By Norm Frauenheim—
Boxing during the Pandemic will be remembered for more than postponements, life in a bubble and eroding wages. There’s risk, which means winners and losers in a shuffle that figures to alter the look – the very faces — of a game fighting to move into a post-Pandemic era.
Four Winners
No. 1: Teofimo Lopez. His upset of Vasiliy Lomachenko puts him on top of this list. He’s poised to be the game’s biggest star after his career-changing performance. He won by a decision, which appeared to be the most unlikely way to beat the skilled Lomachenko. The versatile Lopez is comfortable in the ring and in front of the camera. That combo will be very hard to beat.
No. 2: Naoya Inoue. He’s been called the next Manny Pacquiao. The Next in boxing is like The Next in any other sport. There’s never been another Muhammad Ali or Roberto Duran. But the Japanese bantamweight champ lights up a ring with singular speed and power. He doesn’t have Pacquiao’s back story or the Filipino Senator’s political ambitions. But he is as much fun to watch as Pacquiao was in his early days.
No. 3: Gervonta Davis. His KO last Saturday of Leo Santa Cruz is a Knockout-of-the-Year contender. His dangerous power is dynamic, in the ring and at the box-office. It stops, it sells. There are questions. His misadventures outside of the ring continue to threaten his career. If he can continue to show the poise and discipline he had against Santa Cruz, however, anything to everything looks possible, including a huge fight with Lopez.
No. 4: Shakur Stevenson. He was the first known name to enter the bubble and defend his featherweight title last June in a predictably one-sided victory, a sixth-round stoppage, over Puerto Rican Felix Caraballo in June. His well-balanced skillset is as deadly as it is thorough, perfect for post-Pandemic pound-for-pound contention.
Four Losers
No. 1: Deontay Wilder. He blames everybody and everything but himself for a career gone awry last February in brutal rematch loss to Tyson Fury. His social-media rant last week is embarrassing. It’s loaded with conspiracy theories. From altered gloves to a spiked water bottle, it’s all there. What’s missing is accountability. Wilder can be entertaining. Yet, his rant sounds like a desperate cry from a fighter who hasn’t turned the loss into a valuable lesson. He’s one dimensional, a heavyweight champ seemingly left with nowhere to go.
No. 2: Lomachenko. There’s a reason for weight classes. Lomachenko went a few too many notches on the scale above his optimum weight. He’s a natural featherweight. His move to lightweight led to injuries, including his shoulder. He underwent surgery during the week after Lopez. There are fights for him at featherweight or perhaps junior-lightweight. But big money won’t be there.
No. 3: Mikey Garcia: Once a leading pound-for-pound contender, Garcia has been idle throughout the Pandemic since his decision in February over Jessie Vargas, a comeback after a disappointing loss to Errol Spence Jr. in March 2019. Garcia had hoped to fight Pacquiao, but COVID eliminated that possibility. Garcia also had once been seen as possibility in a dream fight against Lomachenko when both were at featherweight. It didn’t happen. At 32, Garcia has beginning to slip out of sight, out of mind from a business that is moving on.
No. 4: Canelo Alvarez. A $280-million lawsuit against streaming service DAZN and promoter Oscar De La Hoya has put him on the shelf for who-knows-how-long. Only the lawyers are busy. He’s idle. He hasn’t fought in a year. Fair-or-not, it’s impossible to defend his pound-for-pound claim without a fight.
Four On The Waiting List
No. 1: Devin Haney. His number is about to be called. He finally gets his chance to crash the shuffle at the top of the game with a bout Saturday night on DAZN in a lightweight bout against Yuriorkis Gamboa, whose reflexes have faded a lot more than his name. The bout is a mismatch, but it is chance for Haney to test a surgically-repaired shoulder in his first fight in nearly a year. “All eyes are on me,’’ he said Thursday. “It’s my time to show up and show out.’’
No. 2: Oleksandr Usyk: He was a great cruiserweight – maybe the best ever. But there are still questions about whether he belongs in the heavyweight division. He scored a decision last Saturday over nine-time loser Dereck Chisora, but it wasn’t easy.
No.3: Terence Crawford. The unbeaten welterweight makes his first appearance during the Pandemic on Nov. 14 against Kell Brook, a former welterweight who had been fighting at junior-middleweight and middleweight. It’s an interesting fight. It’s also Crawford’s first fight since a TKO of Egidijus Kavaliauskas last December. Idle doesn’t win many arguments. For Crawford, Brook is a chance to re-assert his pound-for-pound credentials.
No. 4 Spence: The unbeaten welterweight is back from a scary car crash in October 2019. He faces Danny Garcia on Dec. 5 on the Dallas Cowboys homefield in Arlington, Tex. It would be a risky fight no matter when or what the circumstances. For Spence, however, that risk represents the opportunity that is changing the face of the game.
