Showtime's four-month dry spell with no major fights from August through November is finally coming to an end with the announcement of five new fight cards on Tuesday, all of which look promising.
Seven total bouts were announced, with the promise from Stephen Espinoza, the Showtime Sports boss, that each card would ultimately be at least a doubleheader, so that means there are still more bouts to be announced.
Espinoza said getting everything done and ready to announce at once was like "herding cats." While most of the bouts have been expected it was nice to see them finally official with dates laid out, even if some don't have locations yet.
Espinoza is a lifelong boxing fan, so when I spoke to him about the new schedule, I asked him which fight he was looking forward to most. He was political with his answer.
"It's like choosing among your children," he said, laughing. "We're proud of every single one of these fights. We have a rematch of the possible fight of the year [between featherweight titlist Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz], we have Keith Thurman against Danny Garcia. That's the most attractive fight that can be made in the welterweight division. We've looked forward to the Badou Jack-James DeGale fight. We have a lot of good fights.
"Adrien Broner is in a really tough matchup against Adrian Granados that is an intriguing match of styles. The [Jermall] Charlo-Julian Williams fight is a really attractive fight, [Jesus] Cuellar and [Abner] Mares are never in a bad fight and you have Mikey Garcia fighting [Dejan] Zlaticanin, a guy nobody else in the lightweight division wants to fight. It's really hard to choose. I can't pick. You look at these fights and maybe there's a slight favorite but you can make a case for either fighter in every fight. That's why we're so proud of this slate of fights."
If he doesn't want to tell me his favorite one, I'll tell him and all of you mine. Here's how I rank the bouts announced this week:
1. Thurman-Garcia (March 4): To me, it's a no-brainer for this one to be in the top spot. It's a fight fans have been anxious for. They're both undefeated, both in their prime, both fight in crowd-pleasing styles and they are meeting to unify world titles in the welterweight division, arguably the best in boxing. If you go by my ESPN divisional rankings it matches No. 1 (Thurman) against No. 4 (Garcia, who is only that low because he has had two bouts in the division and neither against a top opponent). The fight also might wind up on CBS, Showtime's sister network, rather than premium cable. Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) will be taking on the best opponent of his career and Garcia (32-0, 18 KOs), who still has to win a tune-up fight against Samuel Vargas on Nov. 12 in a bout the world could do without, will finally be taking on an elite opponent for the first time since upsetting Lucas Matthysse in a 2013 junior welterweight title fight.
2. Frampton-Santa Cruz II (Jan. 28): Frampton left behind his two title belts at junior featherweight and moved up to challenge Santa Cruz for his featherweight belt on July 30. They produced a bona fide fight of the year contender, which Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) won by majority decision. Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) immediately exercised his right to an immediate rematch and I thank him for doing so. It's hard to imagine the sequel, which matches No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the division, being anything but another outstanding scrap.
3. Jack-DeGale (Jan. 14): Jack (20-1-2, 12 KOs) and DeGale (23-1, 14 KOs) were supposed to meet in the fourth quarter of this year but for a variety of reasons it was delayed until early 2017. It's a small price to pay for another No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown as they will meet to determine division supremacy and also to unify their super middleweight world titles. Neither fighter has a reputation for being in great fights but do have a reputation for fighting to the level of their opponent, which means they should battle it out at a very high level.
4. Charlo-Williams (Dec. 10): In the co-feature of this show, Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs), No. 3 in the ESPN junior middleweight rankings, will defend his belt against No. 6 Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs) in a mandatory fight that has been anticipated for the past year. Stylistically, it looks like an exciting fight between skilled boxers who pack a solid punch and who will be facing their most dangerous opponent. They don't seem to care for each other either, which could also make the build up fun.
5. Zlaticanin-Garcia (Jan. 28): No. 3 Zlaticanin (18-0, 11 KOs) is really good and the sort of guy nobody has been calling out -- except for Garcia (35-0, 29 KOs). Zlaticanin is an all-out attacker while Garcia, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist who I have No. 10 at junior welterweight, is the epitome of a controlled boxer-puncher. Garcia came back from a long layoff in July and fought as a junior welterweight but said from the outset he planned to go down to lightweight. Here he is taking on a top-notch opponent in a fight, the co-feature, which I think could be very explosive and go either way.
6. Cuellar-Mares (Dec. 10): This is the main event of the card and figures to be a highly competitive and fan-friendly fight if they live up to their reputations. No. 6 Cuellar (29-1, 21 KOs), who will be defending his secondary featherweight title, and No. 5 Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs), a former three-division titleholder, could be the sleeper of this slate of fights. Adding to its significance is that the winner will be the mandatory for the Frampton-Santa Cruz II winner.
7. Broner-Granados (Feb. 11): This fight might rank last but that is not an indictment of the match, rather a statement on the strength of the overall Showtime schedule. No.3 Broner (32-2, 24 KOs), a four-division titlist, had been on track to challenge junior welterweight titlist Ricky Burns in an attempt to win back the belt stripped from him for missing weight before an April victory, but Burns suffered a perforated eardrum during his Oct. 7 victory against Kiryl Relikh and was not available, according to Espinoza. Granados (18-4-2, 12 KOs), unranked in the top 10, is no pushover whatsoever despite the modest record. A closer look reveals that all four losses came by way of split or majority decision to opponents with a combined record of 52-1. Broner is more talented but if he is not prepared and takes Granados lightly, he will find himself in a world of trouble.