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With the 2013 boxing year taking it’s first steps into the bright winter sunshine, fight fans not just within the United Kingdom but around the world are drawing up their wish lists for what exciting match ups that would like to see take place in this new year.
SaddoBoxing’s British contributor Iain Langmaid is no different as he brings his annual wish list for your consideration.
1: David Price vs. Tyson Fury
What is not to like about this all British match up in the Heavyweight division? There are two giant heavyweights who are unbeaten in 35 fights combined and have scored 27 knockouts between them and both stand over 6ft 8in and weigh in around 17 and a half stone [245 pounds] and bring a lot to the table in their own distinctive ways.
This potential fight is not only the best match up in Britain, but one of the very best in Europe if not the world in the heavyweight division, outside of either man fighting the Klitschko brothers.
In his most recent four or five fights, the younger, charismatic Fury has shown considerable improvement, in terms of conditioning and boxing ability, since switching to his uncle Peter Fury as trainer and has shown that he can box to plan and use his physical advantages to great effect.
Fury still remains a quick-handed puncher who can switch effectively between the head and body and can score body shot knockouts as demonstrated earlier in his career against Scott Belshaw and, more recently, against Martin Rogan, the former Prizefighter and Commonwealth Champion.
Fury has stepped up effectively against Vinny Maddalone and, more recently, against the American Kevin Johnson during a WBC eliminator that was a measured but not crowd pleasing performance in Belfast.
However, Fury has been dropped once already in his career, against the Canadian Nevin Pajikic, but he demonstrated great heart and resilience in rising from the canvas to stop Pajikc.
Fury gets his big step up fight in April, when he will face former Cruiserweight Champion Steve Cunningham at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden in an IBF eliminator for the number two spot in the rankings.
The older, more technically gifted, and seasoned Price has been attracting his own headlines by delivering electrifying knockouts, scoring 13 of them in his 15 fight professional career to date.
Recently, Price rendered perennial underachiever and false prophet Audley Harrison unconscious in just 82 seconds then sliced former British, Commonwealth and European Champion Matt Skelton in half with a body shot.
Fellow Scouser and friend Tony Bellew, himself a contender at Light Heavyweight, describe the Liverpool supporting Heavyweight as “the heir to the Klitschko throne” following Price’s five round demolition of Norwich’s former Commonwealth Champion Sam Sexton to clinch the then vacant Commonwealth and prestigious Lonsdale Belt. At that point, Price became one of the most talked about hea
Price clinched the aforementioned titles after Fury had vacated those belts, which came after Price dispatched former Fury victim John McDermott in just 79 seconds with three knockdowns to win the English title and become mandatory challenger. In contrast, Fury needed a controversial 10 round decision to get by McDermott in their first bout, although Fury was participating in just his 10th professional fight.
Fury eventually stopped McDermott in the ninth round during their rematch in a final eliminator to become mandatory challenger to then British champion Dereck Chisora.
However, with Price, just like all heavyweight prospects, there are questions that still remain about him, such as concerning his stamina, as he has only been as far as the seventh round in his career and also his chin, which came about after Fury and Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle both dropped Price as an amateur.
Thankfully, these questions will likely be answered when Price makes his first appearance of the new boxing year against the American southpaw Tony Thompson at the Echo Arena in Liverpool this Saturday.
Should Price emerge from this latest bout victorious, it will make a match up against Fury an even more attractive proposition taken into account their rankings and unbeaten records and the Liverpool-Manchester connection.
But whether or not it will happen this year, especially if Fury defeats Cunningham, remains the big question on the lips of the British boxing public.
2: Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin
Staying with the big men, but venturing over the North Sea and into Germany, another heavyweight match up that fight fans here in Europe would like to see and could potentially generate interest from the United States would be one of the Klitschko brothers fighting the unbeaten Russian and WBA “regular” title holder Alexander Povetkin.
At 32 years old, Povetkin is coming into what is supposedly his peak and remains unbeaten in 25 professional bouts after winning gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics at Super-Heavyweight despite being 6ft2 in a land of Klitschko sized heavyweights.
As professional, the only standout names on his record are an aging and in decline Hashim Rahman, Ruslan Chagaev and WBO Cruiserweight Marco Huck, who arguably gave Povetkin his toughest fight.
