Lightweights, Omicron Loom Large: December Preview

There is one month to go in the 2021 boxing ‘season’ and November reminded us no year is ever over until the final bell. Saul Alvarez unified the super middleweight division, Terence Crawford reminded the world who he is, Stephen Fulton-Brandon Figueroa lived up to expectations, and we got a new lightweight king.

George Kambosos’ upset victory over Teofimo Lopez last weekend dovetails perfectly into December as lightweight stays in the spotlight for the next two weeks.

Haney, Davis, and Lomachenko Return

Becoming the king of the lightweight division won’t be the same as staying there in 2022. Over eight days, three critical lightweight matches will unfold. One of the winners is likely to be across the ring from Kambosos sooner than later. 

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

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

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

It’s not often we see almost an entire top ten of any weight class go to scratch head to head like this over the course of three weeks. Haney, Davis, and Lomachenko will all be favored. As the result in Kambosos-Lopez reminded us, favored doesn’t mean anything. All the underdogs here have to be considered live. 

It’s the second consecutive step-up contest for Haney while Davis faces his third straight opponent ranked by TBRB and/or Ring in their division. Commey will be the eighth such opponent in a row for Lomachenko.

What will lightweight look like on December 12th? 

Omicron Threatens Two Unification Bouts

Keep an eye on developments in Japan as the month plays out. Two excellent unification matches hang in the balance. At middleweight and Jr. bantamweight, respectively, we are scheduled to get:

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

    12/31: #3 Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KO, WBO) vs. #4 Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KO, IBF)

Travel restrictions could threaten both contests, though neither is cancelled as yet. Both are intriguing on paper. Golovkin, out of the ring for more than a year, isn’t getting any younger and any lost activity is just sand out of the hourglass. Murata is looking for his biggest win since a Gold at the 2012 Olympics. Ioka, who has faced six straight ranked by TBRB and/or Ring, is attempting to partially unify a division for the second time after doing it at strawweight in 2012. Ancajas is taking the stiffest step of his career. 

One variant can unmake it all.   

Additional Title Fights in December

Men

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

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

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

12/11: 112 – #2 Sunny Edwards (16-0, 4 KO, IBF) vs. Jayson Mama (16-0, 9 KO)

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

12/14: 105 – #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 KO)

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

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

Women

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

12/4: 105 – Monsterrat Alarcón (16-4-2) vs. Silvia Torres (20-2-2, 7 KO); vacant WBA 

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

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

12/17: 154 – Marie Eve Dicaire (17-1) vs. Cynthia Lozano (9-0, 7 KO); vacant IBF

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

12/18: 105 – Seneisa Estrada (21-0, 8 KO, WBA) vs. Maria Santizo (9-0, 5 KO)

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.