I have to say, there was a lot to like about Cris Arreola when he first came onto the scene.  I don't just mean as a neutral writer, but as an actual fan.  Her had my name, close to my height, and he was a blown-up light heavyweight from Los Angeles, who couldn't put the fork down.  Simply put, I could relate to the man.  He did not have a trainer with many answers for him, fought in an often sloppy style, and didn't seem to care much for training... and yet he kept winning.  Arreola was also very candid, self-deprecating, but confident, and always entertaining in the ring and out.  

No matter what, his 13 year pro-career has been a fun ride, but he may end up being the David Tua of this decade, in that he will make a lot of money, win many fans and memories, but never get that elusive world title.  Not that this place in history is a bad one... most fighters would kill for it.  However, he has always wanted to make history, and the WBC has been more than accommodating in making sure he always has a regionally invented belt and a ranking, long after most other sanctioning bodies have abandoned him.  Arreola has had two shots at the WBC Heavyweight title, and is about to get his 3rd.

 His best wins were against fighters who started slow, and had chin issues.  Yet, he cannot even seem to get past them anymore.  He is 1-0-1 draw, and 1 NC in his last 3, over journeyman-level opposition.  The NC was originally a win over Travis Kaufman, but most agree it should have been a loss.  It was overturned for a positive marijuana test, his second occurence in the last few years.  Now, while it is ludicrous to think marijuana is a performance-enhancing drug, it does show where his priorities now lie.  The KO power appears gone, and the flabby midsection, which actual hid great strength and power, now seems to match his enthusiam for fighting.  

He remains an entertaining fighter, as he is durable against all but the biggest punchers... but he himself can no longer put men away.  His KOs over Molina and Mitchell seem far in the rear-view mirror, and even if he did pounce on champion Deontay Wilder, it seems unlikely that the champion, who will have advantages in power, height, reach, speed, and youth, will be the one to come out on the short end of an exchange.  I, for one, will be cheering for him... as I like Deontay Wilder, but Arreola pulling off an upset would shake up the already hot division.  I will not be picking him, however, as I think he was selected to lose.  Much like Wilder's other recent opponents, he will go rounds, and excite, but not win, or threaten.  It's sad that "The Nightmare" is viewed that way, as at one time, he never gave his opponents a non-threatening moment.

It is not often you can bill something as a big fight, and expect to get it.  Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman are 2 top 5 welterweights (now that Floyd and Manny are supposedly out of the mix), and other than Brook-Porter two years ago, none of the current crop had faced each other until Saturday night.  It was a brawl for 12 rounds, and although not likely to win fight of the year with Orlando Salido vs. Francisco Vargas out there, as well as more than half the year still available, it was exciting at the top level.  There was little actual controversy, other than with the watching-live fans.  

Porter's style makes it hard for fans to cheer against him, and most watching on TV were noticing the cleaner punches were usually Thurman's.  We do have to believe the unbeaten fighter will usually get the decision , especially in a Haymon-promoted card (Big Al loves the 0), but this decision was just.  In true stalling Al Haymon fashion, everyone was talking rematch, instead of talking Brook vs. Thurman, or Porter vs. Vargas, or Garcia vs. the winner.  I'd like to see the 147lb division tournamented, but it is not likely.  Still, if these two fought 2 more times, that is one hell of a consolation prize.

Anthony Joshua has power, speed, movement, and decent defense.  His chin is not perfect, but big punchers are hard pressed to catch it much, and when they do, he usually takes it very well.  That spells trouble for his opponents, especially Dominic Breazeale, who ironically took the nickname, "Trouble" into the ring Saturday against Joshua.  Within 2 rounds, it was clear who was going to win, and Breazeale had only to look forward to tying for the honor of extending Joshua the longest.  For AJ, the speed difference was noticeable, of feet and hands, and the maturity of the Brit also meant Breazeale was rarely given a mistake of which to take advantage.

 As many have said, fighters make belts, not the other way around.  That is definitely true here.  The IBF stripping of Fury was a bogus decision, but with he and Klitschko waiting what will likely end up being nearly a year to have their rematch, Wilder and Joshua have been given an opportunity to shine.  Wilder could have accelerated with a win over Povetkin, but he was denied the chance, due to Povetkin's "accidental" doping.  Luis Ortiz is not being active enough, nor getting top challengers to fight him, after his one-sided beat-down of Bryant Jennings.

Therefore with a couple of wins over unbeaten American contenders (Martin and Breazeale), Joshua has leapt over the pack.  Forget Ruslan Chagaev, who is only in the discussion due to corruption.  Lucas Browne beat Chagaev, but did not look good doing so, so no one thinks Browne will beat any of the top heavyweights.  Joseph Parker belongs in the Martin and Breazeale (unbeaten but untested) category, and he is Joshua's mandatory.  Therefore, by the end of this year, there may be a more legit case for AJ being the real top heavyweight as for anyone else.  Either way, the division is fun again.  And God save the queen, for helping us out with that.

