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Home » Seventeen Fights for 2016: Did they happen?

Seventeen Fights for 2016: Did they happen?

The fights, made public last January, named one bout per weight class that would be for the better of boxing should it come to fruition.

Below, WBN looks at each of those contests and which paltry one made it to the first bell.

HEAVYWEIGHT (200 LBS +) – TYSON FURY v DEONTAY WILDER

As a blank page is all that represents Tyson Fury’s activity in 2016, a unification fight with Deontay Wilder was never in the offing.

CRUISERWEIGHT (200 LBS) – KRZYSZTOF GLOWACKI V MARCO HUCK II

At the beginning of the year, none would have forecast the pair switching positions in the cruiserweight ranks when Glowacki defeated Huck in the United States. Whilst Glowacki lost his title to Oleksander Usyk, Huck climbed the rankings to the number two spot with the WBC and picked up a title belt.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (175 LBS) – SERGEY KOVALEV v ANDRE WARD

The only fight listed to actually become a reality, Andre Ward claimed a tight decision victory when the pair shared the ring in November.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT (168 LBS) – JAMES DEGALE v BADOU JACK

One month out from making the 2016 deadline, the fight takes place on January 14.

MIDDLEWEIGHT (160 LBS) – GENNADY GOLOVKIN v CANELO ALVAREZ

Still the standout fight at 160 pounds, let’s hope negotiations are finalised in 2017.

SUPER WELTERWEIGHT (154 LBS) – MARCOS MAIDANA v MIGUEL COTTO

As Maidana continued to enjoy the millions earned from two fights with Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto decided to delay his return until next year.

WELTERWEIGHT (147 LBS) – KELL BROOK V AMIR KHAN

Brook v Khan remains high on the agenda for UK fans and hopefully, could take place in the mid-part of the coming year.

SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT (140 LBS) – TERENCE CRAWFORD V ADRIEN BRONER

As Crawford opted for a battle with Viktor Postol to unify the division, Broner enjoyed a mixed twelve months of victories and trouble with the law.

LIGHTWEIGHT (135 LBS) – JORGE LINARES V RANCES BARTHELEMY

Linares took on Anthony Crolla in one of the best fights of 2016 and will now rematch in 2017 leaving a fight with Barthelemy unlikely.

SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT (130 LBS) – NICHOLAS WALTERS V FRANCISCO VARGAS

Walters will be looking to pick himself up from losing to Vasyl Lomachenko and could conceivably be considered for Vargas in 2017.

FEATHERWEIGHT (126 LBS) – VASYL LOMACHENKO V GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX

Rigo immediately called out Loma in the wake of the Ukrainian’s win over Walters. Loma v Rigo remains top of many lists to happen in the New Year.

SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT (122 LBS) – NONITO DONAIRE V CARL FRAMPTON / SCOTT QUIGG

As Frampton and Quigg are both operating at featherweight, Donaire is off the radar for the time being.

BANTAMWEIGHT (118 LBS) – JAMIE MCDONNELL V LEE HASKINS

A small window of opportunity is open for the fight before McDonnell moves up in 2017.

SUPER FLYWEIGHT (115 LBS) – NAOYA INOUE V ROMAN GONZALEZ

The fight would see the young pretender against the master and would light up 2017 if it was considered by both sides.

FLYWEIGHT (112 LBS) – KAZUTO IOKA V JUAN ESTRADA

Estrada has moved up to super-flyweight as Ioka continues to reign at the lower limit.

LIGHT FLYWEIGHT (108 LBS) – YU KIMURA V PEDRO GUEVARA II

Kimura lost his title belt in 2016, but despite this a rematch would be welcomed.

MINIMUMWEIGHT (105 LBS) – WANHENG MENAYOTHIN V KOSEI TANAKA

Tanaka is now up at light-flyweight as Wanheng pushes towards 44-0 in 2017.

Look of for the WBN list of Seventeen fights for 2017 in January