With all the concern about PEDs, why is no one insisting on the testing of Sergey Kovalev or Gennady Golovkin. Inhuman things are happening when they hit their opponents, yet I hear no one claiming they should take any tests. In fact, this whole issue seems to have vanished recently. It was pretty much a major sticking point in nearly every fight from 2009-2013, suddenly we never hear about it. Maybe that was what the big sanctioning body summit was really about?
Speaking of sanctioning bodies, I really hope they do not get in the way of the 175lb unification. There are great fights to be made, and by the end of next year, one fighter could be in possession of every major belt. However, between the IBF policy of stripping every fighter who takes more than one optional without facing a useless mandatory, and the WBA and WBC policies of handing out multiple belts, it may end up very confused. Let me simplify it. Kovalev, Stevenson, Hopkins. Those are the three. When they are done, we will have an undisputed champion... no matter how they try and confuse it.
Speaking of unifications, sometimes it is not the sanctioning bodies, but the promoters who hold it back. Surely the frustration of Sauerland's refusal to unify their champions at 168 ten years ago, or Cruiserweight today, was felt by boxing fans. Yet, today the worst offender is Top Rank at Featherweight and Lightweight. They have 4 fighters and 3 belts at least, in each division, yet never the four shall meet?! Lomachenko vs. Gradovich, and Walters vs. Donaire. Sounds simple enough. What is holding it up?
At 135, Crawford is facing Beltran, Abril is going to Finland, and Vasquez is facing no one. I agree, Abril vs. Vasquez is a match only demanded by insomniacs, but it would gather up belts for Crawford, who would be favored to collect them all. If Bob Arum wants everyone to forget about the WBC and Golden Boy fighters at these weights, that is the way to go about it. For now, Omar Figeuroa's weigh-ins are more exciting than a Rigo or Vasquez fight.
Speaking of exciting, I'd actually like to see Froch-Chavez. 168 is going to have to do without Ward until he gets his career back on track, and there are plenty of fighters to provide that excitement. Plus, we may end up finally getting rid of Chavez Jr, and it will be at the hands of a man from an equally loud country of fight fans.
Speaking of the Chavez family, am I the only one who thinks apartheid saved Chavez Sr from a loss to Brian Mitchell at 130? At the time it seemed far fetched, but look at the records at the time, and the level of competition. Then look at the way Mitchell beat men like Tony Lopez. Look at the way Chavez struggled against La Porte and Lockridge. I think Mitchell wins a wide UD over JC Sr. if they fought in 1986 or 1987.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
