Just as the dog days of summer in late August bring boxing to a crawl the beginning of the year boxing cards seem to be in a slumber with the exception of ESPN Friday Night Fights starting back up, boxing cards with some of the bigger names are still a few weeks away.
However, while the 2014 boxing scene may be moving a little slow, that does not mean one can’t look forward to some hopes for Boxing in 2014. While 2013 had rising starts such as Abner Mares and Adrien Broner crash and burn the next crop of rising stars seem poised to make a statement in 2014.
With names such as Danny Garcia, Broner and Canelo Alavarez solidifying their statues among the bigger names in boxing today by the end of 2014 theses names may very well be just as common.
Keith Thurman.
The Florida native had a great 2013, with wins over Jan Zavek, Diego Chaves and a dominating win over Jesus Soto Karass has put Thurman in the thick of things in the Welterweight divison. While a proposed bout with previous title holder Robert Guerrero being shot down by Guerrero, there are still plenty of options for Thurman.
Shawn Porter, Devon Alexander, Marcos Maidana and Paulie Malignaggi would be four fights that can be made for Thurman in 2014.
Outlook for Thurman by the end of 2014- Obviously matchmaking is everything and having the powerful Al Haymon helps. However sooner or later, Thurman will take an L, and that L should come sometime in late 2014.
Leo Santa Cruz.
Similar to Abner Mares coming on in 2013, Santa Cruz is already being talked about. 2014 should be a bug year for the 25 year old. With 2 of his 3 wins coming by way of KO, Santa Cruz should be in the mix for all the big names this year. His high output combined with his solid power makes him a can’t miss fighter to watch. While the Featherweight may not have the cache of fighters as the Super Bantamweight does, Santa Cruz and his team should look at making a fight with Carl Frampton, Vic Darchinyan or Cristian Mijares. While making an impressive run in 2014 and look to make a Rigondeaux showdown next Spring.
Santa Cruz should continue his dominating ways in 2014.
Mikey Garcia.
While Garcia really made his mark in 2013;2 014 should be his coming out party as the #1 guy at the Super Featherweight division. He stopped a tough Roman Martinez back in November and dominating a gritty veteran in Orlando Salido before the fight was stopped due to a broken nose to Garcia. Garcia gets back in the ring in less than 2 weeks when he faces Juan Carlos Burgos and is the first major fight of 2014. While Garcia has Burgos in front of him, many fans can’t help but hope for a showdown with the speedy Yuriorkis Gamboa sometime in 2014. However for all the praise and attention Garcia is getting, it is also a little hard not to notice a questionable figure in his corner the past couple fights. Alex Ariza is a strength and conditioning coach who many recognize as being the man who helped Manny Pacquaio on so many 24/7 episodes. However these days Ariza is no longer in the Pacquaio’s corner, but he is still floating around in boxing circles most notably Brandon Rios who faced Pacquiao this past November. While there has always been speculation and questions on whether or not all his training was legitimate Rios testing positive for Dimenthylamylamine or DMAA. While there is nothing to say Ariza had anything to do the positive test, it only adds further suspicion to Ariza and his methods. There is no doubt that Ariza working with Garcia has not yielded anything but positive results as Garcia is looking far more cut than he has ever before-Add that his trainer is the talented Robert Garcia and Team Garcia has a lot of good things to look forward to in 2014.
Shawn Porter.
While Porter has slowly built up his resume over the last few years he has constatntly been overshadowed in a deep division by names such as Pacquiao, Bradley, Marquez, Maidana, Malinaggi and Guerrero to name a few. Add the obvious fact that his biggest win until Devon Alexander was over Alfonso Gomez and it’s easy to see why Porter was overlooked.
That changed this past December when he easily handled the former champion Alexander.
2014 should see Porter becoming a more common names among boxing circles. While he may lack power he makes up for with a high boxing I.Q. and if his fight with Alexander was any indication of how good he is, this year should make even more fighters aware of Porter.