Whicker: If we’re as lucky as Errol Spence was, this could be a classic boxing year
Errol Spence Jr. is lucky to be (A) alive and (B) free. So are other unsuspecting motorists in Dallas, who could have been in the somersaulting path of Spence’s Ferrari, at 2:53 a.m. on Oct. 10.
Spence was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was ejected from the car and supposedly suffered facial lacerations and broken teeth. Until a couple of weeks ago Spence was as silent as the wreckage, but he did surface for a Fox interview and said all was well. Facial lacerations? That would seem to be a problem for a boxer.
“You get those every day in the gym,” said Derrick James, Spence’s trainer. “That won’t stop him from coming back.”
If Spence’s head and heart are fine, he has a chance to turn 2020 into the boxing year that most of us have given up on imagining. Up and down the divisions, the obvious fights are moving into position, negotiable and attainable, beginning with Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder at the MGM Grand on Feb. 22.
Spence was last seen in September, when his left hand to Shawn Porter’s cheekbone gave him a split decision in Staples Center, a clear validation of both welterweight champs. The endgame is and has been a fight with Terence Crawford, who remains unbeaten and the WBO champ, but is endlessly knocked for his schedule. Crawford is a Top Rank fighter, and few of the other welterweights are.
But Bob Arum, the Top Rank boss, made a deal with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions group, and without much fuss. A Spence-Crawford extravaganza in the fall would be at least the equivalent of Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin in terms of unanswered questions. Neither has lost.
Before that, Spence is likely in line with Danny Garcia, the former champ who has lost to Porter and Keith Thurman. This assumes Garcia will beat Ivan Redkach in January.
The other possibilities:’
Heavyweights: Fury’s impossible rise from Wilder’s second knockdown in 2018 set the terms for the rematch. Fury’s mockingly deep boxing ability goes against Wilder’s knack for canceling out five sluggish rounds with one deadly cannonball.
Better yet, there’s an obvious next step, since Anthony Joshua took advantage of Andy Ruiz’s decadence in Saudi Arabia last month. Wilder or Fury vs. Joshua could fill a couple of Wembley Stadiums. First we’ll see if Wilder would rather fight Oleksandr Uzyk first. Advice: No.
Lightweights: There are more moving parts in the 135-pound division than any other. Vasyl Lomachenko has been the maestro. Yet 22-year-old Teofimo Lopez is afraid of nothing, except maybe silence. His two-round pounding of Richard Commey seemed to set up a money-or-mouth showdown with Lomachenko at some point.
Lomachenko is also interested in Gervonta Davis, who struggled to get past Yuriorkis Gamboa in Atlanta but doesn’t need quality opponents to get quality crowds. Then there’s Devin Haney, brilliant at 21. In 12 months we should be able to tell who carries weight and who is merely light.
Super-Middleweights: Caleb Plant and David Benavidez appear to be circling toward a match of champions at some point, maybe in late 2020. Both have fast hands and tart tongues, and the trash will pile up long before the weigh-in.
But Canelo is the wild-card. He did go to light-heavyweight to get a belt from the downsliding Sergey Kovalev, but 168 is where he belongs. The unbeaten Callum Smith would be intriguing, especially in London. Canelo defeated Callum’s brother Liam two years ago.
Super-Welterweights: If you’re looking for a boxing fan’s fight, with an abundance of tactical levels, wait for Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor. Ramirez, a boxing and cultural hero in the Fresno area, is undefeated and scheduled to meet Viktor Postol in China on Feb. 1. Taylor won the Super Series by decisioning Regis Prograis.
Super-Featherweights: Leo Santa Cruz has proven his box-office magnetism at Staples Center. Oscar Valdez lays out his soul, and his face, for everyone to see. The two are made to meet in L.A. sometime in 2020. There’s nothing wrong with a clash of champions Miguel Berchelt and Jamel Herring, too.
Featherweights: Nobody throws more punches in fewer seconds than Xu Can. Shakur Stevenson proved his readiness when he took apart Joet Gonzalez. Gary Russell Jr. will make a rare visit to the squared circle on Feb. 8. Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton are still around. Pick two names and let them go.
Is this muscular calendar too good to be true? Of course. Injury, greed and general reluctance are the plasma of boxing life.
But you wouldn’t be a fight fan if you weren’t wired for a letdown. This year promises either high drama or a high ledge.