UA-59049186-1 What’s Next for Boxing after Pacquaio Vs. Mayweather? By Abraham Jackson - Good if it Goes

What’s Next for Boxing after Pacquaio Vs. Mayweather? By Abraham Jackson

On the eve of possibly the biggest boxing bout of our lifetime, and quite possibly the rich history of the sport, there are many questions going into Saturday night. The biggest question I see; after this fight is the sport of boxing officially dead? I’m here to assure everyone it isn’t, in fact at this current point in time, it’s in it’s best position in years. I remember this question first surfacing back in 2007 during the build up to the last big fight of this magnitude, when Floyd Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya. Many observers would question boxing’s life span with the rise of another combat sport in MMA, claiming this is the last big fight. Eight years later, boxing is still here and still being watched by fans from all over the world.

Whenever a big time athlete in a certain sport retires, fans go into panic mode questioning how the sport will last. I remember when I was younger and Michael Jordan retired from basketball, people were telling me fans will lose interest in the sport now… Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James among others came along and the NBA is in a great spot right now. Even in the “fictional” world of Professional Wrestling, when The Rock and Steve Austin; two of the biggest stars in wrestling history retired, many people thought WWE would fold and lost faith in Vince McMahon’s mastermind, but John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk all made their names and in 2015 the WWE is still kicking around and still with a worldwide fan-base. Every sport has this transitioning period, that doesn’t last for long. Someone always comes along to generate interest and get the fans watching again.

Boxing right now has a lot of young stars in the making, both here in North America and overseas. The TV deals with CBS, NBC, and Spike TV are going to help bring the spotlight to the future superstars. Names like Canelo Alvarez, Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Kell Brook, Sergey Kovalev, Mikey Garcia, and Terence Crawford all come to mind when finding the next big boxing star. Canelo Alvarez is probably the most known fighter of that whole group. What makes Canelo’s star power even more valued is the fact he the youngest out of them all at the age of 24. Although he has a long way to go in the sport (he has been in the ring with boxing’s biggest superstar Floyd Mayweather), some feel Canelo is overhyped, but I think it’s warranted. The kid hasn’t entered his boxing prime and has been nothing short of impressive. Sure he was dominated by Floyd Mayweather, but at 22 years old, fighting against pound for the pound the best fighter of this era its not a knock on Canelo in any way. Canelo’s next fight against entertaining knock out artist James Kirkland is the weekend following Mayweather/Pacquaio, so expect a lot of promotion in the next few days for this fight. This of course, leads up to the eventual showdown with future Hall of Famer, Miguel Cotto, which will be Canelo’s biggest fight since Floyd. Cotto himself is already an established superstar, and known to the casual fan with a large Puerto Rican fanbase, main-eventing and selling out Madison Square Garden many times. Everyone who is the “Casualest of Casual” fan of boxing knows how well Puerto Rican Vs. Mexican boxing fights draw, especially fighters with the drawing power of Canelo and Cotto. This potentially has the chance to be the biggest Rican Vs. Mexican fight since Trinidad Vs. De La Hoya.

Another thing that seems to go unnoticed is the sudden attention given to the once on life support heavyweight division. Since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003, the heavyweight division is in desperate need of new blood. For over a decade the Klitschko Brothers ruled the division with an iron fist, and while they are known to the casual fan, none of their fights get the fans excited to rush and watch them. Some can say the blame is not entirely on them, as the heavyweight division lacked any depth whatsoever, but the fact remains the division lacks any real star power. That has now changed.

Everyone knows the heavyweight division in any combat sport is the biggest draw. When I was a kid, my dad, uncles and all their friends would pack our house in anticipation to watch Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, and George Foreman fight in the 90’s. The star power back then was in abundance; hell even B-Level stars like Ron Mercer, Tommy Morrison, Razor Ruddock made their money. A big reason for the lack of support in the heavyweight division in America is the lack of an American heavyweight people can get behind. Here comes Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s own, Deontay Wilder to throw his hat in the ring. Wilder became the first American heavyweight in almost 10 years to win a championship when he defeated Canada’s Bermane Stiverne. While experts say Wilder has a lot to work on before he can be considered elite, no one can deny the potential star power he has. Overseas, there are two heavyweights in England making a name for themselves.

Tyson Fury is quite possibly the best trash talker in all sports right now, and oozes charisma. He has the skills and look to back up all his shit talk too. At an imposing 6’9” and 260lbs, Tyson Fury moves around the ring like he’s a welterweight. He has already made his name in England, and is in line for a future shot at Wladimir Klitschko possibly later this year. I expect the build up to this fight to be legendary and have fans glued to their television set in excitement. Fury comes from a family of gypsies, and his father himself was a bare-knuckle fighter. His father also recently got out of prison for gouging the eye out of a man whom he had a 12 year grudge with, so needless to say it won’t take long to build up Tyson Fury.

Anthony Joshua, the 2012 Summer Olympic Gold Medalist in the Super Heavyweight division, has also been on a steady rise in the division. While it’s still really early in his career, he is already pushed in the limelight because of his long time amateur record. He has two fights coming up in May, with the most interesting one being against veteran Kevin Johnson. Joshua is only 25 years old right now and has only 11 fights, so don’t expect him to be fighting Wilder or Fury anytime soon, but remember his name in the upcoming years, as he will be a superstar.

In conclusion, the sport of boxing is not in trouble at all after this Manny Pacquaio/Floyd Mayweather fight, it’s going to be here and generating interest for years and years to come. On top of everything I covered, I didn’t even get into talking about established fighters like Gennady Golovkin, Adonis Stevenson, and Sergey Kovalev, among others who have already made their name and are known to the casual fans. So don’t sweat it, there will be many of big fights to come after this!

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