It's Monday. Welcome back for another edition of Observe and Fight, The Boxing Observer's compilation of observations and random thoughts from the week that was in boxing. Get caught up on some of the most recent events you may have missed out on, including the announcement of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, another knockout win for Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and Amir Khan's future options, and much more. Without further ado, check out the latest observations from the Boxing Observer, David Kassel.
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is a done deal! I really don't have much to say on the issue except I'm extremely excited because this is THE FIGHT. There will be so much analysis in the next 2+ months that I don't want to beat it like a dead horse. With that being stated, now that Bob Arum and Al Haymon have proven they are capable of working together, what other fights are possible? I know that special circumstances caused Mayweather vs. Pacquiao to come together (mostly the potential $500 million to be made in one night), but it's always fun to dream. I don't see Arum and Haymon having regular dates anytime soon, but I thought it would be fun to take a look at some potential future fights.
Timothy Bradley (Top Rank) vs. Amir Khan (Haymon). To me, this is a guaranteed Fight of the Year contender. Both guys are available and looking for opponents, and styles make fights. Khan's smooth boxing matched with Bradley's wild aggressiveness would guarantee an all out war. I would love for this to be the co-feature to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.
Abner Mares/Leo Santa Cruz (Haymon) vs. Vasyl Lomachenko/Nicholas Walters (Top Rank). Any combination of these four in the ring is guaranteed action and these guys are at the top of the 122 and 126 divisions (with the notable exception of Guillermo Rigondeaux).
Danny Garcia/Lamont Peterson (Haymon) winner vs. Terence Crawford (Top Rank). Ummm, yes please!
Brandon Rios (Top Rank) vs. Marcos Maidana (Haymon). Another Fight of the Year guarantee!
Juan Manuel Marquez (Top Rank) vs. Devon Alexander (Haymon). Call me crazy, but their two styles would be explosive when matched with one another in the ring.
Rances Barthelemy (Haymon) vs. Felix Verdejo (Top Rank). Maybe not quite yet, but Verdejo seems like the real deal. I'd love to see him in with this sort of test from a world champion.
Errol Spence Jr. (Haymon) vs. Jose Ramirez (Top Rank). Two promising young prospects on the rise. Let's see who has what it takes to keep that zero in the loss column.
There are so many more options, but I don't have time to list them all. It would be nice to see though. Email me your dream match-ups between Top Rank and Al Haymon fighters this week and I'll be sure to respond with my thoughts on the fight.
Gennady Golovkin turned in yet another masterful display on Saturday! This guy is unbelievable. I know he was a heavy favorite against Martin Murray, but Murray had NEVER been dominated the way he was on Saturday. Murray had absolutely no chance once he took Golovkin's first shot. Kudos to Murray for showing some serious toughness, but he needs to re-evaluate who he has working his corner because that fight should have been stopped well before the 11th round.
Who is next for GGG? Let's take the Cotto talk out of the equation because I don't believe Cotto will be willing to take that risk, at least not yet. Golovkin is having trouble securing champions at middleweight. Looking at the available champions, other than Cotto, everybody is all booked up, which takes away from Golovkin's plan to fight 4 times this year. Sergio Martinez wants another fight to go out on a winning note, so I doubt he takes a fight with GGG because Golovkin would destroy Martinez. David Lemieux may be the best available option, and if Oscar De La Hoya is true to his word about making the best possible fights, he should have no problem pitting Lemieux against GGG. That would be a fun fight!
As for Cotto, whom will he fight next? Cotto cost himself a huge payday against Canelo Alvarez while he was waiting for an announcement on Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Cotto still has options, but they won't be pay-per-view fights. June 13th, expect to see Cotto in the ring, at Madison Square Garden, defending his middleweight championship against either Timothy Bradley or Brandon Rios. Since both Bradley and Rios are from California, I'd have to lean more toward Rios getting the nod over Bradley. Rios brings the Mexican background to create another Puerto Rico vs. Mexico showdown on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Rios also has a larger fan following than Bradley (although Bradley's fan base increases day-by-day with his fan-friendly style). Rios is less likely to price himself out, which, considering the fight probably won't be on PPV, plays a key role in the decision-making process for Cotto. Finally, and possibly most important, Rios is a less dangerous opponent for Cotto than is Bradley. I'm not taking anything away from Rios, especially considering how good he looked against Alvarado, but I would venture to guess that, if they had their choice, most fighters would rather face Brandon Rios than Timothy Bradley. AGAIN, THIS IS NOT A KNOCK ON RIOS! Bradley just brings more dimensions to the table that could cause Cotto problems. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Sources maintain that Timothy Bradley is the frontrunner to face Miguel Cotto in June.]
