The hype is in full swing, the circus is in town and no matter where you go you cannot avoid it. It is the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor crossover fight and as much as some fans, many of them in fact, cannot wait for Saturday night in Las Vegas, many more fans, boxing fans, cannot wait for it all to be over; for boxing to ‘get back to normal.’
Whether we see a good, competitive fight on Saturday or not, the attention Mayweather-McGregor has commanded will fade and we can then get ready for the upcoming fights the remainder of 2017 has left to offer. And there are quite a few, with some potential classics all ready and waiting to make us forget all about August 26 and Mayweather Vs. McGregor.
September will see a special middleweight title fight take place, between two pound-for-pound stars, who will be rumbling for pretty much all the marbles at 160 pounds in Vegas. Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez promises to be a great one, with the 50/50 match-up set to go alongside the great middleweight epics of years gone by. As an added bonus at middleweight, we will also see WBO champ Billy Joe Saunders face slick operator Willie Monroe Junior that same night in London.
September will also see The World Boxing Super Series take off, with some great match-ups set at both super-middleweight and cruiserweight. Also next month will be the eagerly awaited return fight between little men Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Roman Gonzalez. While the classy Jorge Linares will be back defending his lightweight crown against Britain’s Luke Campbell.
October will see heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua back in action, against IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev. This one is no super fight, but Joshua is a genuine star, possibly a super-star of the future, and his fights are big events in the UK. Pulev is tough, and he just might be able to give AJ a good fight. Also in October, Artur Beterbiev, very possibly the hardest hitter in boxing today, will face a possibly tough test in Enrico Koelling. The more we see of Beterbiev the better.
November should see the return of WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder, but as of now we have no idea who his opponent will be. All the same, it will be good to see the brutally powerful “Bronze Bomber” back in action. Also this month, we will see (most likely) the return clash between Jeff Horn and Manny Pacquiao. Can Pac Man get his revenge in Australia?
While in December, we just might get the best of the best, as super-skilled pure boxers Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux are close to facing one another on Dec. 9. This fight, a truly fascinating prospect, is guaranteed to deliver sheer boxing brilliance.
Saturday night will soon be here and over and done with. Then we can look ahead to the remaining fistic calender.