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Roy Jones fumbling around the ring after being hit by Antonio Tarver's perfect left still hasn't settled in the minds of many. Vitali Klitschko proving he belongs. Wladimir Klitschko proving he doesn't. Lamon Brewster, with loses to Charles Shufford and Cliff Etienne, assumes the WBO title in a Rocky-like performance.
Juan Manuel Marquez hits the canvas three times in the first round, and then proceeds to, in the eyes of many, take every subsequent round of his Fight Of The Year Candidate draw to Manny Pacquiao. Andrew Golota once again makes a stir in and outside of the ring, by first getting a questionable ranking by the IBF, then taking IBF champ Chris Byrd 12 rounds to an eventual draw. These are just a few of the already memorable moments of 2004.
And I can't discount next weekends scheduled action either. With a 30 million dollar pot of gold waiting on September 18th, neither Bernard Hopkins nor Oscar De La Hoya can look past their opponents this Saturday on PPV. And with Juan Lazcano facing Jose Luis Castillo, as well as Kingsley Ikeke up against Freddie Cuevas on the undercard, boxing fans can't bark too much about not getting their PPV's money worth. And if PPV isn't your thing, look to Showtime for an interesting rematch pitting Verno Phillips Vs. Kassim Ouma. The two first fought a Fight Of The Year candidate on September 7th 01', which was overshadowed by the events days later of Sept 11th.
But get beyond June 5th, and you might wonder who turned out the lights.
The weekend of June 12th features a double-header of Great Britain's best, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton from the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester. Showtime thought so highly of their marquee fighters' opponents that they decided to forego televising it altogether, relegating this card to internet broadcast. This day might be better spent in Canastota, NY - where the boxing world will gather to induct their newest class into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
On June 19th, HBO will broadcast a bout between Marco Antonio Barrera and Paulie Ayala. This bout will merely serve as a measuring stick to see how far Barrera has actually fallen. Jermain Taylor will also face Raul Marquez on this card.
Nearly a month will then pass before we come upon the July 17th HBO triple-header. The card, which is scheduled to take place at the Reliant Center in Houston, looks to be an entertaining one. Scheduled to fight are hot prospects Kermit Cintron vs. Teddy Reid, Lakva Sim vs. Juan Diaz, and Rocky Juarez vs. Zahir Raheem. All three fights could make a statement as Fight Of The Year candidates, and all three are for one version or another of the alphabet soup belts. Thirty-Six rounds of boxing will definitely help the cause in a summer drought of boxing.
One week later, we arrive at the July 24th bout between Arturo Gatti and Leo Dorin. Lou Dibella called this bout "Gatti-Ward 4". And lets hope he's right, because if the card on July 17th doesn't deliver, fans of boxing will be about ready for a bout of that caliber.
The July homestretch ends with 2 bouts on the 31st. On one end of the spectrum, you will have Erik Morales in a keep busy PPV fight with Carlos Hernandez. On the other end, you will likely have the return of "Iron" Mike Tyson versus the very unheralded Kevin McBride. This bout will presumably be on Showtime.
The last hope for a virtually empty summer of boxing will be the highly anticipated bout between Acelino Freitas and Diego Corrales for the WBO lightweight championship. This bout is scheduled for August 7th, and will take place at the Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut. This one has Fight Of The Year candidate written all over it.
To close out the summer, beginning August 11th, and running straight through the 29th, the sports stage turns to Athens, for the 2004 Summer Olympic games. Boxing events are planned for nearly every day of the Olympiad, however, as with years past, your boxing coverage will likely be pre-empted by synchronized swimming and badminton. Check you local listings.
As a boxing fan, I would be remiss to argue that 2004 has not been an exciting year so far. With all of the excitement boxing fans have been treated to in 04', a break in the action is well deserved. And with bouts featuring the return of greats such as Felix Trinidad and Kostya Tszyu promised for the fall, a surplus of talent at 140 looking to make their mark, and a crop of heavyweights due to make some noise, we're probably going to need all the rest we can get to close out what has already been a great year in boxing.
