GGG-Rubio may seem like a mismatch, but Rubio has had a long career where everything has happened. He has suffered early KO's, and scored them. He has dished out long beatings, and taken them. He is also the first I don't expect to be too afraid of Gennady Golovkin. My pick, oh, GGG will kill him.. I'm just saying it may be interesting while it lasts. The motive is clear, to gain more west coast and Mexican fans for GGG.
Also, we are getting a Top Rank featherweight bout on the undercard, which is very intriguing. Nonito Donaire vs. Nicolas Walters is the most intriguing fight that can be made at Feather minus Lomachencko. Gonzalez seems to be going on a seniors tour with Arce, and as vulnerable a champion as he is, they are going to treat him with kid gloves. Gradovich is high risk low reward for any of the champions, but Walters is moving up as fast as Crawford, which shows Bob Arum seems to be less concerned with protecting his non-Latino or non-Filipino fighters... which is good news for boxing fans. However, even Donaire has not been protected, and kudos to Arum for continuously making the best fights with him.
Speaking of Filipinos, it looks like we may have lost all of Brian Viloria's golden years to Asian cards and off-network PPVs. Too bad... he was an exciting American fighter who came back to score big wins after being written off several times. His career included many belts and wars, but few were in the USA, and even fewer on mainstream TV. Maybe this is the lesson Arum learned. By the time he tried to move The Hawaiian Punch forward, it was too late, and he lost his title.
Speaking of losing his title, do Floyd and Pacquiao run any risk of being stripped for not facing mandatories? They seem to be subject to a different rulebook, not that they would follow it. They are above belts... but I have yet to hear either of them be forced publicly to take a fight in a very long time. Then again, neither of them ever touch the IBF (where there is no silver, interim, super crap). Maybe that's why.
Speaking of mandatories, here they rear their ugly head again. Sometimes they are good, as they force new talent into the picture. However, Quillin-Korobov is effectively killing Quillin-Jacobs, and the fight that makes the most sense at Middleweight looks delayed yet again. And pay no attention to the WBA belts held by GGG and Jacobs. There is no way either guy's brass is letting that happen, unless each man cleans out one half of the division. The way each is being matched, that is not even a goal.
Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com
