Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin – the big questions for the big names as boxing begins again
Tuesday 9 June 2020 16:16, UK
Boxing in Las Vegas restarts tonight with Shakur Stevenson headlining – what are the big talking points facing the top names as the punches begin again?
How soon can Crawford vs Spence Jr happen?
The long-desired welterweight collision between the undefeated American duo is one of the finest fights that the sport could offer.
Spence Jr's involvement in a serious car crash last year dealt his career a major setback but he insists his recovery has been smooth - his first fight back is mooted to be against Danny Garcia, the former world champion and conqueror of Amir Khan, a far stiffer test than he might have opted for given the severity of his accident.
Spence Jr told The Last Stand podcast Crawford will be his third and final opponent before he moves up a division: "I really just want the big names. I want (Manny) Pacquiao before he retires, Terence Crawford, and if I've got to fight a Danny Garcia or anyone else, then I will."
IBF and WBC champion Spence Jr, who won a thrilling battle with Shawn Porter last time out, insisted he will fight for four more years.
If his three-fight plan is realised then it seems meeting Crawford would be no sooner than late-2021.
Three-weight world champion Crawford is promoted by Top Rank while Spence Jr (and Pacquiao) are affiliated to Premier Boxing Champions. However, those companies came together to stage two Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fights.
Top Rank president Todd DuBoef told Sky Sports about Crawford vs Spence Jr: "The success of the Wilder vs Fury 2 promotion could be very helpful in making this fight, because the two parties could come together again - 'boom', the public get what they want. We would love that.
"Terence wants to fight the best. We'd love to fight Spence Jr, that is obviously the best fight in the division and would be our priority."
But Crawford looks likely to face a wait. Kell Brook is "an option" for a fight in the meantime pending travel restrictions.
Who is the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world?
In the three years since Floyd Mayweather retired and abdicated this particular throne, a host of boxers from all around the world have made a compelling case that they are the greatest.
Who can make further steps in the future to cement their argument?
Vasiliy Lomachenko, the genius Ukrainian with dancing feet who holds belts with the WBA, WBC and WBO would completely own the lightweight division if he overcomes IBF champion Teofimo Lopez in his next fight which is being considered for the Las Vegas Raiders' new NFL stadium.
World championships in three divisions plus two Olympic golds make Lomachenko so feted but, in Lopez, he will meet a power-puncher 10 years his junior and with a distinct size superiority.
The mark against Crawford is the lack of a defining result on his record but he is a three-weight world champion with a 36-0 record who extraordinarily blends boxing as a powerful right-hander and a slippery southpaw in the blink of an eye.
Crawford's task is in finding an opponent worthy enough to push him into producing the performance that boxing fans are desperate to see.
Japan's Naoya Inoue continues to thrill with KO punches rarely seen in the smaller divisions. He dispatched three consecutive world champions in a total of four destructive rounds. A champion at three weights, Inoue came through his most difficult fight, against Nonito Donaire, last year but continues to up the stakes.
A three-belt bantamweight unification fight with John Riel Casimero, who stopped Charlie Edwards and Zolani Tete in Britain, is his next task - if Inoue wins he is just one belt away from becoming undisputed champion. That final piece of the puzzle is held by Nordine Oubaali, who has beaten Inoue's brother Takuma.
Who could become breakout British star?
Travel restrictions could mean, in the short-term, that more all-British fights are made and there are plenty of budding rivalries to consider. Whoever is willing to gamble could find themselves at the very forefront of the British boxing scene.
Conor Benn told Sky Sports about fellow undefeated welterweight Josh Kelly: "We're polar opposites in the way that we conduct ourselves and the way that we get in the ring."
Kelly will first challenge for the European title but Benn said: "Kelly vs David Avanesyan? I think Kelly loses. Then we've got a big domestic fight for the British title."
The Olympian Joshua Buatsi has options in two former world title challengers, Callum Johnson and Anthony Yarde.
"The lion Yarde against the lone wolf Buatsi. Two wild animals coming together to slug it out," Anthony Joshua said.
Buatsi told Sky Sports: "How would I beat Yarde? I'd improve on what I'm doing. I tend not to watch opponents too much because if I improve, it will be good enough to beat whoever is in front of me."
Terri Harper, the feelgood story of the chip shop worker who became the first British female boxer to win a world title fight, will go up a notch when she defends her belt against the more experienced Natasha Jonas.
Harper has said about Katie Taylor: "I can't imagine punching my idol in the face but, maybe one day, it could happen."
Daniel Dubois, the undefeated heavyweight who was previously due to meet Joe Joyce, is "the most exciting prospect" in Britain according to his promoter Frank Warren.
How can Katie Taylor end debate that she is No 1?
