Montiel this fight is going to be important to watch for the winner will most likely get to face the winner of Arce vs Darchinyan.

Fight Number No. 5. Jorge Arce VS Vic Darchinyan. This fight will be an all out war. Arce used to annoy me with his lollipop but action packed fight after fight he has won me over as a fan and I had the pleasure of sitting next to him during the Pacquiao VS Morales rubber match. Jorge is a great guy who loves his fans and deserves all the fans that he is winning over.

Vic is a very dominating KO artist who has an awkward unorthodox stance and fighting style but he is heavy handed and knocks his opponents out cold. One criticism of Vic is that he often fights smaller opponents who come up in weight to fight him. Arce is the same size if not a bit bigger than Vic. Again the winner of this war will most likely face Donaire next.

Fight Number No. 6. Israel Vasquez VS Rafael Marquez IV. All I have to say is watch their first three fights and you'll know why this fight will be simply GREAT! I'm a big fan of both of these champions. They are both top pound for pound champions who would literally fight 100 rounds if we allowed them to. Their trilogy was hands down the best trilogy of this newer generation.  Also rumor has it the winner of this will face the next big thing: Juan Manuel Lopez!

Fight Number No. 7. Juan Manuel Lopez  VS anyone. Ask anyone who's a true fan of the sport and they all know Lopez is the TRUTH! Ever since his first round destruction of Ponce de Leon he has arrived and with all due respect to the great Trinidad and Cotto I feel Lopez has what it takes to be an even bigger star than them. He's a monster who knocks his opponents out early with ease.

Lopez is the type of fighter that can save a dying sport like boxing and get even the most ignorant casual fan excited about boxing again. You better not blink when he fights, point and case he was on the under card at the Dream Match and I was so anxious to see him fight that night and as I was walking to my seat they were already showing him on the jumbo tron raising his arms up in victory.

Fight Number No. 8. Manny Pacquiao VS Ricky Hatton. After Pac Man's one sided beat down of the Golden Boy and further more making him say, "NO MAS", the Pac Man not only solidified his number one pound for pound status but also his status as the next Golden Boy or the next Iron Mike of this new era.

Ricky Hatton is no slouch. Ricky out hustled all of his opponents even the great Kosta Tszyu was "wrestled" to death by the Hitman. Ricky's only loss was given to him by the great former pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. You have the most famous/loved fighter in all of Europe fighting the most famous/loved fighter in the rest of the world.

This would be a huge super mega fight that will do insane PPV numbers and bring  a ton of hype back to the sport world wide. If the Pac Man can stop the Hitman earlier than the Pretty Boy did, that might just be enough to make the Pretty Boy come out of retirement and give us the real true Dream Match of 2009!

Fight Number No. 9. David Haye VS either Klitschko. I am a big fan of both the Klitschko brothers they are giants, they dominate their opponents with ease and they provide stoppages as heavyweights should. They are intelligent with their PhD's and "Doctor" Prefixes. They speak numerous different languages and they do great charity work.

However the Heavyweight division is dead and has been dead for awhile. The sport of boxing needs someone to shake up the world. I met David Haye at the Dream Match and he's a great guy. Really down to earth. He's really good looking in a Soap Opera Shemar Moore kind of way.

The pefect man to get all the ladies interested in the sport as well. Haye is fast and agile, he cleaned up the Cruiser weight division and quite arguably that division may have had over all more harder competition than the current Heavyweight division. 

I prefer Haye to fight Wladimir of the two brothers for all respect to Haye I feel he has the best chance against Wladimir. I noticed Wladimir's losses were due to his stamina which Haye would have the upper hand in, also Wladimir doesn't do well against faster punchers who either just bum rush him straight onto his chin or who are able to turn and hit him from all different angles.

Vitali on the other hand I feel is invincible in the sense where the only way he loses is by his own personal injury. A healthy Vitali with no personal injury is quite a sure bet. His chin is ridiculous and he throws insane knockout combos I remember even Roy Jones Jr, the combo master in his prime, even gave Vitali props when he was a commentator on Vitali's fight.

Fight Number No. 10. Manny Pacquiao VS Floyd Mayweather Jr. This would be the true Dream Match of 2009. You have the two best pound for pound fighters going at it! I remember right after the fight I was shouting that Manny is the best pound for pound fighter on the planet. Then a guy said to me no, Floyd Mayweather is.

I then replied Floyd's retired and also was Floyd able to stop Oscar? This guy then shut up. Look I got mad love for Floyd he is the MAN! I was even inspired to do my sit ups just like he does his ending up standing up on your feet. No one else in the game is so precise with their punches as Floyd is. Floyd does not waste one punch he only throws when he sees an opening and he hits his target accurately. Manny throws to create an opening and then he keeps throwing.

I have mad love for Pretty Boy's "You CAN'T TOUCH ME" shoulder roll. But what makes this fight interesting is that Floyd has been inactive for over a year. This has been the longest period of time that Floyd's been out of the ring. Plus add the more time and months for him to wait for the Ricky Hatton vs Pacquiao fight to take place and that adds even more ring rust.

Add the factor of making Floyd come down to 140 to meet Pacquiao as well. Add the factor of Manny being so unorthodox and throwing punches from all angles plus the fact that Manny has been getting damn better each time he fights and as often as Manny has been fighting all this time while Floyd's been retired. Some may argue that their speed is equal if not giving the speed edge to Manny.

Some may argue that Manny has more power and definitely the heavier hands of the two. Floyd's has some of the worst eating habits probably in all of boxing history. He openly admits he eats junk food, drinks soda, 24-7 even when he was in training camp. I was always amazed that his body never took its toll from all of that horrible food.

As an athlete you must eat only the best nutritious diet to get the best performance and conditioning out of your body. I always thought that junk food would be Floyd's downfall if he continued to keep fighting and eating like he does. Floyd is a true champion a true pound for pound legend who is undefeated. Will he risk all of that to come back and claim it all against the one man who can give him a run for his Money May?

Let's have a GREAT 2009!

Merry Christmas. Remember what this holiday is all about!

GOD Bless,

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