July is not usually a hot month, for the reason that it is a hot month.  Summertime activities in much of the USA has people outside until late hours when fights would normally be started.  however, in 2016, we feel fight fans will be headed indoors to watch many great action match-ups.  Many of them are mid day, as they are being held at European venues.  Sounds like a great summer weekend to me.  I like this new approach, in fact, I like that one of these big fights is not even taking place on a weekend.  I would love to see the return of midweek championship boxing.

Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko 2
There is not much to be said here.  Anything could happen, and it would not be really much of a surprise.  There are just too many what-ifs.  If Klitschko was indeed shot, then Fury will dominate again, maybe in even more dull fashion.  If Fury is indeed unmotivated, as he claims, perhaps he will be blown out in a couple of rounds.  However, given his youth, and the potential domestic showdowns of Haye and Joshua looming, as well as unifications with men like Ortiz and Wilder... he has plenty of time to "lose on purpose" as he in insinuating.  Klitschko is probably not going to start taking more chances at age 40... and barring a lucky punch, I think he is headed for an even more one sided decision loss.

Sergey Kovalev vs. Isaac Chilemba
Monday night HBO?  I love it, but it's probably an issue of how little they think of this fight.  Chilemba is tough and durable, but this fight is only happening, so that Kovalev does not gain any rust while waiting for Andre Ward to shake his off.  Unless he pulls off the performance of his life, I think we are looking at another Cedric Agnew like result... where we get rounds, but little else.  Kovalev by 6th round KO.

Deontay Wilder vs. Chris Arreola
This fight was inevitable, as PBC cards were featuring both Arreola and Wilder.  As bad as Arreola has been looking lately (draw, and close decisions wins over journeyman, that should've been losses), this is his last hurrah.  Depending on WBC decision over Povetkin, Wilder may even get to unify before facing one mandatory, but he will have given us action KOs in the interim.  Arreola has better offense than Wilder's recent victims, but his chin and defense are not good enough anymore to avoid Wilder's bombs.  His only chance is to strike first, and catch Wilder cold.  I think the only winner there is Deontay.. and the fans.  Wilder by exciting 3rd round KO.

Daniel Jacobs vs. Sergio Mora 2
While nobody was asking for this rematch, it is a fight where both men hit the canvas in only 2 rounds of action, the first time out.  Mora lost on a broken ankle, so it "justified" a second chance.  Jacobs is riding high since then, after the Quillin KO, and Mora keeps getting big fights whether he earns them or not.  The prize for the winner is a KO loss to GGG, most likely, so a win here will at least get them paid.  Mora rises to the occasion in his bigger fights, but Jacobs just has too much.  Jacobs by decision or late TKO.

Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Jazza Dickens
Rigo finally has his UK visa, and while I think he should be dropping down, and raising up divisions, to collect belts from the two Lees, Haskins and Selby, this may be the first start in that direction.  There is also Jamie McDonald, and Frampton, should he come back to 122 with his tail between his legs after losing to Santa Cruz.  The UK is the right place for him, if he stays busy, but I'm not sure Jazza Dickens in the right guy to tell us anything new.  Rigo by wide UD, or late TKO.

Adonis Stevenson vs. Thomas Williams
'Top Dog" Williams is coming off a great KO win on a night of great KO wins in Carson, but hHaymon is protecting few men as blatantly as he is protecting Stevenson.  Williams himself was hurt in his last fight, and was once KOd by light hitting Gabriel Campillo.  Not that Stevenson has the greatest chin, but the skills are in a different league.  Adonis and Haymon can't avoid fellow Montrealer Eleider Alvarez forever, but it looks like they are going to try.  Stevenson by early spectacular KO, in an exciting fight, but a complete waste of time.  Bring on Alvarez and Beterbiev.

Leo Santa Cruz vs. Carl Frampton
Frampton's intelligence and quickness have won him a lot of fights, but just ask any Santa Cruz opponent how far those things take you.  Leo pressures and is an immovable force.  he also does it with intelligent pressure, and beats journeyman and world champions alike with the same determination and exhausting in-your-face pressure.  He can even outbox you, but I doubt he will try that against Frampton.  A KO is a possibility, as Santa Cruz has gotten stronger as he has moved up, but more than likely Frampton will win a few early rounds, and then lose the rest, while surviving.  Santa Cruz by UD.

Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol
The first major unification in a long time that promoters did not stall us on.  Each man seemingly just won their belts, and now they are crowning a new Ring champion at 140.  Each man is also risking their unbeaten records and Top Rank's expectations.  However, Bob Arum is even greedier than Haymon about keeping it all in house, therefore this was really his only option than the fans would accept.  Postol is poison for most styles, but nothing he does will bother Bud Crawford.  The right hand counter will just have Crawford turn orthodox.  The tendency to get stronger as the fight goes on, is something they both share.  They even possess the same sturdy chin, but Crawford hits harder, and unlike Matthysse, hits often.  Crawford by UD.

John Molina got a well-deserved win over Ruslan Provodnikov in a less-than expected, but still exciting matchup.  Molina and Provo have each given us enough thrillers, so they are allowed to have a B+ fight every now and then.  It was still exciting, but true to form, Ruslan can even make sluggers box.  In this same building more than one year ago (Turning Stone Casino) the same thing happened to Lucas Matthysse.  I think the bloom is off the Provodnikov rose, and even he seemed to acknowledge it.  A loser of 5 close-ish decisions, he had always felt he did enough to win in the other scenarios.  His complaints lessened each time from Herrera to Bradley to Algieri to Matthysse, to Molina, when he finally looked saddened and resolved to his fate.

We may have seen the last of Provodnikov, as a fighter like him si not supposed to have a long career anyway.  Plus, without hunger, a fighter like him is living on borrowed time anyway.  For Molina, he finally did something I had been suggesting his whole career... found his jab.  I am not sure if it was situational for this fight, or Shaheed Suluki was finally the trainer who made it happen, but even with average boxing skills, he was light years better.  As an open-promoted fighter, he is available to anyone, and may even get the Crawford-Postol winner.  Although I'd rather see him in an exciting scrap with Ricky Burns or Eduard Troyanovsky.  Still considered highly beatable, this was the perfect win for him to advance his career.

Another former Soviet-Bloc fighter, Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko looked as good as one could look against Rocky Martinez.  True, Martinez has gotten a couple questionable verdicts go his way, but other than his fight with Mikey Garcia, he has been competitive against everyone, and never been stopped.  He was dominated by Loma, and knocked flat out.  There is no louder statement.  Loma would be heavily favored over the only fighter to beat him: Orlando Salido, and hopefully we will see that rematch soon.  However, the 130lb division has many options: rematches and first fights: Vargas-Miura 2, Vargas-Salido 2, Loma-Salido 2, Loma-Miura, Loma-Vargas, Salido-Miura... all would be amazing scraps, and they have already fought each other many times.  There are no promotional hiccups to these matches.  The boxing world has been waiting for a scenario like this in any division for a long time... a true throwback round robin of competitive matches.

In other action, Rico Ramos got back into the win column, but did very little to make anyone think he will be world champion again.  He does not shy away from tough competition, however, and like fellow SoCal native John Molina, has pulled multiple fights out of the fire with KO wins.  Dejan Zlaticanin looks like the real thing, and his record backs that up.  I do not see anyone at 135 lbs that can beat him, and Jorge Linares would be wise to stay away.  The Montenegrin has already been to the UK once to beat Ricky Burns, and I'd pick him over both Crolla and Flanagan.  Much like Quigg and Frampton, that unification must happen, before a better foreign fighter beats the winner.  For Frampton, it was Rigo (whom he ducked).  For Flanagan, it would be Zlaticanin.  He is that good.

Ok, so the Scott Quigg vs. Carl Frampton match-up did not sizzle until the last few rounds, but at least this unification happened.  The UK is on fire, and it should continue.  However, I'd like to see the British belt count lessened through the best way possible for the fans... unifications.  I know it's an ugly word for sanctioning bodies, but they invent enough interim, silver, etc belts to keep making money.  These fights all make sense, and I hope we see them soon.  In most cases, as well, they crown/defend a Ring magazine championship.

Jamie McDonnell vs. Lee Haskins (WBA/IBF bantamweight)
The two Brits have history.  One of McDonnell's two losses is to Haskins, much earlier in both men's careers.  They also have a chance of getting Rigo in the ring (the Cuban is closer to dropping in weight than rising, as he has always stated), now that he has a UK Visa.  After testing himself and getting two close decisions in Texas on USA-TV, this would seem like a lesser risk, a chance to unify, and avenge a loss.  It makes too much sense.  Haskins is also getting long in the tooth for a UK lighter weight fighter.  Now is the time to strike.  Pick: McDonnell by UD.

Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua (WBO/IBF/WBO heavyweight)
I know this matchup is assuming a lot of things... that Joshua will be moved fast enough to challenge Fury before the unpredictable Tyson loses the linear title; that Joshua beats Breazeale, and that Fury beats Klitschko.  because of many international and domestic options, it is unlikely that we will see this one at all, much less within a year.  I think it would be massive as Brits tend to forgive losses more than we do, so the risk is not rally a risk.  Both men have already overachieved many expectations, and proven their ability to entertain (albeit in different ways) whether they win or lose.  Pick: Joshua by mid rounds TKO, maybe while behind on points.

