SOME OF MY HOPES AND FEARS

January 2010

Is it just me, or...

Will Celestino Cabellero be left out completely? Juanma, Vasquez, Marquez, Gamboa, even Nishioka. These guys won't touch him with a 90-inch reach.

Will the Light Heavyweight division remain cluttered for years? Cloud, Pascal, Dawson, Diaconu, Balszay, Campillo. These guys aren't going to fight each other much, are they? Here's hoping Shumenov beats Campillo in their Vegas rematch. He might actually bridge the geographical and promotional gap that will get this mix fighting.

If we pay attention long enough, Andre Ward is gonna win it all, isn't he? Maybe not at first, but in the long run.

Are the Klitschko brothers going to retire as unbeaten champions? If you thought Lennox Lewis was underappreciated during his actual career, look out! The mess that will follow these guys will have us thankful for the excitment, but begging for the convenience of a dominant leader.

Are Tomasz Adamek and David Haye the next great heavyweight trilogy? Neither one is American, but it won't matter. They will sell tickets here, period. Adamek already does.

Would absolutely no one have heard of feather-fisted Yuri Foreman if he didn't share a zip code and religious background with so many prominent boxing writers and promoters? Turns out he can fight, but if he was a redneck from Wyoming, he'd still be buried on midwestern undercards for a few more years before we'd find out.

Has Mike Tyson already lived a lot longer than we thought he would? When tragedies happen like last summer's trilogy (Gatti, Forrest, Arguello), I like to remember guys like Mike.

Did Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. inherit only one thing from his father... the ability to win bad decisions?

Is Antonio Tarver not nearly as good at commentating as we thought he'd be? He's still new, but he's stiff, and smiling way too much. Turns out he can't beat Roy Jones at everything.

Will James Kirkland be the exact same fighter when he gets out of prison? I dont know what it is, but prison doesn't take much of the tarnish off of professional fighters. Tyson and Corrales went right back to being who they were after a few years off, while fighters like Joe Mesi and Juan "Pollo" Valenzuela were forced to take similar time off for injuries, and licensing issues, and were never the same. Tony Ayala had a smoother comeback than these guys, and he was in jail for 17 years.

Fighters who will make noise in 2010: Manny Pacquiao, Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik, David Haye, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Lopez, Edwin Valero, all of the super six particpants.

Fighters who will not: Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson, Roy Jones, Celestino Caballero, Winky Wright, Antonio Margarito, Juan Diaz, the entire cruiserweight division.

Chris Strait
www.convictedartist.com