This September to December stretch has been a little slice of heaven for a boxing fan like me. There has been a very impressive run of fights booked, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't giddy like a teenager at a Bieber concert.
Canelo-Mayweather was everything it was hoped to be. Floyd gave up approximately twenty pounds in weight to a known power puncher, and didn't even bat an eye at this supposed disadvantage. Not a word of an exaggeration, this was one of the best Floyd Mayweather fights I have ever seen. When you haven't seen Mayweather fight in a bit, especially against a super aggressive opponent, it's kind of easy to forget just how good he is. Watching him against Canelo, I just kind of sat there slack-jawed at how good he is defensively. Simply put, you do not just hit Floyd Mayweather. You practically need to burn 2 minutes out of the round just pinning him down, and then go to the body hard ala Miguel Cotto.
Oh, and the undercard to that fight? Was Matthysse-Garcia. Also a fantastic barn-burner. Both of those guys can pack some serious heat. Turns out Danny Garcia is all that, and that Matthysse is in fact human. Still a real treat to watch.
Next up we had Adonis Stevenson absolutely demolishing Tavoris Cloud. Another treat. It's always nice to see a supposed journeyman or gatekeeper have a late career resurgence to force themselves back into relevance. In some ways Stevenson is a lot like Malignaggi. Both guys were used as stepping stones for bigger better fighters for a long time, until they got hot and started piling up wins against these supposed prospects. God-damn does Stevenson have a right hand on him. Another fantastic fight out of Stevenson, and another fighter coming out Montreal. At some point that city became the boxing hub of Canada, and I like it.
Also on this card? Vera-Chavez Jr. The less said about this fight the better.
Next up will be next weekend. Timothy Bradley against Juan Manuel Marquez. This is one of three fights I have circled on my calendar, because I am unabashedly a huge JMM fan. Sure, Bradley showed in the Provodnikov fight that he can take a hell of a lot of punishment, but in the same vein he also showed that he's too dumb to not take that much punishment. Given that he's bragged since then about how he didn't talk exactly right for two months after the bout, I'm not expecting him to really try to outpoint Marquez. As sad as it sounds, with a supremely gifted counter-puncher like Marquez, that's about the only way to win. If he wades in behind his chin and tries to brawl Marquez, he's going to be fed a steady diet of counter-rights. Pulling for Marquez in this one.
THEN we still get both Klitschko brothers, Pacquiao-Rios and Gennady Golovkin pulverizing Curtis Stevens. The only downside to this incredible upcoming season? Not enough Sergio Martinez.
I'll expand on this later, but it has been supremely disappointing to watch the boxing media cover what's coming up. Suffice it to say, I feel like the current dedicated coverage of boxing is one of the primary causes of the sport's supposed downfall.
2013. Turning out to be a hell of year for the sweet science. I'm child-like excited.
Now if only school wasn't in the way.
