brook87555 By Gav Duthie: The three greatest words that every challenging boxer wants to hear “AND THE NEW”, signifying they have reached their ultimate goal and won a world title.

With 17 weight divisions, 4 main governing bodies and two titles distributed by the WBA (regular and super) we can have up to 85 world champions at any one time. This article looks at the 10 titles most likely to change hands over the next year.

(1- most likely, 10- least likely)

(10) WBO Featherweight – Johnny Gonzalez

A great all action fighter and a worthy world champion. Gonzalez never shirks a challenge and he next takes on the hungry Jorge Arce. Arce is one of only 3 mexicans (Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales) who have won world titles in 4 weight classes. A featherweight title would make 5 for Arce and he will give it everything. Unfortunately I don’t think Gonzalez will lose his title in this fight but I think he will have a rematch with Abner Mares early next year. It may seem strange to predict a Mares win in a rematch as he was knocked out in the first round but I don’t think that will happen again. Gonzalez may feel that he can avoid Mares especially seeing as he knocked him out in the first fight but the money would be good for this fight and I see Mares a points winner this time.

New champion – Abner Mares

(9) WBO Super Middleweight – Arthur Abraham

As a champion I think Abraham is well past his best and would lose to most top contenders like Degale, Chavez, Groves etc. The reason he is low down the list is because he is in the protective bubble of fighting in Germany. This means you often get favourable decisions from judges and weak defences ala Paul Smith. If Abrahams does take a decent fight against the likes of Chavez I can’t see him winning. James Degale is also quite high up the rankings with the WBO and if he doesn’t secure a fight with Froch he may target Abraham.

New Champion – Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr

(8) WBA Heavyweight – Ruslan Chagaev

Luis Ortiz 21-0 (18) and Nigerian Lateef Kayode 20-0 (16) lock horns next week to fight for the interim WBA title. Although neither are particularly young fighters they are both undefeated and hungry fighters. Chagaev has been a great champion but his shot against Oquendo was more nostalgia than anything he actually deserved. He is only 35 but is battle hardened and suffered lots of injuries over the years. Boxers like Wilder, Jennings, Chisora, Povetkin and Fury will also no doubt be eyeing up this title as they are well ranked with the WBA.

New Champion – Luis Ortiz

(7) IBF Light Welterweight – Lamont Peterson

I like Peterson as a fighter, he’s tough, durable and is a solid boxer/puncher but I think he is on borrowed time. He won this title from Amir Khan and has since survived a ban for taking performance enhancing drugs he has also been knocked out in a non-title fight by Lucas Matthyse. The vultures are definitely circling round his title. Danny Garcia wants a unification bout and Adrien Broner wants to add a title at 140 and Peterson is the obvious. You can’t rule out Matthyse destroying him again either. Peterson is good but I don’t see him beating any of those three.

New Champion – Danny Garcia

(6) IBF Welterweight – Kell Brook

I think Brook has been on the fringes so long that he will only go for the big fights. I could be wrong and if he goes down the mandatory road of fighting the likes of Dan Ion and Bundu then he could be champion for a while. If as I predict he fights Amir Khan and then goes for a unification bout with Floyd Mayweather then he could lose his title next year. This all depends on ifs and butts, I think with his accuracy and size advantage he beats Khan and then he would probably be in the strongest position to face Mayweather with an undefeated record and a world title. Of course this also depends if Mayweather can’t tempt Pacquaio into the ring.

New Champion – Floyd Mayweather

(5) WBC Heavyweight – Bermaine Stiverne

I’m actually starting to get a little excited about the heavyweight division again. Alexander Povetkin and Carlos Takam face each other next month and are both rated highly with the WBC. Deontay Wilder will get his shot at the back end of 2014 and then Bryant Jennings is also waiting in the wings. Understandably Wladimir Klitschko will also be eyeing the title as winning it would make him the undisputed heavyweight champion. Stiverne is a solid boxer and was impressive over both fights against Chris Arreola but will he be able to beat Wilder then Jennings and possibly Klitschko. Its all very up in the air but I see Stiverne besting Wilder but not Jennings.

New Champion – Bryant Jennings

(4) WBC Flyweight – Akira Yaegashi

Japanese boxers dominate in the lower divisions but Yaegashi will need to perform a miracle to hold on to his title as he faces future p4p great Roman Gonzalez 39-0 (33). The boxer from Nicaragua is 27 years old and is looking to make a big step up in the next year. He fights Yaegashi this week and is a massive favourite and I fully expect him to win.

New Champion – Roman Gonzalez

(3) WBC Middleweight – Miguel Cotto

If the Puerto Rican genuinely wished to stay at middleweight he would be facing mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio. Instead Rubio is challenging Gennady Golovkin and the WBC have ordered Cotto to fight the winner. Capturing the world title was more about the opportunity of fighting Sergio Martinez rather than a genuine ambition to box at middleweight. Miguel Cotto is looking for a big fight with Canelo and this is more likely to happen at 154lbs or a catchweight.

New champion – Gennady Golovkin

(2) IBF Super Bantamweight – Kiko Martinez

Credit goes to Kiko for taking a defence against someone who has already beat him up and stopped him over 9 rounds in Carl Frampton. British and Irish fans have been waiting for a while for the jackal to become a world champion and then to unify the titles against Scott Quigg. Martinez has done very well to be fair since the Frampton defeat but whether or not he has learned anything from the first fight remains to be seen. I can’t see anything other than the same result in this case.

New Champion – Carl Frampton

(1) WBA, IBF, WBO Light Heavyweight –
Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev

This slots in at number 1 simply because its a unification bout so a title must change hands. Who wins this one I’m not sure. It is possibly the biggest fight of 2014. If Hopkins can win this he has a legitimate claim to be a top 15 fighter of all time. I’m a big fan of Kovalev and he should probably win this with Hopkins nearing 50. Kovalev is a big knockout artist but he is a boxer first and will be happy to take his time and use his jab which is the bet way to beat Hopkins. The winner of this will be eyeing another unification bout against Adonis Stevenson in 2015.

New Champion – Sergey Kovalev