By James P Sexton: After a year plagued by mismatches, this article will attempt to gauge the level at which the biggest names of boxing are performing, and a general idea of how they are currently perceived by the media and public alike.
Floyd Mayweather Jr – Stock Even.
Despite winning both of his fights more or less comfortably this year, it would seem that neither win over Marcos Maidana has done much to improve his legacy or change attitudes about him from his critics. Nevertheless, he remains undefeated and 2015 could prove to be marked by career defining fights for him.
Danny Garcia – Stock Down.
A lot has been written by myself and others about the lackluster performances from this champion in his campaign through 2014. The narrow margin of victory over Mauricio Herrera and the dangerous mismatch vs Rod Salka has left him at a low point in the eyes of his peers. Despite the awful year he has had, there are numerous fights which could be made for a man who shares a weight class with Matthysse, Provodnikov, Broner and rising stars Jessie Vargas and Viktor Postol. Its also believed that pound for pound rising star Terence Crawford could be entering the mix in the near future, so the future is bright for the unified champion.
Sergey Kovalev – Stock Up.
This Light-Heavyweight champion was my pick for fighter of the year in 2014. Two knockouts of previously undefeated opposition before knocking down and dominating unified champion Bernard Hopkins for 12 rounds. There is also room for improvement to his CV in 2015 as he could even fully unify the division should he manage to lure WBC champ Adonis Stevenson into the ring after his bout with Jean Pascal.
Manny Pacquiao – Stock Even.
Back to back wins over unbeaten WBO welterweight champ Timothy Bradley and unbeaten WBO light welterweight champ Chris Algieri meant that Pacman generally had a successful year. However he isn’t viewed the same way as he was between 2006-2011. A potential matchup with Floyd Mayweather this year could send either mans stock soaring and would most certainly break the PPV records along the way.
Wladimir Klitschko – Stock Up.
Back to Back 5th round KO’s of Alex Leapai and Kubrat Pulev have further cemented this man as one of the greatest and most dominant forces the heavyweight division has ever seen. But its his 3 fight deal with HBO, his arrangement to fight in America as well as the upcoming crop of talent which has been seen developing in the 200+lb division which has upped this fighters stock. Potential matchups with Bryant Jennings and Tyson Fury have partially returned some attention to the heavyweight division and Klitschko himself.
Gennady Golovkin – Stock Even.
It was hard to decide whether I would say this stock was rising or staying even. Yes he is now viewed as a P4P star. Yes he is being mentioned as a fighter who would beat anyone from 154 – 168 and, yes he went 3-0 in 2014 with 3KO’s. However generally he is in the same position now as he was at the start of the year. Still undefeated champion, still knocking everyone out, still feared and avoided. Until he and his team can get a fight guaranteed against a Cotto or a Froch or a Chavez Jr etc, he is going to continue to smash through the A-, B and C level fighters in and around his division.
Adonis Stevenson – Stock Down.
What can be said about this situation other than its Kovalev who has garnered all the attention in this division and Stevenson has been on a downhill path since his 2013 KO1 of Chad Dawson. In an ideal world a Stevenson vs Kovalev bout should happen in 2015 which would crown a fully unified champion and pound for pound superstar.
Carl Froch – Stock Even.
Another easy one. The brutal KO of George Groves in his last fight was one of the most impressive punches I have seen and the crumpled body of Groves wont be easily forgotten by fight fans. However he is looking for the Vegas fight against Chavez Jr and negotiations don’t seem to be fruitful. Aside from that fight he doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in tackling other good fighters in his division and we could see a decline in his public appearance should he go a long stretch waiting on Chavez to deal with his promotional issues.
Terence Crawford – Stock Up.
Before this year he wasnt a well known name at all. Three victories later and he is being mentioned as a potential opponent for the likes of Danny Garcia and Manny Pacquiao. The rise to fame culminated in a battering of previously unbeaten former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa before outpoiting tough, rugged challenger Raymundo Beltran.
Miguel Cotto – Stock Up.
Becoming the 160lb champion during 2014 meant that Cotto was back as on of the sports biggest stars. He returned to the P4P top 20 in the sport and is one of the ffew fighters left with a huge PPV audience making him a sought after opponent. Since his back to back points losses to Mayweather and Trout he has looked impressive and is being discussed as an opponent for Canelo, Golovkin and Mayweather in the next year.
Bernard Hopkins – Stock Down.
Has father time finally caught up with Hopkins or was Kovalev simply too good? He has expressed an interest in fighting one more time before hanging them up and in 2015 we could see the end of a truly great career. Who would his choice of opponent be? at 175 the only champions would be Kovalev and Stevenson, neither of which would be appealing to him at this point. Maybe a move own to 168 to fight Froch for his titles? Both men are looking for a final big name to retire on and this would certainly be an appealing fight. Or Maybe Golovkin? It would seem at first to be a silly thing to suggest. Putting a 50 year old man in with such a feared punching machine, but if you have followed or choose to study Hopkins career you will know that he does not shy away from difficult opposition and has always taken big challenges. He has been up again punchers before and in his 60+ fight career has never been stopped.
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