However, there are also wins over former IBF Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd and also Eddie Chambers as well. But, it can be argued that given the inactivity, only 25 fights in 7 years, and easy match ups by Sauerland, that Povetkin’s promoters have doubts about him.
The Klitschko’s need no introduction. Between the brothers, they hold all of the major recognised belts and have 101 wins out of 106 bouts with 94 knockouts.
While it can be argued that they may struggle to get into to the top 10-15 list of all time Heavyweights, it is important to recognise that they have not shirked away from anyone during their reigns, but have cleared out the division leaving only Povetkin as the last of their peer group left to face before meeting the new generation of heavyweights such as Price, Fury, Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius, amongst others.
However, the question remains as to which Klitschko will be standing opposite the unbeaten Russian should such a lucrative match up occur. Wladimir is currently pencilled in to return to the ring for his first bout of the year on the 6th April as it yet to be named opponent, while elder brother Vitali’s immediate future appears to be a little less clear.
Vitali gained considerable success in the recent Ukrainian Parliament elections in which his party, the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance and Reform, gained 40 seats on a pro-European anti-corruption ticket and Politics may start to take up more of the Ironfist’s time.
And he may have to face the winner of the eliminator between Bermane Stiverne and former victim Chris Arreola for the WBC title and the fact that David Haye is also sniffing around for a crack against Vitali and this may also reduce the opportunity for Klitschko vs. Povetin to occur.
3: Chris Arreola vs. any of the combination of Deontay Wilder, Seth Mitchell or Jonathan Banks
Going stateside, the great question in heavyweight boxing remains. When will the next big American Heavyweight champion going to emerge? It now been seven years since Shannon Briggs held the WBO portion of the World Heavyweight crown after defeating Siarhei Liakhovich of Belarus.
One way that an American Heavyweight could rise to the top could potentially be a four man all-American tournament between the aforementioned fighters to see who could potentially bring the World Heavyweight crown back across the Atlantic.
Each man brings something different to the table. 31 year old Arreola, the Mexican-American big hitter who has knocked 30 of his 35 opponents, would be seen as the all-action entertainer fighter who gives his all in the ring.
There have been times, however, that Arreola’s conditioning has come into question, and he cried his eyes out on HBO in his brave world title challenge against Vitali Klitchsko back in 2009.
Actually, Arreola may potentially face off against the elder Klitchsko again, should he be victorious against Bermane Stiverne in the upcoming WBC final eliminator.
Then there is Seth Mitchell, the 6ft 2in tall former American Collegiate Football star who turned to boxing after suffering a knee injury. Mitchell went 25-0-1 with a relentless big hitting style before suffering a two round blowout at the hands of Jonathan Banks.
Banks himself stepped up from Cruiserweight after losing to Tomasz Adamek for the IBF Cruiserweight strap and has since climbed into a top 10 ranking on the world stage. Often Banks has been fighting as a support to Kronk stablemates and even acted as trainer to Wladimir Klitschko following the death of their trainer and mentor Emmanuel Steward last year.
Given the Steward connection they both share, a Banks vs. Klitchsko match up maybe unlikely but Banks is engaged in a rematch against Mitchell with Mitchell looking to show that the defeat to Banks was just a set back as he looks to become the next big American heavyweight star.
Then there is the unbeaten Deontay Wilde, who is arguably the most marketable American heavyweight of the four. A former Olympian who clinched bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics possesses a professional record that reads of perfect symmetry; 27 fights, 27 wins and all by knockout, which takes him ahead of Vitali Klitchsko as the longest consecutive knockout run in heavyweight history and level with the late Venezuelan two weight world champion Edwin Valero.
Tie this in with a promotional contract with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, and it appears the Alabama native has the potential to be the saviour of the Heavyweight division in the United States.
Or is he? On closer examination of his record, in his 27 fights he has boxed just 47 rounds since turning professional back in 2008.
The immediate stand out name on Wilder’s record is former world title challenger Owen Beck, who appears to be in decline since 2010 after being stopped in 10 rounds by German based Syrian Manuel Charr and has been on a nine fight losing streak since then.
