The year 2013 ended with a huge victory for boxing. A much needed sense of dignity was restored to the sports image. A viewing treat by those in attendance, and via worldwide pay per view, from the hard core boxing fan to the general sports fan, school was in session on the night of Saturday, December 14, 2013. That night, the boxing adage that reads on a sign, which hangs on the ring apron, inside of a friends boxing gym, ” you can’t hide what you don’t know in here,” was illustrated in true fashion.
And that illustrator was Argentinian, Marcos Maidana. With a record of 34 (31) – 3, he brought his unorthodox aggressive, power punching style to a championship match. And with that effective style, he rewarded himself, and his training camp, with the WBA world welterweight title! It was that simple. Maidana had honed his skills and found success with that same approach in his previous, and most recently, challenging bouts.
Beibut Shumenov, the reigning Light Heavyweight World Boxing Association and the International Boxing Association`s Light Heavyweight Champion and fastest pugilist to obtain a world title in this division in ten bouts; made a triumph return to boxing after being out of the sport for the last 18 months, as he knockdown, previously undefeated, Tamas “Tomi Kid” Kovacs (23-1, 14KOs), three times before referee, Rafael Ramos stopped the bout with 2:55 left in the third round on December 14, 2013 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. 
As fight fans may have read, always thrilling Australian warrior Michael Katsidis is set to make a ring return. Reunited with long-time trainer and friend Brendon Smith, Katsidis, the former WBO interim lightweight champion, is scheduled to box in Australia in March (against a TBA, likely to be of the tune-up variety) but the 33-year-old is already looking at a bigger fight.
I have been receiving a lot of messages and reading a lot of posts about Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally setting a day to fight in the fall of 2014. The primary source for much of the Mayweather vs Pacquiao hype is the Youtube Boxing channel, 78Sports TV. The Youtube channel garnered reliability based on it’s announcement of Floyd fighting Guerrero and Canelo before these matches became official in 2013. Well, just this week, both Floyd and Pacquiao’s camp have issued statements saying these are all lies. Who are we to believe?
The night started out at the Target Center from chilly Minneapolis with a rematch from a spirited first fight featuring Milwaukee prospect Adrian Martinez fighting Duluth native Trevor Marmon. 
The season premiere of Espn2’s Friday Night Fights will begin in sub zero degree weather at the Target Center from Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the main event IBF Super Featherweight Champion Argenis Mendez takes on unbeaten challenger Rances Barthalemy and serving as the co-feature is local attraction Caleb Truax squaring off with tough as nails Ossie Duran. The event is promoted by Iron Mike Productions, Seconds Out Promotions, and Warrior Boxing.
As boxing fans may have read by now, Amir Khan, the former WBA/IBF 140-pound champion, has put pen to paper to face superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior next May and is awaiting Floyd’s signature on the contract. This match-up, though derided by many, has long been expected (at least for a number of months now) and not too many people would be shocked if the match-up went ahead.
Unbeaten British giant Tyson Fury is ready to put a largely frustrating and unproductive 2013 behind him and enjoy a “big” 2014. Fury, who last fought in April of 2013 (getting up from an early knockdown to halt Steve Cunningham in New York) saw long months of his upwardly mobile career go down the drain due to his British super-fight with David Haye falling apart not once but twice.
After witnessing Floyd Mayweather Jr. make numerous posts poking fun at Manny Pacquiao as well as other possible opponents using his Twitter account, it is no secret that he is trying hard. But what is he trying to do?
2013 was a very good year for boxing by and large, and the elite operators of the last 12 months really had a chance to show their class. The mythical but always interesting/debatable/essential pound-for-pound rankings saw some old stars remain where they were, whilst some new stars burst into the charts.