Light Weight, Omicron Loom Large: Preview December

The 2021 boxing “season” is one month away, and November has reminded us that no year ends until the final bell rings. Saul Alvarez unifies the super-middleweight division, Terence Crawford reminds the world who he is, Stephen Fulton-Brandon Figueroa lives up to expectations, and we have a new lightweight king.

George Kambosos’ upset win over Teofimo Lopez last weekend ended December perfectly with lightweight still in the spotlight for the next two weeks.

Return of Haney, Davis and Lomachenko

Being king of the lightweight won’t be like staying there in 2022. In eight days, three important lightweight matches will take place. One of the winners is likely to cross the ring from Kambosos sooner.

April 12: TBRB #4 Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs, WBC) vs #9 Joseph Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs)

12/5: #6 Issac Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) vs #8 Gervonta Davis (25-0, 24 KOs)

11/12: #2 Vasyl Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs) vs #5 Richard Commey (30-3, 27 KOs)

It’s not often that we see nearly all of the top ten in any weight class go head-to-head like this over the course of three weeks. Haney, Davis and Lomachenko will all be favored. As the results in Kambosos-Lopez remind us, being favored doesn’t mean anything. All weak teams here must be considered live.

This is the second consecutive promotion contest for Haney while Davis faces a direct third ranked by TBRB and/or Ring in their division. Commey will be Lomachenko’s eighth consecutive opponent.

How light will it be on December 12?

Omicron threatens to merge twice

Stay tuned for developments in Japan as this month ends. Two great unification matches hanging in the balance. At Jr. middle and bantamweight we expected to get:

12/29: #1 Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs, IBF) vs Ryoto Murata (16-2, 13 KOs, WBA)

December 31: #3 Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KO, WBO) vs #4 Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KO, IBF)

Travel restrictions could threaten both competitions, although neither has yet to be cancelled. Both are attractive on paper. Golovkin, having been out of the ring for over a year, hasn’t rejuvenated and any lost activity is just sand beyond the hourglass. Murata is looking for his biggest win since winning a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics. Ioka, who has faced six straight divisions won by TBRB and/or Ring, is trying to unify a partial division last time. second after doing it in the strawweight division in 2012. Ancajas is making the toughest move of his career.

One variation can change everything.

Additional title matches in December

Man

11/12: 175 – #1 Dmitry Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs, WBA) vs Umar Salamov (26-1, 19 KOs)

11/12: 118 – #2 Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs, WBC) vs Reymart Gaballo (24-0, 20 KOs)

11/12: 118 – #3 John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs, WBO) vs Paul Butler (33-2, 15 KOs)

11/12: 112 – #2 Sunny Edwards (16-0, 4 KOs, IBF) vs Jayson Mama (16-0.9 KOs)

12/14: 118 – #1 Naoya Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs, Ring/WBA/IBF) vs Aran Dipaen (12-2, 11 KOs)

12/14:105 – Number 1 Knockout CP Freshmart (22-0.8 KO, WBA) vs Robert Paradero (18-1, 12 KO)

12/14:105 – #4 Wilfredo Mendez (16-1, 6 KO, WBO) vs. Masataka Taniguchi (14-3, 9 KOs)

12/17: 175 – Champion Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs, WBC/IBF) vs Marcus Browne #5 (23-1, 16 KOs)

12/29: 112 – #3 Junto Nakatani (22-0, 17 KOs, WBO) vs Cristian Gonzalez (14-1, 4 KOs)

Women

12/4: 147 – Jessica McCaskill (10-2, 3 KOs, WBA / WBC / IBF / WBO) vs Kandi Wyatt (10-3, 3 KOs)

April 12: 105 – Monsterrat Alarcón (16-4-2) vs Silvia Torres (20-2-2, 7 KOs); WBA is empty

11/12: 160 – Claressa Shields (11-0, 2 KOs, WBA/WBC/IBF) vs Ema Kozin (21-0-1, 11 KOs)

11/12:135 – Katie Taylor (19-0, 6 KOs, WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO) vs Firuza Sharipova (14-1, 8 KOs)

December 17: 154 – Marie Eve Dicaire (17-1) vs Cynthia Lozano (9-0.7 KO); IBF is empty

12/18:112 – Marlen Esparza (10-1, 1 KO, WBC) vs Anabel Ortiz (31-4, 4 KOs)

12/18:105 – Seneisa Estrada (21-0.8 KO, WBA) vs Maria Santizo (9-0.5 KO)

Cliff Rold is the Executive Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rating Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Foundation, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.