Anthony Crolla vs. Terry Flanagan (WBO/WBA lightweight)
I have discussed this one before, but it's asinine that this would not be happening now.  Crolla is a vulnerable, but streaking champion, with an inspiring back-story.  He could also lose the belt at any point, and is the one calling Flanagan out.  Flanagan can collect another belt, in a huge hometown scrap (they are not only both from the same town... they are both from the same school!).  Other than promoter ego, I cannot see a reason why this would not happen, but that does not make me confident.  Pick: Flanagan by UD.

I love that Andre Ward is taking a tune-up fight before the Kovalev matchup.  He has earned the right to do so, with all he has accomplished in the ring.  This also gives Kovalev a chance to prove longevity, have a hometown fight, and gather anticipation, because there actually is a deadline for the fight.  This also gives Stevenson, Beterbiev, as well as the other couple of Haymon light heavies a chance to maybe face each other (fat chance) and develop a number one contender for the winner.  More than likely the time will make it easier to forget Haymon's stable, but he will have no one to blame but himself for wasting everyone's time.  Either way, the buildup for Ward-Kovalev is being handled perfectly... assuming the fight comes off, of course.

Canelo, on the other hand, just had his tune-up.  Amir Khan is a very good fighter, but two divisions below, and with exactly the correct weaknesses to make sure Canelo was guaranteed a victory.  Canelo was becoming a modern fighter in his activity (2x a year), but a throwback in that he took a lot of risky fights.  That all goes out the window if he avoids GGG.  He truly has nothing to lose.  he has a good enough chin to not be embarrassed by GGG... and he can go back down and try to clean out 14 again, or stay at 160, when GGG moves up.  However, GGG is already in talks with 168lb-ers like Ramirez and Eubank.  If that happens, the potential for matches below that limit start to dry up.  Oscar himself said it would be a tragedy is this fight does not happen.

Speaking of tragedy, I wrote a full blog post on Muhammad Ali's passing, but to add a wrinkle here... most of the time when we lose a legendary boxer, it happens quickly, or after a brief illness.  we also lose many more of them than the general population, due to tragedy.  Maybe that is due to the impoverished conditions most of them came from (and sadly often return to), as well as the dangers of the sport itself.  However, the death of the original GOAT was something in the making for 35 years.  We saw him regressing before he even retired.  Parkinson's does not kill your higher faculties, so Ali was the same man inside until the day he died... but I am not sure if that was worse.  A man with his gifts of eloquence, not being able to express them, had to be difficult.

Speaking of difficulty, while Rigo and Ward are some of the most difficult fighters to fight, and GGG and Kovalev are two of the scariest, Rances Barthelemy might be the most frustrating... he gives nearly every quality opponent the feeling that they are in the fight, or close to landing a punch.  he attacks squared up, or boxes off the back foot with his weight shifted badly.  It keeps looking like you should be able to hit him, beat him, hell, even win rounds, but round after round, he finds a way to make it all his own way.  Talent that dominates is one thing.  Talent that keeps tricking you into thinking you have a chance is another.

I met him at the Forum in 1991. I had just turned 15, which means he had just turned 49.  The entire packed arena stopped and stared with reverence, as he walked in. He passed out previously signed autographs, as he was already moving too slowly to sign them in real time. I took two of them from him (for the guy behind me as well), and said "Thank you, Champ."  The autographs were on a Muslim propaganda pamphlet, as he was and is the only American that could get away with things like that.   It angered no one when he did it.   He'd earned it, with what he had been put through/put himself through.

He was a draft dodger, a serial womanizer, and had joined the Black Muslims when they were little more than a prison gang. To come back from where he was in our eyes, to being the most beloved athlete in the history of sports, was a feat never accomplished before, and will not likely happen again.  In an age where the baby boomers were making "mine mine mine1" the modus operandi that still pervades today, Ali was the picture of "earned it".  He could preach to anyone about anything, and we would listen. He was a brilliant orator, but few knew the reason for that was his severe dyslexia, making other forms of communication difficult.

In fact, after two decades of many Americans wishing the "Louisville Lip" would quit talking, we had just realized his genius, as it was being taken from us/him.  We'd give anything to hear one of his interviews again. He was alive, but for the last 35 years, we could not hear from the man inside the way we once had.  He was the only man Howard Cosell would let get the better of him in interviews.  The only man to accurately predict which round in which he would stop opponents.  He found ways to beat men that had his number: Norton, Frazier. He had fast hands, and the fastest feet in heavyweight history.

74 years might be riding a national average, but for a man who lived so many lives in one, and suffered the ravages from Parkinson's as early as 1980... he still outlived most of his contemporaries: Sonny Liston, Zora Folley, Jimmy Young, Joe Frazier, Oscar Bonavena, Eddie Machen, Floyd Patterson, Jerry Quarry, Bob Foster, etc.  We were expecting this day for decades... but you are never really ready for it. RIP to the original G.O.A.T., Muhammad Ali.  There will be no bigger name in sports in my lifetime.

Watching boxing, you see every conceivable body type in the ring.  The long lean Tommy Hearns, the short explosive Mike Tyson, but every now and then a fighter goes against the stereotype of their size.  Paul Williams being a pressure fighter, even with massive height and reach advantages is a good example.  Today, I will look at a few short fighters who were not big punchers.  This stereotype works when thinking of Marciano, Frazier, and Tyson... 3 of the most famous heavyweights of all time.  Of course, why pressure if your punches do nothing.  However, these 3 men achieved some level of success in the ring, even though they lacked both pop and stature.  This is a common occurrence in female boxing, but for the men, it is quite rare.

Willie Pep - yes, all featherweights are fairly short, however, even against the rare tall fighter, Pep was usually untouchable.  A punch that could not crack an egg was another characteristic, but then again, how would we know?  He never slowed down enough to set his feet.  Pep was the consummate master boxer, and most writers have him in their top 20, if not top 10 all time greats list.  Even after a plane crash, well past his prime, against a much taller brutal punching fellow hall of famer (sandy saddler), he managed to outbox him over 15 rounds in one of their matchups.  Very impressive.

Leonard Dorin - Dorin fought in an amateur style for much of his pro career, but anyone who holds a dominating win against the ultimate spoiler, Emanuel Augustus, has to be doing something right.  Dorin was squat, but inexhaustable, and fought well with pressure, even if he was not hurting his opponent.  most even had him beating Spadafora in their unification clash, which was ultimately called a draw.  He achieved this with expert timing, and visibly impressive schooling.  he also only suffered one defeat, from a body shot against Arturo Gatti, meaning he got out before any damage was done from his style, and ability to go rounds.

Kahren Haryutunyan - It is rare for a fighter to attain a top ten ranking and regional belt without a single Ko in 20 fights.  It is also rare for a fighter to quit in his mid 20's, and pursue a career in both boxing promotion and law.  Haryutunyan was not typical, however.  A UCLA student for much of his career, Haryutunyan was a flyweight who won an NABO belt, and gave Nonito Donaire his only competitive fight between 2001 and 2013.  He managed to accomplish this while giving up height and reach in virtually all of his fights, and never scoring a single knockout... retiring with a 14-3-3 record.

So, Wilder-Povetkin is off.  It seems every Russian fight lately is marred by a "drug" issue.  First, it was the dubious way that previously 100% clean athletes were 'testing positive' coincidentally after beating Russian fighters.  This has happened to Guillermo Jones and now Lucas Browne in the past couple of years.  Fishy, to say the least.  However, the one fighter who lost in Mother Russia with no corruption aiding him in the last few years was Povetkin (against Klitschko).  Now, it seems it has happened to him again.  

Povetkin has tested positive for a substance that was recently banned.  It is still in his system, he says, from having taken it before it was banned, but that story seems a bit flawed.  First off, it sounds highly illegal in that it improves stamina by affecting oxygen levels in a synthetic form.  How could they not have seen it coming, that this would be a banned substance?  Why are fighters taking anything anymore?  Just eat fruits and vegetables for christ's sake, and retire when your body quits.  Is this so hard?  

Were fighters gassing out any worse back in the days of white bread and soda than they are now?  No, they were fighting longer, and more rounds, and more often.  Nutrition and exercise are the most important things anyway.  If fighters are going to cancel fights every time something is sore, and only fight twice a year, why the hell do they need so many supplements?  Their bodies are not being taxed to any level, comparable to the old school fighters.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand why fighters would be taking anything stronger than a multivitamin, and even then... running it by the VADA doctors first.  

Entire careers are being ruined, and for what?  The corrupt "slipping in the drink" is happening too much anyway.  Why would you knowingly risk your health and career to do something completely unnatural?  Rocky IV was probably one of the hokeyest of the franchise, but they sure hit the nail on the head in the one scene where Ivan Drago is injected, without asking a single question.  I, for one, do not relate!

There have been very few times when a 1st round KO was considered worthy of a repeat, but it has happened.  Sometimes it's because a sanctioning body forces it.  Other times it can be due to an odd finish, or controversy.  However, as in the first fight, usually anything can happen the second time.  Let's look at a few examples:Sonny Liston vs. Floyd Patterson
Not sure why Patterson wanted this rematch.  After being dropped 2 minutes into his first fight with Liston, he either couldn't, or wouldn't, beat the count.  However, the heavyweight title had changed hands, and Liston had pretty much already cleaned out the division just getting there.  So, nine months later, they did it again.  It happened the same way, except Patterson got up twice... lasting a full 4 seconds longer than he had, originally.

Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Daniel Ponce DeLeon
This rematch was by no means immediate.  Lopez actually won his first world title and stormed onto the world scene with a 1 round drubbing of formerly iron chinned DeLeon.  He went on a tear, winning another belt as well, before a string of consecutive KOs ended his young career.  However, in that bad streak, his one big win was a rematch with DeLeon.  This time, he himself was dropped early, but still Juanma managed to finish Ponce in round 2.  Therefore, DeLeon has the dubious honor of being responsible for Juanma's first and last big wins.

Rocky Gannon vs. Dominick Carter
The lone avenging story in our list... these two USA Cruiserweights were competing for a minor belt on a televised card, when they took turns knocking each other silly.  The referee mistook a bad trip, as a stagger from Gannon, and stopped the fight.  The controversy led to the rematch, and although the fireworks were similar, the difference in talent and conditioning showed up as early as round 3.  Finally, Carter was rescued (right before he quit) in round 5.

Joe Calzaghe vs. Mario Veit
This we can blame on a bogus sanctioning body, because there was nothing controversial about the first fight.  Calzaghe battered Veit to the floor twice in round 1 and finished him.  However, that was Veit's first loss in 31 fights, so it was no surprise when 15 fights later, he re-earned a shot at Calzaghe.  Veit may have been able to beat his fellow Germans in Ottke and Beyer, but promotional problems stopped those fights, and he was no match for the Welsh hall of famer.  This time, Veit took 6 rounds to be dropped twice and finished.  He never challenged for a world title again.

If McWilliams Arroyo was robbed against Ruenrong, then in a way, Chocolatito has already cleaned out the division.  He has beaten Estrada and Viloria.  I hope he goes up to 115 to face Inoue.  The Ruenrong fight would be dull anyway, and the Thai fighter is pretty good at lateral movement.  Therefore, he will likely run for the hills against Gonzalez.  Who else is there at 112?  Zou Shiming?  No way Arum let's that fight happen, until he has milked every penny from the over-hyped Chinese amateur star.  We missed out on the first 2 1/2 divisions of Chocolatito's career, so we may only have 12 or so fights left to enjoy.  Let's make it memorable.

Speaking of memorable, I am glad Amir Khan is getting credit for taking the fight against Canelo, and for doing well until the brutal KO we all predicted actually occurred.  However, I also remember many of the same people who are crediting Khan, being the ones who blasted Adrien Broner for losing to Marcos Maidana.  At the time, Broner had moved up from 135 to 147 only months earlier, and had never taken on anyone at welterweight with power.  He also got up twice, and made the fight somewhat competitive.  I understand Khan is a lot more likeable than Broner, but appreciating accomplishment should be done with non-hypocritical integrity.

Speaking of integrity, the WBC needs to investigate every single judge that works a Canelo fight.  It seems in every fight, he is given at least two rounds he did not earn.  Trout, Lara, Mayweather, Cotto, and now Khan.  In every fight, the right man still managed to get the decision (or have it rendered unimportant), so the outcry has been small.  However, given this trend, and the WBC's history of favoritism involving Mexican fighters, it is only a matter of time until a highway robbery occurs.  Let's hope it is not against GGG, but I can already see that coming.  If it is remotely close, expect a screw-job decision.  There is too much money in a rematch.

Speaking of officials and Canelo, it is not simply the judges we should be worried about.  Referees have a tendency to stop fights at odd times in favor of the Mexican star.  Alfonso Gomez, Ryan Rhodes, Kermit Cintron, Alfredo Angulo, and Josesito Lopez all had referees choose to wave it off at a time when they were on their feet, fighting back.  Once again, in every case, Canelo was dominant, and would have won anyway, but it is a potentially worrisome trend that the officials are so consistently in one fighter's pocket.

Francisco Vargas vs. Orlando Salido
Drug testing not withstanding, this fight is highly anticipated for many other reasons.  These are two men who routinely engage in FOTY type brawls, and the winner is likely to face Vasyl Lomachenko, if he gets past Roman Martinez.  A unification match-up that will be great no matter who the two winners are?  You had me at "hola".  Salido never gets old, and usually gets stronger as fights go on, but it is hard to pick against Vargas after how he looked against Takashi Miura.  This is a pick 'em fight, but I like Vargas in an action packed majority decision.Artur

Beterbiev vs. Ezeqiuel Maderna
Beterbiev is finally back in action, and in true fashion of his promoter, Al Haymon, he is not facing any of the other big dogs in the Haymon 175'b stable.  Maderna's only two losses came against then-unbeaten Edwin Rodriguez and Tommy Oosthuizen, and he was competitive against both, but having a good chin against Beterbiev just prolongs the agony.  Beterbiev by mid to late rounds TKO, and hat's being generous to the Argentine.

