By Nick Bannister: November and December of 2010 really reminded boxing fans why the sport has such enduring appeal, with stunning knockouts (Martinez-Williams), great fights (Katsidis-Marquez), edge of the seat excitement (Khan-Maidana) and massive upsets (Litzau-Caballero).

Boxing certainly has a bright future if it can keep delivering competitive, exciting fights like it did in the last couple of months. With that in mind, here is a look at some of the things we will hopefully see in 2011. In recognition of the fact that boxing is more important than any fighter, you will not read about Floyd or Manny here. Plenty of people will write plenty about those guys, I will focus instead on the many other brilliant fights and brilliant fighters out there. So, what have we got to (hopefully) look forward to?

A busy year for Yuriorkis Gamboa

Is there a more exciting fighter anywhere than Gamboa? Blistering hand speed, supreme conditioning, crowd pleasing combinations and limited defensive skills, the 29 year old Cuban featherweight is like a mini Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, Gamboa has not had the fights he needs to keep his star rising, and critics can fairly point to a lack of big names on his resume, along with his tendency to suffer flash knockdowns as reasons why he does not deserve to be considered a truly elite fighter. Hopefully in 2011 we will see him in with the likes of Rafael Marquez, Chris John, Jason Litzau and of course, the big star of the featherweights Juan Manuel Lopez to find out what he is really made of. By this time next year he could be on the P4P lists or have been found out badly. Either way it will be fun to watch.

An undisputed light-welterweight champion will emerge

Along with Amir Khan, Bradley and Alexander are the best at 140. As the latter two fighting in January, we are unusually close (potentially 2 fights) from an undisputed champion. With so much trash talked about all the fighters in and around the top of the division, whether it be about Khan’s chin, Bradley’s headbutting or Alexander’s dubious decision against Kotelnik, fans deserve to see some clarity emerge, and for once it seems like it will, with the Alexander-Bradley winner from Jan 29th taking on Khan sometime in the summer. Once it does, there is no shortage of competetive fights for to keep us entertained and keep whoever is the new champion on his toes. Juan Manuel Marquez might be on his way to 140 and would give anyone a fight, Maidana and Kotelnik are still forces to be reckoned with despite narrow losses to the top guys, Ortiz is working his way back in to contention, Rios and Matthysse are building their names, and Judah, Mabuza, Peterson and a host of others are also viable opponents. The light welterweight division really is as exciting as it is hyped to be, and 2011 promises to be its best year in a while. With welterweight hardly getting pulses racing, the best guys might just stay there and keep it this good for a few years yet. I think it could be one of those divisions where no one guy is able to beat all the others, so the title changes hands fairly regularly. It’s rare for that to happen, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that the mathups are made to see if it will.

The end of the Super Six

It hasn’t been perfect, but it has been a rare instance of idealism in a sport often bereft of it, and every fight has had its points of interest. It has made a new star in Andre Ward, had a classic fight in Froch-Kessler, given a new lease of life to Glen Johnson and seen upsets aplenty with the demolitions of Jermain Taylor and Ward’s stoppage of previous no. 1 Kessler. As with 140, an undisputed champion seems set to emerge in 2011, though that will involve the Super Six winner having the dubious privilege of a fight with Romanian powerhouse Lucian Bute, who has been denied serious competition the last year with all the other best guys tied up with the tournament. In addition to this, Kessler and Dirrell will return to the ring in 2011 to offer some more top fights. I imagine Froch wants another go at Kessler, and Dirrell will need to take on Ward after his pullout last time. Having seen the KO foul he suffered against Abraham, I can believe he still has neurological problems, but in the eyes of many fans he is a quitter, and if he is to rise again, needs to take some big fights and soon. In any case, lots of talent and some interesting sub plots means we should have another great year. Hopefully neither Allan Green nor Arthur Abraham will feature after the annus horribilis both men had, largely of their own making. Abraham can return to middleweight and go looking for Sturm, Martinez, Lemieuz or Sylvester, and Green will have to settle for being a second tier super middleweight, unless he fancies a jump to 175lbs, where hopefully he won’t look as weak and weight drained as he did at 168 throughout 2010.

