A 2022 Wish-list: There are a good number of potentially good, very good, maybe even great fights that can be made here in 2022. Last year was, all in all, a good boxing year; with a number of upsets taking place, four or five genuinely great action fights taking place on the big stage, and with the superstar of the sport, Canelo Alvarez, engaging in three fights; two of them unification fights.
So what will this year bring us? Here are some fights, listed in no particular order of preference, that we will hopefully get to see here in 2022:
Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk. An obvious pick. A heavyweight unification showdown between two unbeaten fighters, both with totally different styles and personalities.
Naoya Inoue-John Riel Casimero. This one should have happened by now. And the action WILL be explosive when this bantamweight unification clash happens – as this year it surely will.
Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin III. While there’s still time, this one, between two modern greats who have unfinished business, has to happen. We’ve not seen much of anything from GGG in quite some time and we have no real idea how much he has left. All the same, these two cannot end their bitter rivalry at 1-0-1, can they?
Terence Crawford-Errol Spence. Another obvious pick. But first, Spence must get past Yordenis Ugas, and this might not be in any way straightforward. But if Spence is still “The Truth” and he can see off Manny Pacquiao’s conqueror, that showdown with Crawford MUST happen.
George Kambosos-Vasyl Lomachenko. The current lightweight king against the former pound-for-pound best in the world who also ruled at 135. Maybe this one is destined to go down in Australia?
Canelo Alvarez-Artur Beterbiev. If the Mexican superstar doesn’t fight Golovkin a third time (or maybe even if he does) a fight with THE best light-heavyweight on the planet would be equally welcome (perhaps more so in some quarters). Canelo would be taking a genuine risk if he took on the fearsome Russian tank.
If we get to see even half of these fights this year, we will be for some thrilling 12-month ride. The best against the best – the way it’s supposed to be.