After months of global suffering and political disarray, people everywhere are craving the familiar comforts of entertainment to help return a sense of normalcy. Boxing fans are no different.
Several cards which included headliners Jessie Magdaleno, Miguel Berchelt, Oscar Valdez, and Shakur Stevenson marked the first signs of boxing’s return this summer. While not every bout featured evenly-matched action, fans and fighters alike were all too happy to see live boxing return to the ring.
But even more exciting are the current prospects of elite-level match-making across nearly every weight division. While some may have feared that the Coronavirus pandemic would doom promising fights and careers to a full year of tune-ups and delays, quarantine has seemed to have had the opposite effect. From heavyweight down to super-flyweight, it appears that the layoff has only made fighters less keen on wasting more time than necessary to negotiate with their most lucrative opponents.
In addition to Deontay Wilder triggering his rematch clause for a third fight against Tyson Fury in December, Anthony Joshua and Fury have come to terms for a British unification mega-fight (assuming both win their next fights). The Cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series is waiting to reschedule the final between Yuniel Dorticos and Mairis Briedis. Serhiy Derevyanchenko and Jermall Charlo are set for a Middleweight title clash, while Jermell Charlo is set to unify Jr. Middleweight titles against Jeison Rosario. Lomachenko vs Teofimo Lopez looks inevitable at Lightweight. Gervonta Davis has agreed to fight Leo Santa Cruz at Super Featherweight, while talk of a Featherweight clash between Oscar Valdez and Miguel Berchelt is beginning to gain momentum. Inoue and Casimero plan to unify 3 Bantamweight belts, and last but not least, the mouthwatering prospect of a rematch between Chocolatito Gonzalez and Juan Fransisco Estrada for Super Flyweight unification looks likely for this year.
And that’s only the cream of the crop. Showtime has unveiled a number of quality match-ups for the latter part of the year, and superstar Canelo Alvarez has yet to select an opponent. While some divisions, like Welterweight and Light Heavyweight, appear no closer to making the obvious match-ups than they were before the coronavirus hit, the landscape of the sport is looking more exciting than many of us could have hoped for.