Another “highlight” is 37 year old supposed prospect Kelvin Price, whom Wilder stopped in three rounds to claim the WBC Continental Americas title, a belt which has been held by the likes of Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe en route to heavyweight glory.
While Wilder is a big puncher, he can sometimes appear crude and questions remain about both of his chin and stamina. However, Wilder has reportedly benefited from serving as a sparring partner to Wladimir Klitschko, which shows he is still learning and improving, but there comes a time when the training wheels have to come off.
By having these four heavyweights square off against each other, we will be able to see who is the most creditable American challenger available before taking on the best European heavyweight and then the fiercesome summit of the Klitschko Brothers, and most crucially, revive American interest in the Heavyweights as a whole.
4: Nathan Cleverly vs. Tavoris Cloud or Bernard Hopkins
This is an interesting combination of three fighters at Light Heavyweight, each at different stages of their careers. First, you have the young buck in Nathan Cleverly looking to make a name for himself in the division after a 25 fight career that has seen him clinch Commonwealth, British and European titles, alongside the WBO crown that he currently possesses.
Cleverly is looking to become the next big British starlet with the likes of Ricky Hatton finally deciding to stay out of the ring after getting sliced in half by Ukraine’s former WBA title holder Vycaslav Senchenko in front of 22,000 adoring fans at the Manchester Arena.
With Carl Froch looking to write the final chapter of his glittering career with a mouth watering unification match up against former conqueror and friend Mikkel Kessler at the O2 Arena, there is the opportunity for Cleverly, the Cardiff University Maths graduate, to stake a claim as king of the hill on the British pound for pound list.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Hopkins is the 48 year old two weight world champion and masterful defensive boxer whose defeated some of the greatest fighters of his generation, such as Puerto Rican icon Felix Trinidad, who he dismantled before stopping in the 12th round to end Trinidad’s 40 fight unbeaten run, Oscar De La Hoya, who was sliced in half with a body shot in the 9th round in 2004 and also Roy Jones in an endless list of great fighters of the last quarter century.
Hopkins still possesses the desire and ring guile to give any Light Heavyweight in the world considerable problems and that is why Hopkins is due to face the unbeaten IBF Champion Tavoris Cloud.
The 31 year old Cloud, from Tallahassee Florida, won the IBF trinket back in 2009 after defeating Sheffield’s Clinton Woods, will only be making the fifth defence of his title, which is disappointing for many a fight fan due to his big hitting all-action style, which could see him play into the hands of the wily old ring general Hopkins, who will be setting traps for Cloud to fall into.
Cleverly would obviously love a big career defining bout but will first need to get past his mandatory defence against Robin Krasniqi before entertaining any mouth watering match ups with either Cloud or Hopkins.
5: Andre Ward vs. the winner of Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler.rematch
Stepping now to the talent rich Super-Middleweight division, the stand out fight in that weight class will be the winner of the upcoming Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler rematch gaining the opportunity to settle the score with fellow Super Six alumni Andre Ward, the former Athens Gold medallist who has become one of the best all round pound for pound fighters in the world through his victory in the Super Six tournament.
Froch and Kessler are scheduled to rematch against each other in front of a sell out crowd at the London O2 Arena in a WBA and IBF unification match up, while Ward is currently recovering from a shoulder injury sustained while training to fight former Middleweight king Kelly Pavlik.
Both Froch and Kessler are seeking revenge and a potential legacy fight after being beaten by Ward. Kessler was first beaten by Ward in Oakland after being out hustled and roughed up heavily on the inside before a Ward headbutt left “The Viking Warrior” cut.
Froch finished as the runner to Ward in the Super Six tournament after also being outhustled and outboxed by Ward, who took Froch’s WBC belt in the process. Following Froch’s dispatching of Lucian Bute for the IBF crown, Ward tweeted that he very much fancied a trip to England hinting that he is more interested in fighting Froch here in the UK than he is interested in fighting Kessler in Denmark.
Interest in Froch vs. Ward II would obviously mean it would be either a stadium or large arena fight here in the UK, and Froch, who has displayed terrific improvement and desire for revenge, will be eager to rematch Ward should he get past Kessler in another potential fight of the year candidate.