What about Amir Khan's future? Maybe a fight with Kell Brook, assuming he beats Jo Jo Dan in March, isn't such an awful option anymore. Khan is looking for a big payday, and he just lost out on the two biggest paydays in boxing (Mayweather and Pacquiao). I know both fighters will be available after May 2nd, so why doesn't Khan go make himself a few million dollars in front of 80,000 screaming fans at Wembley Stadium and pick up the IBF welterweight title in the meantime? It makes perfect sense now, and the timing couldn't be better for Khan considering the available options left for him to fight for significant money. Either that, or he could face the winner of the Keith Thurman/Robert Guerrero match-up for much less money. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Sources tells us that Amir Khan will likely be making his return to the ring on May 16 against an opponent yet to be determined.]
Congratulations to Arthur Abraham for successfully defending his WBO super middleweight title. Last week, I stated Abraham would win convincingly this time around against Paul Smith because he wasn't going to take him lightly considering the type of future payday on the line for Abraham. Now, Abraham can go fight either fellow countryman Felix Sturm or Robert Steiglitz in an all-German super-fight for the WBO 168lb title. I believe Sturm will get the assignment because "King Arthur" has already faced Steiglitz 3 times and come away with 2 victories.
Whoever thought it would be a good idea to put heavyweights in the Boxcino tournament needs to rethink his/her boxing acumen. Friday Night Fights was just flat-out awful this past week, and I couldn't care less who wins the heavyweight tournament at this point. As far as heavyweight tournaments go, the Prizefighter series in Europe has it right. Put fighters in the ring 3 times in one night and see what happens. That's the only way a heavyweight tournament can work in this day and age because there aren't enough quality heavyweights out there.
A couple of big fights take place this weekend in Europe. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Carl Frampton puts his IBF 122lb title on the line against Chris Avalos. Also, in London, England, heavyweight contender Tyson Fury looks to a secure a potential fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. First though, Fury must contend with the tough German Christian Hammer.
Each week, I feature an email from a fan on Observe and Fight. This week's email comes to us from Big Tony regarding the potential cost for the Mayweather/Pacquiao pay-per-view and my thoughts on how many people will purchase the event...
"Dave, I'm already looking at throwing a fight party on May 2nd at my crib. You are welcome to come if you are in the Bay Area. We are gonna have lots of food and drinks, and I'm hoping to get some girls to dress up like ring girls lol. Anyway, how much do think I'm gonna have to put down for the ppv? And how many ppv buys do you think it will get?"
I appreciate the invite, Big Tony! Unfortunately, I won't be in the Bay Area, nor will I be in Vegas for the fight. However, I will be in front of a television on the night of May 2nd, as will most of the world. I will be ordering the fight at home and possibly have a few people over. Not a huge party like you though. By the time of the fight, my son will be 9 months old and won't have a clue as to what is going on. LOL.
As for the PPV itself, my best guess is it will be $89 for Standard Definition and $99 for HD. At first, I would have guessed it would be $99 (SD) and $109 (HD), but with the fight going to break ridiculous records, the networks probably don't feel the need to get super greedy. By the time of the fight, the world will stop and everyone (hardcore and casual boxing fans alike) will be glued somewhere to a television. The event will easily break 3 million PPV buys, and I'm going to predict the final number will be close to, if not more than, 4 million PPV buys in the United States.
That's all I've got for this week. Email any questions or comments to dkassel@fighthype.com and I will answer them throughout the week. Your email may be featured in the next "Observe and Fight." Follow me on Twitter @BoxingObserver, and be sure to "Like" The Boxing Observer on Facebook.
[ Follow David Kassel on Twitter @BoxingObserver ]