(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) It’s what fight fans the world over always want but seem to get only on occasion: the best fighting the best. Today, with some serious talent spread out among the weight classes, there are some superb-looking match-ups that could and should be made.
Getting right to it, I now list, in no particular order, the hottest, most intriguing and potentially explosive fights that can be made right now!
Sergey Kovalev-Adonis Stevenson.
An obvious choice to kick off this list, this battle of punchers would absolutely captivate. Both men are capable of throwing dynamite, the seriously scary Kovalev especially, and a devastating conclusion would be reached if these two light-heavyweights tangled.
Not surprisingly the World Boxing Council has given WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s) another delay, this one until December 15th, to make a decision about whether he’ll choose to defend his WBC crown ever again. The thing is the WBC already gave Vitali a November 30th extension to make a decision about whether he’ll fight again or not, and when that time came, Vitali got another extension. 
Only a few years ago it took an ardent boxing fan to recall the name Carl Froch. A stunning comeback victory against Jermaine Taylor in 2009, coupled with a Gatti-esque performance against Mikkel Kessler and a dominating victory over Arthur Abraham affirmed Froch as the fighter with the sports toughest schedule from 2009-11. Facing 6 former world champions in a 3 year period burnished Froch’s reputation as a fighter not only willing to test himself against the best, but to define his reputation by doing so. However, it was his blistering demolition of the then unbeaten Lucian Bute in May of 2012 that finally made Froch a household name in his native Britain.
There was no bump in the road last night for a possible light heavyweight showdown between Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson. In two fights with a very showcase feel both belt holders took care of business with definitive knockout wins. Kovalev’s came very early and was very destructive. Ismayl Sillakh, a Ukrainian challenger now fighting out of Simi Valley, California was out cold from an overhand right that had him out on his feet. 
If the road to the top in any sport is beset with challenges and hard physical graft, then boxing must rank amongst the toughest. But despite the obstacles to greatness, boxing continues to make people rich and famous, just as surely as it leaves most fighters with questionable futures. In general terms, boxing is the oldest and most maligned sport in the world today, but that doesn’t stop the support, and it certainly doesn’t stop the money. Most eyes used to be on the Heavyweights – the blue ribbon event – but a continued dominance since the Klitschko brothers gained the titles in…erm… 1694, has brought attention to the other weights, culminating in the Mayweather deal; which still beggars belief in most third world countries and gives promoters across the USA cold sweats on dark nights. Floyd is a boxing freak though, a supreme talent, and a fighter like him only comes along once every 25 years. We owe it to ourselves to make the best of the time he’s giving us in the ring. But, like the saying goes “Make hay while the sun shines” and that sun is dipping low on Floyd no matter how hard we want to tell ourselves it’s not true. 
Even though there is exactly one month left in 2013, I think tonight is the right time to give serious consideration to the person who should be recognized as the fighter of the year for 2013. I’ll give you a clue about the person I have in mind for 2013’s Fighter Of The Year – he just knocked out the #1 contender in the light-heavyweight division, Tony Bellew. Tonight’s boxing main event on American premium cable and satellite television network, HBO, [or last night, depending on what time zone in which you viewed the fight] showcased the prime candidate for the 2013 Fighter Of The Year. Poor Tony Bellew didn’t know what hit him. Was it a bird? Was it a plane?