Roman Martinez vs. Vasyl Lomachenko
This is the other half of the 130lb sweepstakes that will lead to a consensus world champion in the division.  Martinez has never been known for his easy schedule, but other than his loss to Mikey Garcia, no one has ever conclusively beaten him.  He may have been lucky against Salido in the rematch, and Burgos earlier in his career, but he was always competitive.  I believe Lomachenko is in that elite Mikey Garcia class, however, and this one will not be as hard.  Lomachenko by wide UD, in an exciting fight.

Ruslan Provodnikov vs. John Molina
This is one of those fights that has "fight of the year" written all over it, before either man has thrown a punch.  Neither man takes backward steps.  Neither man uses much boxing skill, except relentless pressure.  Neither man knows what a jab even is.  These are also two men whose stock goes up more with losses than wins, as long as they win one every now and then.  Provodnikov has the far better chin, however, and another pressure fighter is tailor made for him.  Provo by KO in the mid to late rounds, unless his face busts up beyond recognition early.

Demetrius Andrade vs. Willie Nelson
Nelson is a spoiler who it is easy to root for.  If you are anything less than 100% for real, Nelson will usually figure it out.  Also, Andrade has been off, and seems to have rekindled his promoter issues by signing away from the entity where all his 154lb competition resides.  Unless he signs with Haymon, or goes to England to face Liam Walsh, he will remain largely belt-less and opponent-less.  However, he is looking to get his hands on another title belt, at a time when the others are all up for grabs, so maybe some good fortune will happen if he wins.  He will.  He is still too good, and I think unless Nelson fights the fight of his life, we will see Boo Boo stay unbeaten in a clear cut UD.

Shawn Porter vs. Keith Thurman

Gerald Washington's win over Eddie Chambers would have been more impressive, had it not been a boring fight following four televised highlight reel knockouts.  Yes, the big ponderous "Gallo Negro" did nothing to scare the heavyweight belt-holders, but following up a lucky draw against Amir Mansour with an even more skilled Philly fighter was a bold move.  Chambers has been in soft lately, but the only times in his career he has ever been dominated was when drained at Cruiserweight, and against Klitschko.  He didn't do enough to win any rounds against Washington.  However, maybe under the radar is just where they want him.  It certainly worked for Charles Martin.

Speaking of Martin, what a 2016 he has already had.  Only 6 months ago, he was preparing to face Dominic Breazale just to make the boxing world take any notice of him.  Then a series of events left him a former world champion and multi-millionaire.  First, Fury upset Klitschko, and the IBF (always the least favorable organization to being unified) found a reason to strip him.  Martin promptly cancelled the Breazeale fight, to fight for a vacant belt that he had not really done much to earn his way towards.  Then Glazkov suffered a disclocated knee in their matchup, handing Martin the title.  This alone made Martin the luckiest man in the Heavyweight division, but it wes about to get even better for him.

Instead of opting for an easy hometown defense (a la Wilder), Martin signed to face big Brit Anthony Joshua... seeing a chance to make for one night in the UK what could have taken him years to earn in the USA.  Martin was in a no-lose situation.  If he pulled off the big upset, he was king of the division, besides Fury... jumping ahead of Wilder in one move.  If he lost, which he did, he was losing to an unbeaten gold medalist, in that man's backyard.  Highly forgivable.  I think it would be marvelous if Martin set a unique example and retired with his millions, but more likely is we will see him go the way of this generation's Michael Grant.

Speaking of Joshua, he earns even more points by choosing to face another unbeaten Olympian with a high KO percentage in Dominic Breazeale.  Breazeale is rated as low as number 13 by the IBF, well below more easy pickens like Carlos Takam, Eric Molina, Johann Duhaupas, and fellow Brit Dereck Chisora.  However, Joshua's brand very much believes in him, and UK fans tend to forgive losses more readily than we do, so they almost have a responsibility to take risks.  This fight will most certainly be picked up by US-tv, as well, making sure the winners of Povetkin-Wilder and Fury-Klitschko will have to face him (or each other) by early next year.

Yes, it does happen, usually when the visiting promoter has more clout to bribe local judges than the home-fighter’s promoter.  It’s a sad phenomenon to get screwed in any decision, but even worse when the local fans were preparing for a party, and the hometown fighter is essentially getting robbed in his own home. 

