I posted this before. Pick one.
Overall, whites hold 22 belts, up from 14 two years ago. Three white fighters (Joe Calzaghe, Kelly Pavlik and Ricky Hatton) made the top 10 "pound for pound" lists in 2007, with at least two others (Wladimir Klitschko and Mikkel Kessler) within striking distance. This year saw the first superfight between two white men (Calzaghe-Kessler) in my lifetime and the most impressive win by a white American (Pavlik) in many years. Though Hatton lost to Floyd Mayweather to close out the year, a white man was still involved in the biggest fight of 2007 and earned respect even in defeat.
The following is a roundup of where our fighters stand heading into 2008.
Heavyweight
Whites once again own all the belts and comprise 9 of the top 12 boxers in the heavyweight ranks. IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko will unify the belts with WBO king Sultan Ibragimov on February 23. WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev meets Michael Skelton on January 19. Oleg Maskaev will defend his WBC crown against tough Nigerian Sam Peter on February 2.
Two attractive caste matchups will determine challengers to the current title holders. On January 26, Olympic gold medalist Alex Povetkin will meet the latest great black hope, Eddie Chambers, to determine who will challenge the winner of Klitschko-Ibragimov. The fight will be televised on HBO. A month later, power punching Ukrainian Vladimir Virchis will square off against J.C. Gomez to decide who will get a shot at the winner of Maskaev-Peter
Two former white champions, Nicolay Valuev and Sergei Lyakhovich, will meet early in 2008 to see who fights Chagaev for the WBA belt.
Of course, Vitali Klitschko is still on the scene, though he has pulled out of his last five fights with injuries. If he can stay healthy he has a good shot at getting a belt back and joining Wladimir as the only brother combination to ever hold the heavyweight championship.
Americans Joe Mesi and Tye Fields need to make their moves this year if they ever want to fight for a title. A rumored match between Fields and Hasim Rahman never seems to materialize. Young Americans Mike Marrone, J.D. Chapman, Mike Mollo, Tony Grano, Adam Richards and Joey Abell had good years in 2007 and will be looking to jump to the next level in 2008.
Cruiserweight
This is the only upper weight class that whites don't dominate, but that will likely change in 2008. Enzo Maccarenelli is the only white titlist at cruiserweight and he successfully defended his WBO belt three times this year. There is talk of a potential unification bout between Enzo and new WBA/WBC champ David Haye.
WBC titlist Steve Cunningham will defend his belt against German Marco Huck on December 29. Huck is undefeated, and if he wins, whites will have 17 of the 20 belts to close the year.
A pair of Polish former champions, Tomasz Adamek and Krzystof Wlodarczyk, figure to fight for titles later in the year.
Light Heavyweight
Whites hold three of the four belts at 175. Zsolt Erdei has been WBO champ for four years and is still undefeated. There is talk of Erdei coming to America to defend his belt against a name opponent such as Antonio Tarver. Australian Danny Green picked up the WBA belt this weekend with a wide decision victory over Croatian Stipe Drews. IBF champ Clinton Woods is looking for a big fight after defending his title only once in 2007
The only black champion, WBC titlist Chad Dawson, has to defend against Romanian power puncher Adrian Diaconu sometime in 2008. If Diaconu wins, all the belts will be back around white waists.
Of course, the big news at light heavyweight is the potential clash between Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe. Joe has been super middleweight champ since 1997 and was wisely avoided by Hopkins and Roy Jones throughout his career. The Welshman has had a hard time making 168 and promises to be even more dominant at 175. Hopkins has thrown fuel on the fire by stating, "I will never lose to a white boy." CF readers will not be surprised that Hopkins was not given the Don Imus-John Rocker treatment for his racism. But Joe will make him pay in other, more satisfying, ways.
Super Middleweight
Whites routinely hold all the belts at 168 and this year is no exception. By defeating Mikkel Kessler, Calzaghe now holds the WBA, WBC and WBO titles. Romanian Lucian Bute owns the IBF strap. When Calzaghe jumps to 175, his three belts will become vacant. Kessler, Dennis Inkin, Jurgen Brahmer, Carl Froch, Marcus Beyer, Cristian Sanavia, Vitaly Tsypko and Robert Steiglitz are just a few of the whites who should fight for the vacant titles in this strong division. Of course, the wild card is Kelly Pavlik, who could move to 168 after his rematch against Jermaine Taylor in February.
Middleweight
Pavlik's KO of Taylor was certainly one of the highlights of the year for fans of white boxers. But whites hold all the belts at 160 and one of the hidden gems in boxing is Arthur Abraham. An ethnic Armenian fighting out of Germany, Abraham is undefeated. His goal is to fight in the U.S. in 2008, and if he does, he will be a secret no longer. Felix Sturm holds the WBA belt but is very vulnerable. John Duddy, Javier Castillejo, Sebastian Sylvester and American Joey Gilbert are just a few of the whites who could fight for a title next year.
Junior Middleweight
WBO champ Sergei Dzindziruk remains the only white champ at 154. He defended his belt only once in 2007 and needs a fight on U.S. TV to ever reach public awareness. Former IBF titlist Roman Karmazin should be in line for a title fight in 2008. Yuri Foreman could also get a title shot later in the year if he keeps winning and improving.
Welterweight
Ricky Hatton's valiant defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather showed that he belongs at 140 (where he is unbeatable). If Hatton does move back down to junior welterweight, boxing's deepest division will have only one white fighter in the mix. Ukraine's Yuri Nuzhnenko came out of nowhere to win the WBA interim title. This means he will be a mandatory for Miguel Cotto sometime in 2008. Fighting Cotto is no enviable task, but should he upset Miguel, Nuzhnenko will instantly become a household name.
If Hatton stays at 147, big fights against Oscar de la Hoya and Shane Mosley await.
Junior Welterweight
Whites hold two of the belts at junior welterweight. With Hatton (most likely) dropping back to 140, it will be three very soon. A bout with loudmouthed WBC titlist Junior Witter would be big in the U.K and would allow Ricky to get his title back. Paul Malignaggi is one of two white American champions in boxing. He is defending his IBF belt against Herman Ngoudjo on January 5 on HBO and has expressed a desire to fight Hatton. Gavin Rees is the other white titlist at junior welterweight. Rees won the WBA belt this year and defends it agai nst Andreas Kotelnik on January 19.
Lightweight
Michael Katsidis is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing and the best white fighter at 135. The Australian is supposed to fight WBO, IBF and WBA champion Juan Diaz on HBO in 2008. This represents both a challenge and opportunity for Katsidis as Diaz is considered a rising star and is being groomed for a showdown at junior welterweight with Ricky Hatton. A win by the Australian will upset those plans and give white fans a new superstar to cheer for in the lighter weights.
Yuri Romanov is European lightweight champ and could make some noise in the division as well in 2008.
Super Featherweight
Alex Arthur is the mandatory challenger for WBO king Joan Guzman. The Scottish boxer has only one loss.
Featherweight
American Jason Litzau has received exposure on ESPN and HBO and plans to become the third white American champion in 2008. Before that he must avenge his only loss to Jose Andres Hernandez.
Super Bantamweight
Canadian Steve Molitor is the IBF champion at 122. Spaniard Kiko Martinez scored an impressive KO over fellow European Bernard Dunne in 2007 and could land a title shot next year.
Bantamweight
WBA champ Wladimir Sidorenko is the top rated fighter at 118. He defended his title twice in 2007 and has a January 10 match with Japan's Nobuto Ikehara.
Super Flyweight
Russia's Dmitri Kirilov won the IBF belt at 115 earlier this year, making him the lightest white champion in boxing.
