By Juan Rodriguez: After having a disappointing and forgettable 2016, 2017 is looking bright for boxing fans. The lack of quality match-ups, an abundance of one-sided fights and many inactive champions left fight fans both upset and frustrated. Throw in dragging negotiations of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and you’ll be able to see how bad of a year 2016 was for boxing.
A month and a week into 2017, fans are already excited and eager for the fights that have already passed and are signed for. In January alone fans were treated to fights between fighters at the top of their weight class such as James DeGale v. Badou Jack, Carl Frampton v. Leo Santa Cruz 2 and Dejan Zlaticanin v. Mikey Garcia. Fans were also treated to fights were they saw prospects turn into legitimate champions in shocking fashion such as when Gervonta Davis dethroned Jose Pedraza by seventh-round TKO.
In the upcoming weeks and months, fans will also be treated to other quality match-ups. Adrien Broner, who after having a rough year that included jail and suicidal thoughts, will be returning to the ring in his hometown of Cincinnati this month. He takes on skilled and tough, Adrian Granados (Ranked 4th WBO), who is on a five fight winning streak and will be looking to continue it. On that same fight card, Lamont Peterson will challenge David Avanesyan for his WBA “regular” welterweight title and Thomas Williams will go up against Marcus Browne in an attempt to bounce back from his knockout loss to WBC champ Adonis Stevenson. February will close with a solid PBC on Fox card that will see Deontay Wilder fight for the first time since breaking his hand and tearing his bicep. Wilder will take on a late replacement and formidable foe, Gerald Washington. The PBC on Fox card includes as couple of fights that were we’ll see up and coming prospects continue their rise up the rankings. Izuagbe Ugonoh will take on the once-beaten and former heavyweight title challenger, Dominic Breazeale. The co-main event will show red-hot prospect, Jarrett Hurd looking to continue to climb the rankings ladder at 154 pounds.
March will be home to two of the biggest fights of the first half of 2017. WBC champion, Danny Garcia will take on WBA champion, Keith Thurman. In a fight that will see both unbeaten records on the line, fireworks are all but guaranteed. On that same night, David Haye will settle his grudge against Tony Bellew across the pond at the O2 Arena in London. Two weeks later, Mick Conlan will kick-off St. Patrick’s Day weekend with his professional debut on a card that includes his fellow Irish Olympic boxing teammate, Paddy Barnes. A day after Conlan’s debut, GGG will return to Madison Square Garden to defend his WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO titles against Danny Jacobs in a dangerous fight against his toughest opponent to date. The card will also consist of pound-for-pound kingpin, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, defending his WBC crown. Andy Lee and Carlos Cuadras will also be making their ring returns on the card. The last notable card in March will be headlined by Jorge Lianares defending his WBA and The Ring lightweight titles in a rematch against Anthony Crolla.
April will consist of Manny Pacquiao taking on little known Jeff Horn in a card that cou;ld take place in Australia or the U.A.E.. Although Pacquiao is still a notable fighter, the fight that will be getting all the media attention will be the heavyweight clash where the young lion, Anthony Joshua takes on heavyweight great, Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 fans.
Canelo vs. Julio Chavez Jr. will round out the first half of 2017 in what will be one of the biggest Mexican fights in boxing history.
With the possibility of fights such as GGG-Canelo and Joshua-Wilder added to an already great schedule, 2017 is looking to be one of the best years boxing has had in a long time. So no, it is not too soon to say that this will be a great year for boxing.