Here are a few examples:

Frankie Duarte vs. Bernardo Pinango
In this 1987 WBA 118lb championship match, Duarte did start slow.  The West-sider allowed Pinango to build an early lead, but not only did Duarte close the gap, and even things out in rounds, but he dropped Pinango twice, in the 10th and 15th rounds.  The Venezuelan champion was even deducted two points for low blows.  This seemed to make it a foregone conclusion that Pinango would be dethroned in front of L.A. native Duarte’s faithful.  However, all three judges gave Pinango the decision, and there was not even the appearance of neutrality… all judges being from Central and South America.  Pinango moved up right away to 122lbs, and avoided a rematch.  Duarte challenged for a world title once more, but was soundly beaten and retired.

Tyrone Everett vs. Alfredo Escalera
This one wasn’t even close.  Everett outboxed and outclasses Escalera at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, only to receive a ridiculous gift at the hands of the WBC judges.  So bad was the obviously corrupt decision that a rematch was negotiated for several months later.  It would never happen, however, as Everett was tragically murdered.. but he deserved to die a champion, which made the home-town robbery even more tragic.

Michael Brodie vs. Willie Jorrin
Once again, the WBC rears their ugly heads… playing their favorite game… protect the Mexican.  Jorrin, a Sacramento native, had good luck with judges in other fights before and after this, but usually with the help of his vast hometown base.  This time, it seemed Brodie had won a close competitive fight in his own hometown of Manchester.  However, WBC judges did not see it that way, and awarded the vacant belt to Jorrin.  Brodie settled for challenging for the lightly regarded WBF belt, and a rematch never materialized.

Axel Schulz vs. Franz Botha
This was Schulz’s second time being robbed in a close one for the IBF heavyweight strap.  First, he came up just short in Las Vegas against George Foreman.  However, the removal of George’s legend, and the visitor’s curse, did nothing to help Schulz.  Even in his own backyard, the judges scored for South African Botha (then, a Don King fighter).  Schulz seemingly swept the first 7 rounds, only to take his foot off the gas.  It wasn’t enough, and after Botha was stripped for steroid use, both men lost to Michael Moorer within a year.

So, Gennady Golvokin and Roman Gonzalez each retained their titles and designations as the best two fighters in the world.  Some argue their competition has not been high enough to warrant this placement, or that their positions should be reversed, but little happened last Saturday to move them up or down.  Chocolatito and GGG both won in one-sided fashion, albeit in different ways.  Dominic Wade pretty much showed everyone why is nowhere near elite.  McJoe Arroyo made us wonder who had been able to beat him the other two times.  I, for one, would like to see Golovkin and Gonzalez each face a fast, slick boxer.  

That seems to be the only type of fighter who could threaten them.  Rigo is too big, but why not Amnat Ruenruong?  Most Thai fighters will not leave the comfort of home, but the IBF 112 champion already has done so.  He broke Zou Shiming's fans' hearts in hostile territory last year.  Why not try and do the same against Chocolatito?  Inoue would be exciting, but he barely fights at all, and Gonzalez has already beaten Estrada.  I think this is the last type of fighter he has to prove he can beat.  Also, it would be a unification, and a battle of unbeatens.  

Andre Ward is simply too big now, and has his sights set on another unbeaten former-Soviet destroyer in Kovalev.  Canelo has fast hands, but slow feet, and his best chance is to lose 8-4 to GGG.  This way he will go the distance, and hope the WBC judges gives him the few "extra" points that he always seems to get when fights go a full 12 rounds.  Don't believe me?  Think about his fights with Floyd, Trout, Lara, and Cotto.  At least 2 judges always seem to give him more rounds than he actually won.  If Canelo can jump out to an early lead, then rely on his chin and strength to stay upright, there is always a possibility of a screw job decision to guarantee a rematch.  

For GGG, Danny Jacobs and Peter Quillin have decent boxing skills and speed, but neither would be likely to keep Golovkin off of them, or be able to stand up to the power when he does close the gap.  However, if we really want to see if GGG can truly beat all styles, he has to take on the one style that has befuddled pressure fighters with that "Mexican style" since the beginning of time: the fast, defensive, slick (usually black and southpaw) fighter.  

Erislandy Lara is no Pernell Whittaker, but you can argue that his 2 losses and 2 draws were all bad decisions, and his competition level has always been high.  No one looks good against him, except maybe Carlos Molina, who was able to match his awkwardness.  Chances are, if Angulo was able to drop Lara twice, that GGG would eventually catch and stop Lara, but that fight would shut up a lot of his detractors.  Especially if GGG dropped in weight to take the fight, as a trial run for Canelo's infamous "catchweights".  We are likely not to get Canelo-GGG for at least a year, so the dance card might as well get filled with people who increase Golovkin's legacy.  Guys like Wade will not do that.