By Pat Quinn: 2017, a year for the true boxing heads. In the same breath, it was an opportunity for casual fans to recognize what this scene has to offer. HBO and Showtime will review the past 365 days, and hit us with the same elite level analysis they provide fight after fight.
Restively, both networks have put together broadcast crews capable of presenting the sport with their own unique touch. Currently, we have promoters working with the cable networks, such as ESPN and Fox Sports, both doing their part to bring boxing back to prominence. We also live in a time where YouTube is feeding our appetite with free entertainment and information whenever we’re ready for it. There are plenty of exceptional channels to choose from. The Boxing Voice is a channel comparable to Sports center, for boxing. Updating fans with day to day news, training camp access, and giving prospects a platform to raise their profiles. Lee Wylie has been posting the best technical breakdowns on the internet for quite some time now. Gorilla Productions’ page is where to find tributes, and the promo videos that’ll get you ready for all the big fights. We already know where to read the best articles in the game. For the most part, from top to bottom, our sport made strides in a positive direction.
I’m not going to go through chronologically, but I’ll begin with my regard for the schedule this past month. The leadoff batter was Miguel Cotto’s farewell. The next week, HBO was back with a three-fight card, headlined by a fight of the year type – Miguel Roman TKO Orlando Salido. On the same night, we had unprecedented action – four gold medals in the ring at the same time – something that’ll most likely never happen again. Before you could finish digesting all that, Billy Joe Saunders goes into hostile territory and embarrasses David Lemieux in the third defense of his WBO Middleweight title. December was a hell of a month for the fight game.
Women’s boxing broke new ground, with Clarissa Shields being the first woman to headline a Showtime card. Boxing came back to the Nassau Coliseum for the first time in 31 years – Danny Jacobs UD Lucas Arias. The biggest fights in the world will always take place in Vegas, but the UK is doing huge things over there. In addition, I can write an entire article on Brooklyn Boxing right now.
The Jr Lightweights and Jr Middleweights each had some must see action throughout the year. When was the last time you cared about a heavyweight fight? You can’t help but tune in nowadays. Deontay Wilder’s, “Kings chase Kings,” quote was the best of the year, in my opinion. The plot’s thickened, with the monsters of the Middleweight division beginning to threaten welterweight supremacy. 147, for years now, has been fixated at the top of the food chain.
There were plenty of knockouts to go around in 2017. Mikey Garcia, David Lemieux, Sor Runguisai, Jermell Charlo, and Deontay Wilder had some of the most impressive. Sadam Ali and Jeff Horn have the two massive upset victories that came out of left field. Juan Estrada and Carlos Cuadras were two guys I never heard of before they squared off. Not a high-profile bout, but a 36-minute scrap worth your time. There was top notch match making all through the year. The best fought the best, and the trend continued through the journeyman level. Mauricio Herrera MD Jesus Soto Karass, Gabe Rosado TKO Glen Tapia, and Luis Collazo KO Sammy Vasquez were three fights with six fighters I have the up most respect for. I mean, even Roy Jones fought Bobby Gunn this year.
I wasn’t aware of how bad I wanted Adrien Broner to be something special. The screaming at my television, imploring him to let his hands go in the Mikey Garcia fight, made it all too apparent. Mikey isn’t a good fighter, he’s a great fighter. However, AB had the talent to beat him, and simply let us down. The post-fight interview cemented the fact for me, it’s time to turn the page.
We saw a number of fighters walk away from the sport in 2017. Miguel Cotto, Andre Ward, Tim Bradley, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Orlando Salido all called it a career. Fighters often come back, and I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these guys eventually do. Their success will follow them, with whatever they embark on in the future.
True teachers of the craft are few and far between. We’ve been hearing that for years and years. There are plenty of great trainers in the game right now. Derrick James has earned all the attention currently bestowed upon him. Manny Robles has a great thing going out in California with his whole stable of fighters. Chino Rivas builds a rapport with his fighters, propelling them to perform at their maximum potential. Andre Rozier is a guy, in time, that’ll be sought after even more so than he already is. Boxing isn’t hurting for trainers that are the real deal, but you may have to dig a bit.
The biggest shows of the year were where boxing fell short. Three nights with mainstream exposure, and the opportunities were squandered. The last line of the final All Access episode is Mayweather proclaiming, ” I’m knocking McGregor the f*ck out.” We know he got the TKO, but the best fighter of this generation looked sloppy securing that result. He came out with the ski mask because he knew, it was easy money he was stealing from us. A couple of weeks later, the fight we couldn’t wait to see was finally here. GGG and Canelo did not disappoint. Adalaide Byrd stole the show, unfortunately. Those two guys gave us an instant classic, and her scorecard overshadowed all the brilliant boxing that night. There was one last shot for the sport two weeks ago on ESPN. Hope faded after a two-time gold medalist and world champion, Guillermo Rigondeaux, quit after the sixth round – No Mas Chenko emerged. I truly appreciated all of these events for what they were, so that’s all the salt I’m going to throw.
Gav Duthie, made some predictions for 2018. Scroll back and read the article when you have a few minutes. A bunch of fighters are claiming to want to fight three times this upcoming year. That remains to be seen. If it happens, then there will be a ton of stacked cards coming our way. The Frampton and Santa Cruz trilogy is on the horizon. Terence Crawford cleared out 140, now let’s see what he can do as a welterweight. Keith Thurman unified, Errol Spence earned his first world title. Maybe that fight will come to fruition. One Time seems to want that one to marinate much longer than we’d like it to. The rematch in May, with GGG and Canelo. There’s plenty more to look forward to, and watching it all unfold will be a privilege. I would wish everyone luck in the new year, Canelo said it though, “Luck is for the mediocre, my friend.” Instead, I know the best is yet to come for all of us, and I hope you enjoy the climb as much as I do.
Thank you