Boxing Storylines to Watch in 2018

For years, boxing has been a sport in decline, but 2017 provided some hope for fans of the fight game. Highlighted by, of course, the spectacle between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko, the dominance of Vasyl Lomachenko, and ESPN teaming up with the legendary promotion known as Top Rank Boxing.

Here are some storylines to follow and pay attention to in 2018.

Floyd Mayweather

Make no mistake about it, whether retired or active, the story always begins with “Money” Mayweather. He’s proven time and time again to be one of the biggest draws in boxing history, and never fails to keep his name relevant. He adamantly claims he is “done”–even saying it during a FaceTime with Stephen A. Smith during a commercial on First Take.

Yet, his name came up in November for a return to boxing, and then again in December when UFC President Dana White said there was a “realistic possibility,” Mayweather could actually fight in the octagon. Mayweather denied this rumor as well.

Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder

It feels like centuries since a heavyweight fight has been worth scheduling a day around, but that is about to change. Anthony Joshua (20-0, all via KO) showed the world what he could do in one of the most brutal fights of the past decade, earning a TKO in the 11th-round against heavyweight royalty Wladimir Klitschko. By attracting a crowd of 90,000 at the sold-out Wembley Stadium (British Boxing record), Joshua announced himself as the next heavyweight superstar.

The next step is to find the rival, which is where Deontay Wilder(39-0, 38 via KO) comes into play. Wilder has the ability to end any fight at any moment with just one-punch, something the division has not witnessed since the likes of Mike Tyson. Wilder has made it very clear, he wants this mega-fight:

The fight appears to be en route to happen at some point, although, there is no guarantee it will take place in 2018. However, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is confident it will take place by December.

ESPN and Top Rank

In late July, ESPN struck a surprising deal with promoter Bob Arum and his Top Rank promotion. Bringing marquee boxing bouts back to cable television has been a major success so far. The broadcasts averaged 1.5 million viewers, including the first Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight peaking at 4.4 million viewers. Pacquiao is the biggest name for the promotion, but phenoms Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko are what should thrill ESPN going forward. Crawford, known for proudly fighting in his hometown Omaha, has looked nearly flawless in his 32-0 career, and could really benefit from beating (destroying) a well-known Pacquiao at some point this year. Lomachenko, as Arum says, is “the best since Ali,” and has proclaimed himself “No Mas Chenko” now that fighters are literally quitting during their fights against him.

It sounds like ESPN plans on going all-in on their coverage as well.

Canelo and GGG

Whemle emt was Mayweather vs McGregor that emntremgued the maemnstream medema and fans, Canelo vs. Gennady Golovkemn (GGG) emn September was what the hardcore femght fans were eager to wemtness. GGG came emn as the most feared puncher emn the sport and was lookemng to claemm the temtle of the world’s pound-for-pound best; Canelo came emn as the bemggest draw emn the sport (wemth Mayweather retemred) and had shown major emmprovement semnce hems only loss to Mayweather back emn 2013. Bemlled as Supremacy, the matchup lemved up to expectatemons. Lemke usual, though, the judges got emn the way. They overshadowed the femght wemth a bogus, completely emllogemcal draw when emt was clearly won by GGG. ESPN’s Teddy Atlas was not happy:

Now, the biggest storyline of 2018 will be if/when the two meet again. There is belief it will happen on Cinco de Mayo.