Legendary boxers need great opponents who can force them to reach new levels, and Ireland's undefeated Taylor has no shortage of takers.
The undisputed lightweight champion who also holds a title at super-lightweight plus an Olympic gold medal will next face Amanda Serrano at a behind-closed-doors venue in the UK on the same bill as Dillian Whyte vs Alexander Povetkin.
Taylor vs Serrano has been described as "the best women's fight ever" by promoter Eddie Hearn with good reason - the New York-based challenger is a seven-weight world champion with just one loss in 40 fights.
Serrano is a major challenge for Taylor and exactly the type of opponent that could help earn the Irish heroine a status as an all-time great.
More threats lurk, though.
Cecilia Braekhus is the undisputed champion at welterweight, 12lbs above the limit for Taylor's next fight. There is an issue to resolve around the weight but fighting a fellow undisputed titleholder, who just happens to be significantly bigger and with a 36-0 record, is a serious test of Taylor's credentials.
The rematch with Delfine Persoon is also a monkey that Taylor wants off of her back.
Canelo must make his decision
At least two divisions hinge on Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez's decision of who to face next.
A deal with Billy Joe Saunders was set to be announced pre-lockdown but he is now "one of the options", Golden Boy president Eric Gomez told Sky Sports.
The Mexican superstar is a three-weight world champion - he has a firm grip over middleweight, brutally beat Sergey Kovalev to capture a light-heavyweight title in a smash-and-grab raid, but wants to solidify his dominance at super-middleweight.
That led to WBO champion Saunders and WBA titleholder Callum Smith, both unbeaten, being on Canelo's shortlist. Surely they remain among his most interesting options.
Gennadiy Golovkin, Canelo's great rival, will not be next. Golovkin is likely to defend IBF gold against his mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta.
Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Andre Dirrell have been mentioned as possibilities for Canelo.
A long-term goal of the Mexicans is to fight in the UK and Japan to expand "his brand", Sky Sports were told, but such travelling is unlikely to be this year.
Britain's world champions Saunders and Smith could be forced together, depending upon what Canelo decides to do. Saunders vs Smith is, in itself, a compelling unification fight between two Brits who have never lost.
Is age a barrier? Older warriors have lost time
Lockdown could particularly damage the careers of those who don't have much time to lose.
Golovkin, 38, initially wanted to meet Szeremata earlier this year in the hope that he would earn a trilogy fight with Canelo in September.
That dream has surely been delayed by six months or so. If they meet next Cinco de Mayo, in May 2021 when Canelo traditionally likes to fight, Golovkin will be 39 with over two decades of boxing toil on his body.
Manny Pacquiao became the first boxer to hold a world championship in four decades earlier this year. Aged 41, he had scarcely looked better than when he took the unbeaten Keith Thurman's WBA welterweight title last year.
His trainer Buboy Fernandez told The Manila Times: "I even told him on his birthday that two more fights would be enough. There's nothing more to prove. But it's difficult to tell a fighting senator to stop fighting."
Freddie Roach, who is also in Pacquiao's corner, suggested the Filipino legend wants to fight the much larger Golovkin.
More realistic options for Pacquiao are at a premium - he is caught in the Crawford vs Spence Jr mix although may hope to face one of them. He is 42 in December and seems hard-pushed to fit in a maiden title defence before his birthday.
What is the best route to Joshua vs Fury?
The dream fight is, of course, Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury but, as always, there are plenty of moving parts before the undisputed heavyweight championship bout can happen.
This year is out of the question so both champions, who between them own every major belt, must get through at least one more fight each before they can fight.
Joshua will defend the IBF, WBA and WBO titles against Kubrat Pulev and Fury will face Deontay Wilder in a third WBC title fight - both are expected to go ahead this year.
Dillian Whyte is also demanding his opportunity at the WBC belt. He is the mandatory challenger and due his opportunity by February 2021.
"We've got to have [Joshua vs Fury] in the UK, for British boxing," Ricky Hatton said. "We need this in the UK, it's an absolute must."
There are reasons to be optimistic Joshua vs Fury will happen.
Fury's US promoter Bob Arum said: "We could negotiate the deal, if we met in person, over the course of one day."
Frank Warren, Fury's UK promoter, added: "It's not a difficult fight to make. Whatever is on the table is 50-50."
Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, insisted they would "sign now" for two fights against Fury next year.
The heavyweights themselves know the demand that they face.
Joshua told Sky Sports: "Logically to prove yourself as No 1, I have to fight Tyson Fury. He has to fight Anthony Joshua."
Fury said: "It is so close but so far away. In heavyweight boxing you can never count your chickens before they hatch. We will hopefully get the Joshua fight on."
