The end of summer is an odd time of year. For millions of Americans, it means the return of football. For millions of students, it means the return of school. Most of us while away in the heat, waiting for summer to be over so we can return to being productive. The time tends to drag, especially for boxing fans because summer is the doldrums.
Summer is typically a down time in boxing and the fights that do happen are sporadic and often menial, although we had some excellent bouts this summer between top fighters. We seldom think of boxing as a seasonal sport, but with most top fighters in the ring only twice a year, it has become so.
Boxing is an outlier amongst professional sports because there is no set schedule, so the presence or absence of good fights in the near future has a lot to do with how excited fans become. Right now, anticipation should be building. Several of the sports best return to action in the next month, including Roman Gonzalez, Naoya Inoue, Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez. We all wish those four names represented only two bouts, but for now we’ll have to wait.
In addition to the big names, we’re also getting a rematch of Yoshihiro Kamegai vs Jesus Soto Karass and Krzysztof Glowacki vs Oleksandr Usyk in an intriguing cruiserweight bout. Usyk is that guy with the goofy ass hair that at least one of your friends on Twitter is obsessed with. He’s also an excellent prospect and potentially a future contender at heavyweight.
If the only thing you’ve had to get excited about lately was Antonio Margarito and Roy Jones fights, don’t fret. It’s almost over and we can all go back to complaining about something else.
Delirium Tremens
- Errol Spence vs Leonard Bundu drew an average of an average of 4.8 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, with a peak of 6.3 million, per ESPN. Those are fantastic numbers, and undoubtedly owe much to the card being immediately after the Olympic Gold Medal Basketball game between the US and Serbia.
- I’m not reading too much into Spence’s KO of Bundu. Bundu’s best two wins are over fringe contenders and he got totally outclassed by Keith Thurman. Spence was impressive, but he’s ready to start fighting contenders. Now. He’s 26 and he’s been a pro for four years. Wasting his physical prime would be a goddamn sin.
- Gabriel Rosado vs Willie Monroe being added to the Alvarez vs Liam Smith undercard doesn’t do much for me.
- Speaking of that undercard, what the hell is Luis Ortiz doing with his career? His fight against Alexander Ustinov was actually pretty interesting, but now he’s bought out his contract with Golden Boy Promotions and will wind up fighting Ustinov in Russia for less money. I generally side with fighters on principle when they quarrel with their promoters, but this one doesn’t make much sense.
