Boxing's November to Remember

by Paul Magno

As boxing fans, we're the easiest sports fans to please. We're given so little that when a rarity like November, 2009 comes along, we are liable to become absolutely giddy.

Imagine the prospect of an entire month stacked with quality match-ups and nary a cancellation in sight...It's the stuff of legends; Boxing's equivalent to a winning lottery ticket.

After a very sparse Summer and a fairly lackluster 2009 overall, boxing is closing out the year with a bang and about to unleash one of the best months for the sport in my recent memory.

Just look at what awaits us:

Martin Rogin vs. Sam Sexton II (a UK rematch of the Heavyweight Fight of the Year)

Alfredo Angulo vs. Harry Joe Yorgey (Angulo's always fun and Yorgey will make it a war)

Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson (Best fight to be made at 175)

Nikolay Valuev vs. David Haye (More science experiment than fight, but will be fun)

Matthew Hatton vs. Lovemore N'Dou (Evenly-matched means evenly-fought)

Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao (Mega fight...I will speak about this more next time)

Daniel Santos vs. Yuri Foreman (I don't care what anyone says, I think this might be interesting)

Alfonso Gomez vs. Jesus Soto Karass (Good action and maybe Karass' coming-out party)

Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward (Two prime, elite fighters in Super 6 Classic)

Edgar Sosa vs. Rodel Mayol (For sure FOY candidate)

Lucian Bute vs. Librado Andrade (A score to settle for both, plus crazy Canadian fans)

Ali Funeka vs. Joan Guzman (A real, major test for both)

Plus, Zab Judah, Joel Casamayor, Marcos Maidana, Jason Litzau, Jorge Barrios, Andy Lee, Alexander Dimitrenko, Mike Jones, "Gato" Figueroa, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Wilfredo Vazquez Jr...

It's enough to make even the most bitter of fans take note...and only one PPV among the bunch! (okay, one and a half if you count the Valuev-Haye fight's PPV status in the US)

I hope that boxing's powers that be take notice and realize that by giving us actual fights, they aren't losing potential PPV dollars, they are reminding the loyal fan base of exactly why they are fans in the first place.

As fans, we don't need big-named mega-bouts and we don't even really need months as stacked as November '09.

What we do need is quality match-ups and fights that actually mean something.

Your Ad Here