People (including myself) paying attention to the smaller weights

It has escaped my attention until recently, but bantamweight is one of the most stacked divisions in the sport, and as with 140 and 168, there seems to be a genuine desire on the part of the networks and the fighters to see an undisputed champion emerge. Mares-Agbeko in the final of Showtime’s 118lb tournament will in fact probably serve as a semi for an unofficial tournament, with the winner facing the winner of the little man superfight between emerging Filipino superstar Nonito Donaire and veteran Fernando Montiel, regarded by many as the best Mexican in boxing fight now, for undisputed supremacy. If there is any justice, that fight will get serious attention, and so will others in the lighter weight classes. Pongsaklek Wonjonkam and Giovani Segura had great 2010s, both becoming Ring recognized champions (not for the first time in Wonjonkam’s case) and deserve some attention. With Showtime and HBO’s stated intention to show the best fights anywhere from 108lbs up, the dearth of competitive fights at some of the sport’s marquee weight classes (particularly middleweight and welterweight) won’t seem such a crying shame. I for one am looking forward to being exposed to a side of boxing that hasn’t really been on the radar outside of the far east until now.

The return of James Kirkland

With many of the sport’s biggest names either retired, should have retired, or close to retiring, boxing lacks the big name fighters to take over from De La Hoya, Jones Jr or Holyfield in the eyes of the casual fan. James Kirkland has the back story and the style to change that. An all action, gung ho brawler with scary power and Tyson-esque menace, he also has the bad boy gangsterism that fills column inches, and while no one wants to defend armed robbers or gun toting gangsters, it’s hard to deny that public interest in him could easily be built up by a savvy network or promoter. With no shortage of potential opponents at 154 or 160 (Cotto, Alvarez, Foreman, Martinez, Lemieux to name but a few), it would be no surprise to this writer if by the year’s end Kirkland was somewhere near the top of the light or full middleweight pile. As with Gamboa, he might just find his hands down all action style gets him badly taken apart by a true technician like Martinez or Dzinziruk, but expect to find out on Pay Per View with a 24/7 buildup before too long.

Genuinely competitive heavyweight title fights

Through no fault of their own, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have been largely unchallenged in the heavyweight division since Lennox Lewis called it a day. Wlad might have had a couple of upsets, but generally both brothers have been monotonously dominant and are clearly the best two in the world. Through no fault of their own their legacy has suffered, as the guys they have been up against hardly compare to the early 70s vintage of Foreman, Ali and Fraizier, or the early 90s of Tyson, Lewis and Holyfield. Now however, two heavyweights have emerged who on paper at least could challenge them for supremacy, Tomasz Adamek and David Haye. Both are small heavyweights, both were cruiserweight champions, Adamek even a light heavyweight for a good portion of his career. What both men lack in size though, they make up for in technique and speed. Haye is probably the fastest heavyweight since Tyson, and Adamek not far behind and with the better chin. All four guys seem ready to get it on in 2011, and I can’t help but think that Haye’s “retirement” date will get pushed back that little bit so as to allow him his mandatory defence against Chagaev and to keep the hype building for a December 2011 showdown. The money involved means that eventually Haye and Wlad will stop behaving like petty kids and get it on.

My suspicion is that neither challenger is quite good enough, and that both will lose, but at least when they meet in the ring it won’t be a foregone conclusion, as it has been for most of the last five years while the likes of Peter, Arreola and the rest have been given their chances. Unfortunately, whatever happens, with Haye and Adamek also nearer the end than the beginning of their careers, 2011 might be the last year in a few that we get anything close to top class heavyweight action.

There are plenty of other things to look forward to in 2011, which I won’t go in to in detail. At welterweight, Andre Berto will probably get a good fight after somehow failing to end up in a ring with anyone decent since he got his title, though it’s hard to think exactly who it will be with. At lightweight, Michael Katsidis will hit the comeback trail, probably against Roberto Guerro, and Soto and Antillon will probably resume hostilities after December’s Fight of the Year candidate ended in a razor thin decision for Soto. James Degale will continue his seemingly inevitable rise to the top table at Super Middleweight, probably via an all British superfight with other emerging star George Groves, and at light-heavyweight Bernard Hopkins will continue to give nightmares to younger men that probably wish he’d just retire and stop proving that while the pool of talent at 175 is deep, no one in that division is quite as good as they would like to think they are.

So that’s that. Hardly an exhaustive list, but certainly enough to keep boxing on the radar, and enough to keep a fan like myself happy. I think we could be in for a cracking year. What are you looking forward to in 2011?