Thursday, March 28, 2024  |

News

Aficianado

Will 2016’s first quarter be PBC made-to-order?

Fighters Network
15
Dec
Former RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (left) smashes Paul Malignaggi with a straight right hand at Barclays Center in Aug, 2015. Garcia will return to action against Robert Guerrero in Jan. 2016 on the FOX network. Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Former RING junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia (left) smashes Paul Malignaggi with a straight right hand at Barclays Center in Aug. 2015. Garcia will return to action against Robert Guerrero in Jan. 2016 on the FOX network. Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Time is marching on, friends, and we must start our planning for the New Year. The calendar is firming up for the first quarter of the year in boxing 2016 and I’m on record as saying it’s going to be a bang-up year, far and away better than 2015.
#MayPac sucked the air out of the room – actually kind of water-boarded fans, if you want to be rudely up front about it – and that will be the main takeaway looking back at 2015. So, I think it useful to look forward, as excessive wallowing in the past often proves counter-productive…

One tangle I’m looking forward to is the Keith Thurman versus Shawn Porter tussle.

Yep, those two welters, the character from Florida against the Midwest muscleman, will get it on. It’s just a matter of when and where.

I’m hearing through that proverbial grapevine that we could see Thurman vs. Porter the second week in February, post-Super Bowl, and maybe at Staples Center. That would be a Premier Boxing Champions production, I do believe, and follow on the heels of their marquee scrap running on Fox on Jan. 23, a bill topped by Danny Garcia versus Robert Guerrero. And here’s how I think those two productions could end up playing out: I think it’s entirely possible that the Thurman-Porter winner fights the Garcia-Guerrero winner.



Most everyone is liking the younger, fresher Garcia to better Guerrero, who has been on a slide, but the Cali boxer we know has lost nothing in the desire department, so he craves an upset victory. I think most of you believe we’d end up with a Thurman versus Garcia battle in the summertime after our February follies play out…

Looking at that PBC roster, I’m thinking it more than possible that we see perhaps a Friday card – how about a Leo Santa Cruz (last fought Aug. 29, won a 12-round majority decision over Abner Mares) versus Lee Selby (lives in England, owns IBF feather crown) collision – and then a Saturday PBC presentation, as well?
Common sense says we perhaps see Abner Mares land on a Friday, maybe on SPIKE, or Saturday slate (on CBS? On Showtime?), that Feb. 12 weekend.
Hey, we know common sense oftentimes goes out the window in the boxing space. That’s part of what makes the game such an interesting one to cover…theater of the unexpected, my friends. Talk to me, in the comments section, on how you want your first quarter of boxing to unfold.
Excessive wallowing in the past often proves counter-productive, so passing up that last slice at Grimaldi’s will forever be a decision with which Woodsy must forever suffer…

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS