By Zachary M. Johnson: Showtime’s Super Six boxing tournament and the meteoric rise of Manny Pacquiao have made for a pretty terrific year in boxing already. The 2009 closeout fight for the Super Six tournament will take place tonight between Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward, and predictions abound in the blogosphere. Even better for boxing fans, the string of genuinely interesting matches does not end there. A handful of potentially great fights are still set to happen before we roll into the New Year.

Lucian Bute (24-0-0, 19 KO) squares off with Librado Andrade (28-2-0, 21 KO) next Saturday in a super middleweight title rematch that, somehow, has taken more than a year to finally be made. A lot of fans still remember the fight more for Marlon Wright’s officiating blunder in the final twenty seconds than they do for the twelve rounds of quality boxing that came before it. The rematch should settle things. Also, billed as a co-main event fight, Ali Funeka (30-2-2, 25 KO) will be taking on Joan Guzman (29-0-0, 17 KO) in a bout to claim the vacant IBF lightweight title. It should be a great HBO combo card.

Two days into December, the ageless Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO) meets Enrique Ornelas (29-5-0, 19 KO) in Philadelphia for what is effectively a tune-up fight for the Executioner. The card is loaded with homegrown Philly talent, so anyone that landed a $25 ticket should be in for a great show. Across the globe on the same day, Roy Jones Jr. (54-5-0, 40 KO) takes on Australian Danny Green (27-3-0, 24 KO) for his own tune-up match in Sydney. Neither Hopkins’ nor Jones’ fight presents a very intriguing matchup, but it will be a good chance to scout both 40-plus fighters who, at this point in their careers, could hit the proverbial wall any week now. A major plus for viewers with cable is that the fights will be broadcast for free on Versus. The Jones Jr. fight will be same-day tape, so anyone that wants to be “surprised” should avoid boxing news that Wednesday.

On December 5th, HBO will be airing an impressive card featuring a main event bout between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. The fight was put together due to Kelly Pavlik’s well-documented problems with a staph infection on his hand. While Martinez is not as recognizable a name as Kelly Pavlik, he is a southpaw who should nonetheless provide a very interesting matchup against Williams. The undercard for the fight should be similarly engaging for fight fans with a pair of heavyweight bouts. Cris Arreola, coming off of a loss to Vitali Klitschko in which he was simply outclassed by the rangier Ukrainian, will look to stop Chad Minto early. Arreola was probably pushed into the Klitschko fight earlier than he should have been, and the setback ought to give him time to develop his body and his technique. Among the other notable fights on the card is a heavyweight showdown between Americans Chazz “The Gentleman” Witherspoon and Tony Thompson.

On Friday, December 11, Jean Pascal (24-1-0, 16 KO) and Adrian Diaconu (26-1-0, 15 KO) will meet for a championship rematch for the WBC Light Heavyweight title in Montreal. Both men fight out of Quebec, so it should be a huge local attraction. Even fans outside of Canada, though, are well aware that the bout should produce fireworks inside the ring. These are two rugged light heavyweights that bring the pain each and every time they fight. The broadcast will be available on ESPN360.com, and possibly on ESPN Classic.

A day later, on December 12th, HBO airs another interesting rematch that is set to take place in Chicago. Juan Diaz (35-2-0. 17 KO) will once again fight New York-based Paulie Malignaggi (26-3-0, 5 KO). Their last fight took place at the Toyota Center in Houston, where Diaz is based. The fight was close, but the cards were noticeably lopsided in Diaz’s favor. Look for the neutral ground to keep the scorecards legitimate in what should be another close fight. Victor Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KO) will be fighting Antonio Diaz (46-5-1, 29 KO) on the same card. HBO will also be showing same-day tape of the fight between Vitali Klitschko (38-2-0, 37 KO) and American heavyweight Kevin Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KO) in Bern, Switzerland. Klitschko, coming off of his domination of Cris Arreola in September, is heavily favored.

Other Notable Fights:

12/5 – (Newcastle, England) Amir Khan (21-1-0, 15 KO) vs. Dmitriy Salita (30-0-1, 16 KO)

Breidis Prescott (21-1-0, 18 KO) vs. Kevin Mitchell (29-0-0, 22 KO). Prescott handed Khan his only loss, then lost to relative unknown Miguel Vazquez less than a year later. Khan and Prescott are both favored to win in what looks to be the preface to a rematch.

12/12 – (Rancho Mirage, CA) Timothy Bradley (24-0-0, 11 KO) vs. Lamont Peterson (27-0-0, 13 KO), Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KO) vs. Tomas Rojas (32-11-1, 22 KO). Two undefeated records belie what could turn into a snoozer between Bradley and Peterson. Expect it to go the distance with the possibility of being stopped due to injury. Darchinyan is expected to knock out Rojas, though the journeyman fighter has only been stopped once in his career.

Most Underwhelming:

12/3 – Rahman vs. TBA, 10 rounds, Rochester, NY

The heavyweight division is in pretty bad shape, but Rahman certainly is not the man to drag it out of the abyss. There is no name that can be announced that makes this a good fight.